Vélez beat Colón 3-1 at home after what was a dominant performance by the home team. They set up in a 4-3-3 formation with the full-backs and wingers having a good cooperation as they constantly switched positions which left the opponent confused. Vélez managed to create a lot of chances thanks to the creativity of players like Thiago Almada and cruised to victory comfortably.
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
Brian Cufré
- Nationality: Argentinian
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 15/12/1996
- Club: Vélez Sarsfield
- Career: Vélez Sarsfield (Y)
- Position: left-back
- Secondary position: central midfield
- Preferred foot: left
Brian Cufré played as a left-back in the match against Colón and managed to impress with his ability in the attack. He made some good third man runs and is able to make both over- and underlapping runs. His positional understanding is very good and he can either choose to take up a position sticking close to the sideline or a position in the half-space, while also having variation in dropping deeper or moving higher up the pitch. He works together well with Janson on the left and this variation in positioning confuses the opponent.
The Argentinian left-back likes to play powerful diagonal passes towards the center of the pitch and at once, this led to a pre-assist as he played a good pass towards Domínguez, who eventually gave an assist to Fernández. Occasionally, Cufré moves centrally and seems to play as a defensive midfielder in possession when in this case Domínguez drifted wide. The 23-year-old positions himself centrally when Vélez have possession in the final third on the right which allows Cufré to recover possession when the ball gets cleared.
Whenever his direct opponent receives the ball, Cufré closes the gap towards the opponent, but he makes sure that he keeps distance as he could get exposed easily if he would fully close the gap, as he could get wrong-footed easily and the opponent would have a head-start. Overall, it was a very good performance by the 23-year-old, who showed great technical ability once again.
Rating – A1
Thiago Almada
- Nationality: Argentinian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 26/04/2001
- Club: Vélez Sarsfield
- Career: Vélez Sarsfield (Y)
- Position: attacking midfield
- Secondary position: right winger and left winger
- Preferred foot: right
Thiago Almada played in a free role on the right wing in the match against Colón. He liked to stick close to the sideline, while dropping deep to receive the ball in a deep position, while also attracting the opponents left-back to move out of position. Almada liked to give crosses from the right wing, but also liked to cut inside to his weaker left foot. He combined with his teammates in the tight spaces often and proved to have an excellent first touch, ball control and short passing ability.
Thiago Almada showed good ability with his left foot but his right foot is definitely stronger, he proved this when he scored an amazing goal as he volleyed the ball in the bottom corner from the edge of the box. He has a good timing of his through passes as he liked carrying the ball while attracting the opponent to close the gap towards Almada which opened up space for his teammate, and eventually Almada played the pass at the perfect moment.
Overall, it was an exciting performance once again but still need to see him playing in other positions and focusing on him for 90 minutes instead of focusing on more players.
Rating – A1
Hernán De La Fuente
- Nationality: Argentinian
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 07-01-1997
- Club: Vélez Sarsfield
- Career: Vélez (Y)
- Position: right-back
- Preferred foot: right
Hernán De La Fuente played as a right-back in this match, and like Brian Cufré at left-back, he showed good positional understanding. He can either choose to take up a position sticking close to the sideline or a position in the half-space, while also having variation in dropping deeper or moving higher up the pitch. He works together well with Almada on the right and this variation in positioning confuses the opponent. De La Fuente had good diagonal passes towards the striker while also liking to play one-two’s and making runs in behind.
The Argentinian right-back looked very promising in attack. He made a lot of runs into the box and was very attacking-minded. Hernán De La Fuente looked dangerous and posed a threat for Colón’s defence. He timed his runs very well and often got into good areas. In defence, his task was to man mark his direct opponent and he did well to do so. He showed good anticipation as he got in front of his opponent often and defended well in the one vs. one’s, where he timed his interception well.
Overall, it was a good performance by the 23-year-old, who did well in the Pre Olympics Tournament as well. He got injured after 63 minutes.
Rating – A1