Ratings
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average, don’t follow up
Saidy Janko
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Swiss
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 22/10/1995
- Current Club: BSC Young Boys, on loan from Porto
- Career: Zurich (Y), Manchester United (Y), Bolton (L), Celtic, Barnsley (L), Saint Etienne, Porto, Nottingham Forest (L), BSC Young Boys (L)
- Position: Right Back
- Secondary Position: Right Wing Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Young Boys set up in a 3-4-3 in this match with Janko playing as a wing back. He definitely enjoyed the freedom to press out of the line more and push higher up into space. His first touch was excellent and received switches of play in space well. Physically he’s well build and showed very good pace in this game. He’s a powerful runner who looking to travel down the line when there was space and looked to use his pace to knock the ball past the opponent, doing well on faster breaks but was less dangerous when play was slower as he didn’t try much 1v1 and wasn’t able to produce any dangerous crosses.
He pressed out well into midfield but was slow to regain defensive organisation, not working hard enough to get back when play wasn’t close to him. For Porto’s second goal he was out of position when a cross from the far side came in for example, caused by low work rate and lapse in concentration. He was good at defending on recovery runs, working hard to track back and made well timed tackles from behind as well as using his body well to get between the man and ball.
Rating: B1
Good physically with some good technical ability but struggled to affect the attack and although he defended well in the middle third but he was poor within the box and lacked a consistent work rate.
Cedric Zesiger
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Swiss
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 26/06/1998
- Current Club: BSC Young Boys
- Career: NE Xamax, Grasshoppers, BSC Young Boys
- Position: Centre Half
- Preferred foot: Left
Zesiger had a quiet game on the left side of a back three. He wasn’t involved in buildup much and when he got possession mainly just passed to his other centre halves as he didn’t have many options. He didn’t do enough in possession, he took progressive touches but even his simple passes could have been crisper and slightly more accurate.
He was often tasked with defending the physical Marega. They battled a lot and Zesiger did well and showed some good gamesmanship by getting away with some fouls. He pressed out the line when needed but tried to stay in position. He’s an active defender who seems to enjoy defending with good concentration and communication. He was good footwork and covered balls in behind well, using a good burst of pace but was quite average over medium distances. He stays tight to his man and doesn’t allow them space. His wing back pushed high a lot and Zesiger had to cover and defend wider areas a lot which he did well but closing down space and delaying the attack.
Rating: A2
Ulisses Garcia
Player Profile:
- Nationality: 11/01/1996
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 06/02/2000
- Current Club: BSC Young Boys
- Career: Zurich (Y), Grasshoppers, Werder Bremen, Nuremberg (L), BSC Young Boys
- Position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Playing as a left wing back, Garcia had an unremarkable performance. He made some good runs forward in space and was accessible for switches of play. His touch and ball control were good but wasn’t dangerous in 1v1s and lacked conviction. In buildup he didn’t offer himself enough to the defence although a few times he came quite narrow into an inverted full back position to receive from the defence.
He was decent physically with a good build with decent pace but not blistering. He was quite explosive but his defensive footwork and reactions weren’t great and paired with inconsistent defensive body position he struggled in 1v1s. He had a good work rate though but didn’t effect the game in possession.
Rating: C
Vincent Sierro
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Swiss
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 08/10/1995
- Current Club: BSC Young Boys
- Career: FC Sion, Freiburg, St Gallen (L), BSC Young Boys
- Position: Central Midifeld
- Secondary Position: Defensive Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Sierro played in a midfield two and had a poor game. He worked hard, pressing with intensity but overcommitted in tackles, planting his feet too often and fouling a lot. He was aggressive and strong but didn’t channel it well and gave away too many free kicks.
He didn’t position himself to support the centre halves in buildup much and was man marked a lot and didn’t get that many touches on the ball. When he got the ball in space his played short, simple passes with good technique but didn’t effect the game in or out of possession. He didn’t check his shoulders enough and lacked full awareness so lost the ball and didn’t manage to progress it much at all.
Rating: D