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
Héctor Maestre
Player profile:
- Nationality: Venezuelan
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 19/02/2001
- Current Club: Monagas SC (L)
- Career: Deportivo Lara (Y)
- Position: central defender
- Preferred foot: both
Héctor Maestre played as a central defender and impressed with his good physical appearance and defensive abilities. Maestre was very dominant in the 1-on-1 duels, bullying his opponent off the ball. Also, he was decent in aerial duels. He showed good awareness to close the gap when his partner in defence stepped out the defensive line.
When they played a high defensive line, Maestre had a good stance to be able to react quickly to possible runs in-behind. Apart from one mistake, Maestre chose the right moments to step out of the defensive line as well and he managed to intercept some passes by doing this.
On the ball, he showed good ability as well. He either chose for the simple option or a long diagonal cross pass, which were almost every time accurate. Maestre was comfortable playing with both feet which was good as well.
Rating: A1 / A2
Overall, it was a very confident performance by Maestre. I think he could play at a higher level, but I need to rewatch him to determine whether this statement is valid.
Ismael Romero
Player profile:
- Nationality: Venezuelan
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 02/03/1999
- Current Club: Monagas SC
- Career: Monagas SC (Y)
- Position: right-back
- Secondary position: left-back
- Preferred foot: both
Ismael Romero played as a right-back in this match and he did okay. In the first half, he did well to stay close to the right central defender and to be disciplined to not step out of the defensive line too much. However, in the second half he defended more aggressive and he liked to put pressure high up the pitch. This did not lead to any threatening situations for the opponent.
He kept calm and composed in the defensive third and didn’t panic when he needed to process a cross. On the ball, he showed that he has decent passing ability with both his right and left foot. He showed average acceleration and pace and got outpaced sometimes by the winger.
Rating: B2
I need to rewatch him.
Andrés Romero
Player profile:
- Nationality: Venezuelan
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 07/03/2003
- Current Club: Monagas SC
- Career: Monagas SC (Y)
- Position: right-winger
- Secondary position: left-winger
- Preferred foot: right
My favourite player of the match was Andrés Romero. He played as a right-midfielder in the first half and mostly as a left-midfielder in the second half, as Yorlen Cordero shifted to the right side in the second half. Andrés Romero made some good dribbles, being able to use quick feints in the tight spaces to get past the opponent.
He is very quick on the first few meters and has good pace in longer distances as well. He had good turns of directions and got past his opponent constantly. Romero had good variation as well, switching from playing in the halfspaces to sticking to the sideline. When he got put under pressure, he often decided to cut back and keep calm to let Monagas reorganize.
Sometimes, he dropped deep, attracting the full-back to follow him which left a gap in which his teammates could have dived to create a threatening situation. However, his teammates did not use this space that much. Romero used his body very well to shield off the ball when he received a pass.
During the times that he lost the ball for a moment, he was very determined to keep the ball and managed to get the ball every time in some way, which I thought was impressive. He made a very good run into the box in the second half which could have ended up in him scoring a goal, but the cross was not good unfortunately.
Also, when he received the ball in the box, he managed to control the ball well and used his body very well to keep in possession and to get past one or two defenders to nearly get a shot off, but his shot was blocked. Nevertheless, it was a very impressive moment by the 17-year-old. He has good vision, but he had a shot on target once when it was better to lay it off to Yorlen Cordero.
In the defensive aspect, Romero managed to impress me as well. He was hard working in the times that he should be working hard. He intercepted some passes and he did enough to keep the defensive structure of his team intact. His physique was above average, especially for his age.
Rating: A1
I think that he could play at a higher level already, despite having this little experience at the highest level. He could move to Europe in the future for sure, and teams like Benfica should definitely look at him as he would be a great addition to their club. In that case, he would play for the under 19’s or B-team first.
Yorlen Cordero
Player profile:
- Nationality: Venezuelan
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 05/02/2002
- Current Club: Monagas SC
- Career: Monagas SC (Y)
- Position: right-winger
- Secondary position: left-winger and secondary striker
- Preferred foot: right
Yorlen Cordero played as the right-striker in the first half in a 4-4-2 formation, but he played as a left midfielder in the second half. As a striker, he did not impress that much as he got pushed off the ball easily and he failed to get a lot of touches on the ball. Also, he did not make that many good runs.
He liked to drop deep to support the build-up, but he was not found that often. Cordero also drifted wide sometimes and he looked to carry the ball whenever he had the ball. His passes were accurate most of the time, despite not having that many touches in the first half.
However, as a left midfielder, he played very well. He managed to shield off the ball well when he kept his balance, which he couldn’t do playing as a striker. Cordero was able to both go on the inside and on the outside and gave the assist to the own goal of René Flores.
Rating: B2
I need to rewatch him playing as a left midfielder as I’m not fully sure about his capabilities.
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