Santos Laguna drew 1-1 with UNAM Pumas in what was an eventful match. The home team played in a 4-4-2 formation with the wide midfielders often tucking inside to create space for overlapping runs by the full-backs. They often relied on the creativity of Brian Lozano to create chances and needed a penalty to score a goal. Apart from that, only Lozano managed to create chances for Santos Laguna.
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
Player profile:
- Nationality: Mexican
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 07/09/1998
- Current Club: Santos Laguna
- Career: Santos Laguna
- Position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Gerardo Arteaga played as a left-back in this match and impressed with his ability on the ball, despite he did not make enough impact in the final third, in my opinion. He stayed composed under pressure and even near his own byline, he did well to cut away from the opponent that put him under pressure. Arteaga occasionally showed good dribbling ability and proved that he is more than capable of playing in the tight spaces and finding his teammates in these situations.
Once, he received a long pass that was played too short, but he used quick feints before touching the ball which confused the opponent and he had a perfect first touch to play out of pressure using only one touch on the ball. He was capable of making overlapping runs but sporadically made an underlapping run when the wide midfielder occupied the left wing. Arteaga could have done more with his crossing, the intention often was good but his crosses were slightly inaccurate.
In defence, he recovered possession in the first minute after needing to close a big gap towards the attacker. In this action, he showed that he has good acceleration and pace on the long run. He scanned well when he had the option to either step out or stay in position and handled well after he scanned. In the first half, he did not get caught out of position a single time, but in the second half he did not anticipate well as he was too late and got dribbled past.
Arteaga closed gaps towards the center very well whenever the left central defender stepped out of defence to provide cover. During the times that Arteaga put pressure on the opponents high up the pitch, he did very well to cut passing lanes and force the opponents to play a pass down the line which was then easily defended by the central defender. The Mexican defender also did well to block some crosses in this match.
The 21-year-old is quite small, standing at only 5’8, but he did not show any weaknesses in the physical aspect. Arteaga had good stamina and kept running for 90 minutes long, he has good acceleration, decent balance, good pace and seemed quite light-footed when he needed to play out of pressure.
Rating: A1
I will need to rewatch him, but he looked promising, especially on the ball. However, I would like to see him being more involved in the final third.
Player profile:
- Nationality: Mexican
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 03/08/1998
- Current Club: Santos Laguna
- Career: Santos Laguna, Tampico (L)
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Eduardo Aguirre played as the right striker in a 4-4-2 and did not impress that much. He showed decent vision at times and was able to play a through pass, but he did not seem to have the finishing ability as he missed a sitter from close range and was not sharp enough in the box to get to the end of crosses. On the ball, he seemed heavy-footed. He tried to use quick feints, but it looked very slow and not impressive at all. His legs seem quite muscly so that could be an explanation for this.
Aguirre showed determination in the duels by never giving up but lacked ball control and mobility when he recovered possession to really do something good with the ball. Despite making some good runs into the box, he lacked sharpness in the box and often missed the ball by a small margin.
Rating: C
I did not like his performance and think that his mobility could hinder him in his career.
Target Scouting 