Youth ratings:
1 – Ready for the first team
2 – Good, potential to be first team
3 – Decent, could make first team squad
4 – Decent potential, unlikely to make it to first team
5 – Unlikely to make first team
Alex Dos Santos
Player profile:
- Nationality: Spanish & Brazilian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 15/1/1999
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B
- Career: Atlético Madrid youth
- Position: goalkeeper
- Preferred foot: right
Alex Dos Santos was quick out of his goal to deal with the crosses and managed to punch a lot of crosses away. He did not catch that many balls through the air though. His passing ability was mediocre and he did not have a good kicking technique. It must been said that there was a lot of wind though. Worth rewatching as he did not have to make many saves.
Rating: 4
It would make sense to watch Dos Santos play one more time.
Andrés Solano
Player profile:
- Nationality: Colombian & Italian
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 24/02/1998
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B
- Career: Atlético Madrid youth
- Position: right-back
- Preferred foot: right
The 22-year-old Colombian was one of the players that stood out in this match. In attack, he chose the right moments to get forward, but his passing was sloppy. He gave a nice assists to Darío Poveda, after seeing the run he made and providing him with a very good cross. Sometimes, his handling speed could be better.
In defence, he coached his teammates very well. He told his teammate to cover his position when he was out of position for example. He chose the right moments to put pressure on the opposition and covered Mejias’ position when he was out of position. It can be said that he has good positional awareness.
It’s debatable whether his physical attributes are good enough to make it at Atlético Madrid, but I like him very much and I think he could become a decent player in the future.
Rating: 3
I thought it was an impressive performance and therefore I will scout him further.
Josua Mejías
Player profile:
- Nationality: Venezuelan
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 1/8/1997
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B (on loan from CD Leganés)
- Career: Carabobo, Leganés, Cartagena (L), Gimnàstic (L)
- Position: central defender
- Preferred foot: right
Josua Mejías tried to anticipate well and defend aggressively, leaving the defensive line quite often. However, this led to a missed interception multiple times and he got pushed off the ball in defensive duels quite often. He is quite athletic and he is okay on the turn. In possession, he seemed uneasy, choosing for a long pass often. These passes were mostly inaccurate. I’ve seen him play at the pre-Olympics as well and I think that Mejías could become an okay LaLiga player in the future.
Rating: 4
Made some errors, but it will be interesting to see how he performs in other matches.
Álvaro Garcia
Player profile:
- Nationality: Spanish
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 1/6/2000
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B
- Career: Albacete
- Position: central defender
- Preferred foot: left
Positioned himself well during the times that Mejías missed his interception. When he has the time, he is able to play a good long pass. As well as Mejías, he often tried to defend aggressively and he chose the wrong moments to step out the defensive line. He seemed insecure during crosses as well. Need to rewatch in order to decide what his potential is.
Rating: 4
Need to watch him once more to come to a better conclusion.
Manu Sánchez
Player profile:
- Nationality: Spanish
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 24/8/2000
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B
- Career: Atlético Madrid youth
- Position: left-back
- Preferred foot: left
Manu Sánchez stood out as well, as he showed some good positioning awareness and was good in the defensive duels. Only once he timed his interception wrongly, but he recovered the mistake himself and managed to recover possession. He lost most of the aerial duels and his pace was good.
In possession, he tried to get forward when he could and showed some good attacking movements. However, it seemed like his ball control was shaky at times. His agility was alright and he had good bursts of speed on the ball, passing a few opponents.
Manu Sánchez already made his debut for Atlético Madrid this season. I need to rewatch him.
Rating: 3
Liked his performance and I think he has some potential on him.
Juan Manuel Sanabria
Player profile:
- Nationality: Uruguayan
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 29/3/2000
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B
- Career: Club Nacional
- Position: central midfielder
- Secondary position: defensive midfielder
- Preferred foot: left
Juan Manuel Sanabria showed some good on the ball movements. He is good in the tight spaces, is able to combine with his teammates and has good awareness. For example, when he was put under pressure he switched play which led to the 0-1. He has decent technique, good passing and keeps calm when being put under pressure. In defence, he sometimes was too late and this led to a gap in midfield, thanks to Sanabria. I think he is a promising midfielder and he definitely needs to be rewatched.
