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
Yulián Gómez
Player profile:
- Nationality: Colombian
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 04/08/1997
- Current Club: Independiente Medellin
- Career: Independiente Medellin (Y), CD Real Cartagena (L), AD Union Magdalena (L)
- Position: left-back
- Secondary position: left midfielder
- Preferred foot: left
Yulián Gómez played as a left-back and he did not impress that much. Even though he chose the right moments to drive forward, he lacked ball control and his crosses were below average. After he crossed the ball, he tracked back quickly and he tried to get in position as soon as possible. In defence, he kept looking at the ball and he did not scan enough.
Rating: C
I did not rate Gómez that highly, might want to rewatch him.
Note: against Millonarios, Yulián Gómez suffered a bad ankle injury.
Juan David Mosquera
Player profile:
- Nationality: Colombian
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 05/09/2002
- Current Club: Independiente Medellin
- Career: Independiente Medellin (Y)
- Position: right-back
- Preferred foot: right
Juan David Mosquera played as a right-back for DIM and his physical appearance was impressive, especially at the age of 17. At the age of 17, he is already 1.86 m and he managed to push Quiñones off the ball quite often. He did well to stay in the defensive line and to choose the right moments to step out of the defensive line.
Mosquera made some good interceptions and he was aggressive in a good way. At times, he put pressure on the opponent high on the pitch and he managed to anticipate well on mistakes of the opponent. Example given, Arbelãez had a bad first touch once and Mosquera recovered possession by anticipating well.
However, he positioned himself wrongly in the duel with Quiñones once, trying to force him to go on the outside but leaving a slight gap open on the inside which Quiñones made use of, and he managed to get a shot on target from around eight meters. Also, he was not alert enough during a corner and allowed Quiñones to get in front of him and to head it towards goal from a few meters.
Also, Mosquera does not have a great technique, and this can be seen in his ball control and passing technique. He had a lot of time on the ball, so he did not have to act quickly under pressure in this match, but with his ball control and first touch, it is not likely that his handling speed will be good enough yet.
He’s quick and active in transition and likes to support the attack by making overlapping runs. Mosquera uses his good physique to stay in possession and was able to turn his opponent by shielding the ball off well.
Rating: A2 / B2
His technical abilities could be a red flag and I need to see him more often to assess his potential better. Some abilities like mobility, ball control, etc. are hard to improve much on and if these are below par, it could be that he would not succeed in Europe. However, physically, he’s very mature already.
José Estupiñan
Player profile:
- Nationality: Colombian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 06/05/2000
- Current Club: Independiente Medellin
- Career: Independiente Medellin (Y)
- Position: central midfielder
- Preferred foot: right
José Estupiñan played as a right central midfielder and did not impress that much. First of all, Estupiñan did not scan enough and this often led to the loss of possession as he turned to the wrong side. Also, he passed a lot of passes backwards because he did not scan to see if there are any teammates in space.
He did not impress in the defensive aspect as well, as he got dribbled past easily by Barrios at times. Also, he lost some of the aerial duels because he did not time his jump well. However, he did well to close gaps at times which was his strongest ability.
Rating: C
As he is still very young, he could improve on the things I mentioned above. I need to rewatch him.
Juan Manuel Cuesta
Player profile:
- Nationality: Colombian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 09/02/2002
- Current Club: Independiente Medellin
- Career: Independiente Medellin (Y)
- Position: left-winger
- Secondary position: attacking midfielder
- Preferred foot: right
Juan Manuel Cuesta played as a left-winger and he had an okay performance. He just turned 18 (in this match he was still 17 years old) and his physical appearance is above average, he showed that he has good decision-making in the final third but just did not manage to get the pass right at times. Sometimes, he tried to start dribbling before his first touch in one movement, but he often missed the ball with his foot and did not get the first touch right. At the 2-0, he tackled the goalkeeper well after he put pressure on the opponents using his good acceleration and pace.
Rating: A2
Even though there is much room for improvement, I do think he is very talented as he recently turned 18 and still has a lot of years to improve. I need to rewatch him in a few months.
Steven Rodríguez
Player profile:
- Nationality: Colombian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 13/10/1998
- Current Club: Independiente Medellin
- Career: Independiente Medellin (Y)
- Position: striker
- Secondary position: right-wing
- Preferred foot: right
Steven Rodríguez played as a striker and dropped deep sometimes to support the build-up. However, even though he had a lot of time to get his first touch right, he did not control the ball well which led to the loss of possession. He was smart to draw some fouls of the opponent. He’s very goal oriented and tried to shoot from distance sometimes, while passing to his teammates would be a better option. He did well to put pressure on the defensive line.
Rating: C
I don’t think he’s very talented. Like Yulián Gómez, if I get the chance to watch him I will rewatch him.