FIFA World Cup 2018: Each Quarter-Finalist's Major Weakness

Uruguay: Lack of Midfield Creativity

However, Uruguay also have a major weakness that may prove fatal in the quarter-final. Like most Uruguay teams of the past decade, manager Oscar Tabarez has an incredible defence and a brilliant strike-force at his disposal. Uruguay have only conceded one goal at the tournament. On the other side of the pitch, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani have been outstanding. However, Uruguay’s perennial problem persists in their midfield.

Tabarez has decided that he would rather focus on defensive solidity in midfield- playing defensively-minded midfielders like Lucas Torreira, Mathias Vecino and Nathan Nandez. This has mostly worked as Torreira particularly has been excellent, especially against Portugal. Nevertheless, this has resulted in a situation where Uruguay barely have any creativity in midfield. Their midfield quartet (Torreira, Vecino, Nandez and Rodrigo Bentancur) has averaged a total of 1.4 key passes per game- less than 75 individual players in the tournament.

This creative void has affected Uruguay’s attack; they have only scored two goals from open play, both of which came against Portugal and involved moments of genius from Cavani and Suarez. Considering the quality of France’s centre-back duo (Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane), Suarez and Cavani may not have a similar impact against Les Blues. In that situation, Uruguay’s lack of midfield creativity may be an issue.