Sporting CP played in a 3-4-3 formation under Rúben Amorim and the head coach gave some younger players like Eduardo Quaresma and Matheus Nunes the chance to prove themselves in Liga NOS. They tried to build-up patiently but the midfielders lacked the ability to progress the ball further up the pitch by playing first touch passes to pace the build-up. Sporting got helped by Douglas, who made a big mistake which led to the 1-0 of Sporar but Luis Maximiano did the same thing which led to the 1-1. Sporar managed to score again after Jovane did well to assist him but near the end of the second half Marcus Edwards equalized. Sporting got some chances in the end against the 10 men of Vitória but could not find the winner.
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
Luís Maximiano
- Nationality: Portuguese
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 05/01/1999
- Club: Sporting CP
- Career: SC Braga (Y), Sporting CP (Y)
- Position: goalkeeper
- Preferred foot: both
The Portuguese youngster showed dominance and confidence in his playing style, even though he made a big mistake when he passed it short to Nunes, but he got his pass wrong. This led to the 1-1 of Vitória. However, the intention was good and he kept doing it after his mistake which I thought was a good thing. Also, he was dominant through the air and showed great confidence even after the mistake. He managed to catch a lot of long shots as well.
Rating: A2
It will not take long before Luís Maximiano will attract interest from the world’s biggest clubs.
Eduardo Quaresma
- Nationality: Portuguese
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 02/03/2002
- Club: Sporting CP
- Career: Sporting CP (Y)
- Position: central defender
- Preferred foot: right
Eduardo Quaresma made his debut in Liga NOS and played as the right central defender in a three at the back formation. In possession, he got a lot of space to act as Sporting often had a 3v2 formation in the first phase of the build-up. He handled this space well, showing confidence to dribble it out from the back and playing good, powerful line-breaking passes towards Jovane, who often positioned himself in the halfspaces to get into space. Also, he showed that he has good acceleration and nearly even scored after dribbling it out from the back and making a run into the box after he played the pass towards the wing.
In defence, he seemed to read the game very well despite this being only his first match at the highest level. He made some small errors, such as occasionally not spotting a run from Davidson or at the 2-2, when he defended the wrong side of Davidson and allowed him to shoot, which led to the 2-2. However, he did well to defend Davidson in the biggest part of the game as Rafael Camacho was not always in position and Davidson often moved more centrally.
Eduardo Quaresma did very well through the air and managed to win most of these duels by jumping high and timing his jump quite well. He also managed to block some crosses of the opponents and did well to force Hanin to go on the outside and relying on his acceleration to react quickly to Hanin’s movement. Quaresma did not seem that quick on the turn which was seen when Davidson got space to shoot.
Rating: A2
I expect Quaresma to remain as a starter in Amorim’s side and it will be interesting to keep track of his development in the coming months. His first match in Liga NOS was very impressive, despite making some small errors.
Matheus Nunes
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 27-08-1998
- Club: Sporting CP
- Career: Estoril, Sporting (Y)
- Position: attacking midfield
- Secondary position: left winger
- Preferred foot: right
Matheus Nunes also made his debut for the first team of Sporting and he had a very flat performance. He played as a left central midfielder and did not seem that confidence in possession as he mainly played it backwards while he had space to turn and progress the ball further up the pitch. Nunes showed that he could play a good long pass towards the right side of the pitch. He has good technical ability and managed to control the ball well. Out of possession, he often tried to anticipate well and to get into the duels with the opponents. However, he often was too late with stepping out which led to him getting dribbled past and Vitória getting into space. Nunes was also not the quickest on the turn which did not help him in these duels as well. Occasionally, he did well to recover and make a good tackle to recover possession.
Rating: B2
I will definitely rewatch him.
Jovane Cabral
- Nationality: Cape Verdean
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 14-06-1998
- Club: Sporting
- Career: Sporting (Y)
- Position: right winger
- Secondary position: left winger
- Preferred foot: right
Jovane Cabral played as a left winger and showed some very promising signs, but also some weaknesses. Off the ball, he always moved into the halfspaces and he dropped slightly deeper to support the build-up. He was very actively trying to do this and was very successful in doing this. Jovane received some powerful passes by Eduardo Quaresma and did well to control these passes well. Also, when Rafael Camacho got put under pressure on the right, Jovane did well to move towards him to give him a passing option. The idea was good, but his first touch passes were average and this led to possession loss.
His good positioning got highlighted when Sporar scored the 2-2, as he got into space in a central position, received the pass, moved forward and found Sporar with a good through pass, who scored it comfortably. Jovane Cabral also showed that he has very good physical ability. He has a very good acceleration and is very strong to hold off his opponents. However, because of his physical appearance (muscular legs) he is not that agile which could hinder him when he tries to turn his opponent. This was shown in the match as well. Also, his passing was a bit sloppy.
Last but not least, his decision making in the final third was not always that good as he tried to shoot it while laying it off would have been better. Also, his shooting was far below average as he was very wild in his finishing which led to inaccurate shots.
Rating: B1
I think that he is a strong player for Sporting but I doubt he will ever make it in a better team than Sporting. I will need to rewatch him.
Rafael Camacho
- Nationality: Portuguese
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 22-03-2000
- Club: Sporting
- Career: Sporting (Y), Manchester City (Y), Real SC (L), Liverpool (Y), Sporting
- Position: right winger
- Secondary position: left winger, attacking midfielder, right wing back
- Preferred foot: right
Rafael Camacho played as a right wing back for the first time in his career and showed very promising signs in this position. In defence, he anticipated well at times to get in front of his opponent to intercept the pass. He closed gaps towards the center very well to help out Eduardo Quaresma. However, his body position in the 1v1 was not always that good as in a few duels, Eduardo Quaresma covered the outside but Rafael Camacho left the inside open which was very bad, especially against a winger like Davidson who likes to cut inside.
Also, he sometimes positioned himself a bit too high up the pitch and occasionally forgot to perform his defensive duties. This meant that he left Eduardo Quaresma isolated and in a 1v1 situation with Davidson. On the ball, he showed very promising signs as he had very good dribbling ability. He is very quick on the turn and a skilful player. He made some good overlapping runs and dealt well with the space he got. At once, he dribbled past a few players but did not spot his teammates and decided to shoot himself.
Rating: A2
As it was his first time playing as a right wing-back, he obviously still had some flaws in his playing style but he definitely showed promising signs. I will definitely keep an eye out for his development.
Miscellaneous notes
Andraz Sporar (1994) did very well to stay composed in the final third, had good link-up play, showed good acceleration on the ball and had decent vision in the final third which makes him a very interesting player.