Libertad won 5-1 against General Díaz after showing some good football in the last match before the Paraguayan league got suspended. Libertad played in a 4-2-2-2 formation with Franco and Villalba playing as wingers who were given the license to roam centrally but also move on the outside. Libertad build-up patiently while General Díaz dropped deep in a 4-5-1 (4-4-1 after the red card of Barreto) formation. The visitors tried to find the man in space whenever they were in possession and playing a lot of short passes in the build-up but were often forced to play the long pass. In the end, Libertad was quite effective and managed to score 5.
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 in this match
Pablo Meza
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 29-01-1997
- Club: Club General Díaz de Luque
- Career: Club General Díaz de Luque (Y), Club General Díaz de Luque, Deportes Tolima, Club General Díaz de Luque
- Position: central defender
- Preferred foot: right
Pablo Meza played as a left central defender and he had a difficult day at the office. The Paraguayan defender likes to defend proactively and he stepped out of the defensive line very often. Most of the times, this was successful as he defended very well in the duels where he could try to intercept the ball immediately and did not need to turn or accelerate. Also, he got dragged wide by Oscar Cardozo at times and even though he won most of these duels, he left his position too many times and he needed to keep the defensive structure in mind more.
He did not work together with his partner in defence and the space between the two was too big. Furthermore, they were not in line very often and this left space open for the opponents to dive into. Also, they played their opponents onside too many times. However, it needs to be said that his partner in defence did this more often than Meza and that Meza solved a lot of problems, especially in the first half, for the 38-year-old Villalba. In general, the positional game was all over the place in this match and not up to standards.
Meza did well to scan at crosses but he did not follow it up with good decisions as he left space open for Martínez who could tap it into an open goal but failed to do so. Pablo Meza lacked acceleration and agility in this match and this cost General Díaz two goals, as Ferreira turned away from Meza at the 3-0 and simply outsprinted Meza at the 4-0. The Paraguayan defender showed good strength in the duels though, and seemed to win a lot of aerial duels.
The 23-year-old felt comfortable on the ball and showed good passing technique. He chose to pass it backwards when he was put under pressure but also gave some good short passes forward that were played in between a few opponents. Also, he gave some good long passes down the line towards Franco or Bareiro. However, there sometimes was miscommunication between him and the receiver of the pass as he played a long pass while the receiver dropped deep occasionally and Meza seemed complacent on the ball at times.
Rating: B2
I thought that this rating was quite hard to determine, as Meza impressed me in the first half when General Díaz still played with 11 men and showed some good signs in these 30 minutes. However, in the second half, it fell apart and he played very average. I will definitely rewatch as it could be an interesting player, definitely when playing next to a better defender.
Fabián Franco
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 11-10-1998
- Club: Club General Díaz de Luque
- Career: Club Cerro Porteño (Y), Club General Díaz de Luque, Club Guaraní (L), Club General Díaz de Luque
- Position: right midfielder
- Secondary position: right-back
- Preferred foot: right
Fabián Franco played as both a right midfielder and right-back in this match. In the first 27 minutes, he played as a right midfielder while he moved to the right-back position when Barreto got sent off. When playing as a right midfielder, he liked to swap sides and operate from the left side as well as operating from the right side of the pitch. He did not fully commit to his defensive duties at times which left Barreto exposed in 2v1 situations during the times that Mathías Espinoza made an overlapping run.
After 27 minutes, he switched to playing as a right-back and in this position he did alright, even though it was clear that he is better in a more advanced position as his proactive defending can lead to problems for General Diáz’ defence. He left the defence often and was aggressive in the duels. This was not the best option at times as he got dribbled past quite easily at times. His aggressiveness led to giving away fouls. However, he had some good recovery tackles and got back into the duels often.
At one occasion, he made a passing mistake in the defensive third and managed to make up for it himself, using his good acceleration, pace and tackling ability to make a recovery tackle. It was shown that Franco was left frustrated at his teammates quite often.
On the ball, he showed his promising ability. He has a decent technique and managed to play out of pressure using smart foot movements. In these situations, he also kept very calm and composed and it stood out that he managed to find the right solution a lot of times. As mentioned above, this went wrong once but this is not a big deal as he would play in a more advanced position normally where it would not be a problem if he lost the ball once.
He showed okay dribbling ability as well, in his rare attempts. Franco played some good cross passes and was dangerous in dead ball situations, using his good kicking technique and nearly assisting Bareiro after he sent in a very good inswinging free kick. Also, he showed decent vision in the final third but his final pass lacked at times.
Rating: A2
I will rewatch him when he plays as a right midfielder or right winger but I definitely liked what I saw from him in a more advanced position.
Sergio Bareiro
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 04-11-1998
- Club: Club General Díaz de Luque
- Career: Club General Díaz de Luque (Y), Huachipato FC, Club General Díaz de Luque
- Position: striker
- Preferred foot: right
Sergio Bareiro played as the lone striker in this match and was left isolated at times, especially after Barreto got sent off and when they changed to a 4-4-1 formation. I think that he could have done more to support General Díaz when they got put under pressure. He stayed centrally, while taking up a position near the sideline for when General Díaz cleared it or passed it down the line would have been better. This happened quite often and I think that Bareiro should have drifted wide more often to support his teammates.
When he was on the ball, he showed that he is able to play very well with both feet and that he likes to play first touch through passes in behind, using his good technique in both feet and good vision to spot the space in behind. Bareiro liked to attempt a dribble occasionally as well and showed that he has good changes of direction and ability in the tight spaces as well as he could turn quite quickly and managed to control the ball quite well using good feet work.
Bareiro showed that he has a good first touch but he sometimes seemed to lack the strength or smartness to hold up the play well. He used good feints to get away from his opponents, did well to draw fouls and liked to chest the ball down when he needed to process a middle-high ball. Also, he won a lot of aerial duels as he seemed quite athletic and able to jump high. The Paraguayan nearly scored in the first half from a header after Franco sent in a good cross. Out of possession, Bareiro was very effective in putting pressure on the opponents and used his acceleration to close down his opponents very quickly.
Rating: A1
I think that he could play better in a team that dominates play more and it will be very interesting to rewatch him. Based on this match, he could move to one of the top four clubs in Paraguay.
Matías Barreto
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 20-07-2000
- Club: Club General Díaz de Luque
- Career: Club General Díaz de Luque (Y)
- Position: right-back
- Preferred foot: right
Matías Barreto played as a right-back in this match and got sent off after just 27 minutes. In these 27 minutes, he did not show that many promising signs as he had a mediocre technique, he seemed to panic whenever he got on the ball under pressure (he booted it clear when he intercepted a pass) and was not that smart in the duels. However, he made one good run in behind when Franco dropped deeper.
Rating: D
I will rewatch him when I get the chance, but the first signs were not that promising.