Rating: 3
Interesting performance and it’s worth to watch him again.
Mikel Carro
Player profile:
- Nationality: Spanish
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 25/01/1999
- Current club: CD Castellón (on loan from Atlético Madrid B)
- Career: Atlético Madrid youth
- Position: defensive midfielder
- Secondary position: central defender
- Preferred foot: right
A quiet performance by Mikel Corro, who now plays for CD Castellón on loan. He spread the play well at times and he used his body very well to shield the ball. He anticipated and positioned himself quite well which is why he could shield the ball off well. When being put under pressure, Corro was uneasy and he decided to play it long often. One of the weaker players of this side, but he needs to be rewatched as I liked his defensive performance.
Rating: 4
Moved to Castellòn on loan and it will be interesting to see him play in a different environment.
Óscar Clemente
Player profile:
- Nationality: Spanish
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 26/3/1999
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B
- Career: Atlético Madrid youth
- Position: attacking midfielder
- Secondary position: central midfielder
- Preferred foot: left
Very calm under pressure and good on the ball. Especially in the tight spaces, his abilities on the ball were shown. He tried to shield off the ball often by using his body to put between the ball and the opponent. However, he got pushed off the ball easily at times. He scored the 1-2 and it was a very calm finish. Defensively, I liked his performance as well as he chose the right moments to be aggressive or to stay in position.
Clemente already made his debut for the first team of Atlético Madrid this season and I’m excited to see more of him.
Rating: 3
One of the stand-out players in this match.
Rodrigo Riquelme
Player profile:
- Nationality: Spanish
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 2/4/2000
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B
- Career: Atlético Madrid youth
- Position: right-winger
- Secondary position: left-winger, attacking midfielder
- Preferred foot: right
Rodrigo Riquelme caught my eye during the Youth League match against Ajax and I was very interested to see how he would perform against Ibiza. His abilities on the ball are quite clear, he has a very good technique, can pass his opponent and has good vision. However, in this match he had a tough time due to his lack of physicality. He was very active in tracking back, which is good when you play for Atlético. Riquelme has a contract that expires this summer.
Rating: 3
His potential is clear, but he had a tough match.
Darío Poveda
Player profile:
- Nationality: Spanish
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 13/3/1997
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B
- Career: Villareal, Atlético Madrid
- Position: striker
- Preferred foot: right
Darío Poveda definitely was my man of the match. He often was left isolated at top because Atlético played quite defensively. Poveda managed to hold up play very well or draw out a foul. The Spaniard was actively trying to put pressure on the backline when it was needed. He is not the most agile player but he managed to dribble past defenders, using his great physicality.
Poveda sporadically positioned himself well between the lines to receive the pass. He scored the 0-1 after making a good run and heading it in well. He gave the assist for the 1-2 after holding up play very well and dribbling past a defender, before looking up and finding Clemente in acres of space.
He suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in December 2019 and made his debut for the first team of Atlético Madrid this season. It will be interesting to see if he can reach the same level when he comes back from injury.
Rating: 2
Man of the match, really impressive performance.
Cedric Teguia
Player profile:
- Nationality: Spanish & Cameroonian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 1/10/2001
- Current club: Atlético Madrid B
- Career: Atlético Madrid youth
- Position: left-winger
- Preferred foot: left
Even though Teguia sometimes struggled to control the ball, he had some very good first touches where he passed the opponent immediately. His physique, acceleration, speed and technique were alright. He worked very hard in defence. Because of his lack of ball control at times, I don’t think he played that well. I will rewatch him though, as the pitch was not that optimal.
He has muscular problems at the moment and has only played 2 matches in the second half of the season.
Rating: 3
Did not really like his style of play, need to rewatch.