His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.
RECEIVE
in the first line of build-up — mostly in the middle third (53% of his 90 passes)
73% completion · 90× in 3/3 matches
↓
BREAK A LINE
vertical pass past the opponent midfield
6.0 prog/90 · 21× in 3/3 matches
↓
PROGRESS
entries into the final third
2.6/90 · 6× in 3/3 matches
Signature: Receive → Break A Line → Progress — the only steps proven repeatable this season (3 of 5 in the full pattern). Not enough evidence yet for the rest of the chain below.
Not a pattern: carry out — 0× (insufficient confidence, hidden — not enough evidence yet); switch play — 1× (low confidence, shown as a number only, no tactical conclusion drawn) — omitted from the signature rather than presented as one.
In possession
In possession
What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.
27 tracked carries (11.6/90, 6 progressive, 217m total) — the ball moving with his touches, a different signal from dribbles below (beating an opponent 1v1). even a player who rarely dribbles past a man can still carry the ball forward constantly in build-up; this is that.
progressivelateral/short% of his 27 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 7m, longest 17m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
First (16)Second (11)grouped by carry pattern (start + end position), largest group first
startendown goal left, attacking →
Beaten in the tackle
How often an attacker gets past him in a 1v1 defensive duel — the closest signal the data has to "dribbled past" (no attacker-beat-defender field exists directly, so this counts tackles he attempted and lost).
2
tackle duels
1
won
1
beaten · 50%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 100%
OUTSIDE 0%
Tackle-duel location — 2 inside · 0 outside
Right Wing
0 · 0%
Right Half-Space
0 · 0%
Central
0 · 0%
Left Half-Space
2 · 100%
Left Wing
0 · 0%
Vision AI beaten in 1 of 2 tackle duels (50% loss rate) — a solid 1v1 defensive record.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →
He attempted only 0 dribbles of his own all season — dribbling is not part of this role; his ball-carrying is covered above, his defending against the dribble below.
05
How does he create chances?
0 key passes (0.00/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.
Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
chance creation (0)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
03
Where does he become vulnerable?
24 times he gave the ball away. For a defender the danger is where — a loss in his own third can turn into a chance against; higher up it costs little.
1
attacking third (cheap)
12
middle third
11
own third (dangerous)
Vision AI 4% of losses are in the attacking third — a notable share happen deeper, which invites transitions.
Mistake danger (proxy): 5.45 danger-index/90 · 0.530 avg/turnover. Weights each loss by threat conceded at that location. True xT-conceded needs the opponent possession model; positional proxy.
02
Tactical patterns — how his football actually looks
Three clustered sequence diagrams from his own event data — his three busiest routes: the way he progresses, the pattern behind his chances, and where a turnover turns dangerous.
own goal left, attacking →
How does he progress the ball forward?
His most common route for progressing play: he plays straight through the left wing in the middle third — 5 passes worth 0.39 xT.
Where does he lose the ball most?
This is a RATE, not a raw count — the share of his touches in each zone that end in a turnover, so a zone he simply plays in more often doesn't automatically look riskier. His weakest zone is the left wing in the defensive third: 35% of his 23 touches there are lost (8 times).
33 defensive actions across the season (14.1/90). Where he wins the ball, and how — the core question for a defender. Aerial duels are not recorded for this competition, so aerial dominance is not measured here.
click a card to isolate that action type · own goal left, attacking →
2
tackles · 50% won
4
interceptions · 1.7/90
5
recoveries · 2.1/90
12
clearances · 5.1/90
0
blocks
27
avg action height
1
won high (att 3rd)
7
middle third
25
own third
Vision AI A deep-defending defender. He wins the ball mainly by clearing and blocking — a reactive, protect-the-box profile. 11 proactive ball-wins (4.7/90), tackle success 50%. He defends deep, protecting his box — a last-line stopper.
Team
Team context
How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.
Osasuna's output per match with Unai Santos (3 matches) versus without him (7 matches). Insufficient evidence — the without-sample is only 7 matches; treat every Δ below as noise until more games exist. What his own defending should move — goals conceded and results — leads; attacking output (largely out of a defender's hands) is shown after, for context. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.
WITH (3)
WITHOUT (7)
Δ
goals against /match
3.33
1.43
+1.90
points /match
0.33
1.43
-1.10
goals for /match
1.00
1.00
+0.00
xG for /match
0.79
1.49
-0.70
08
His Share of the Team
Of everything Osasuna produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Unai Santos specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.
category
share
him / team
interceptions
1%
4 / 382
clearances
1%
12 / 1278
progressive passes
0%
8 / 2040
Recruitment
Style and verdict
Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.
Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 585 centre-backs in the pool (min 180 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.
Stopper centre-back22%Ball-playing centre-back16%
Why Stopper centre-back 22%: a weighted blend of ball-winning 37 (weight 40%) + defensive aggression 29 (weight 35%) + transition 38 (weight 10%) + retention 7 (weight 15%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Territory (wide vs central)
90
Progression
47
Carrying
43
Transition ~proxy
38
Receiving zones
37
Ball-winning
37
Passing directness
33
Line-breaking
32
Box threat
30
Defensive aggression
29
Crossing
25
Creativity
24
Build-up
24
Final-third threat
24
Through-balls ~proxy
20
Dribbling
10
Press resistance ~proxy
8
Retention
7
10
Similar Players — in style space
Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 180 cm) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style.Scope: pooled across the La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Premier League and Serie A, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.
Style, not quality:a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.
Kilian Fischer Wolfsburg · Bundesliga 25/26 · 182 cm / 77 kg
82%
Driven by: retention (14%), press resistance (13%), territory (wide vs central) (11%). Different mechanism — Santos more via passing directness, transition; Fischer more via crossing, press resistance.
Fali Candé Sassuolo · Serie A · 184 cm / 82 kg
82%
Driven by: press resistance (23%), retention (14%), dribbling (12%). Different mechanism — Santos more via carrying, progression; Candé more via creativity, defensive aggression.
Saba Sazonov Getafe · 192 cm / 82 kg
79%
Driven by: press resistance (22%), dribbling (13%), retention (11%). Different mechanism — Santos more via territory (wide vs central), progression.
Dominik Drobnic Parma Calcio 1913 · Serie A · 194 cm
78%
Driven by: press resistance (20%), dribbling (11%), retention (11%). Different mechanism — Santos more via progression, line-breaking; Drobnic more via defensive aggression, build-up.
Emmanuel Biumla Angers · Ligue 1 · 185 cm / 75 kg
77%
Driven by: press resistance (21%), creativity (14%), dribbling (13%). Different mechanism — Santos more via territory (wide vs central), receiving zones; Biumla more via build-up, defensive aggression.
Tobias Slotsager Hellas Verona · Serie A 25/26 · 190 cm
76%
Driven by: press resistance (25%), retention (17%), dribbling (13%). Different mechanism — Santos more via line-breaking; Slotsager more via passing directness, defensive aggression.
11
Summary
Unai Santos is a stopper centre-back: 73% pass completion, 21 line-breaking passes and 6.0 progressive passes /90. A build-and-progress centre-back whose value is in beating the first line with the pass, not in raw defensive volume. [Aerial duels, marking, line-height and 1v1 recovery need aerial-event + tracking data, absent here.]
Based on 3 matches (210 minutes) — an early read, treat with caution until more minutes are logged. He profiles as a stopper centre-back — best used in a system built around that identity.
His biggest room for growth is retention — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall stopper centre-back profile.
✨ This report is interactive
Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.