Red Bull Bragantino played a home match against Guarani FC. It was an exciting match in which RB Bragantino put pressure on Guarani early, even in the opposites box, but Guarani looked promising and managed to play out of their pressure a lot of times, also creating chances in the process. However, Bragantino managed to score a good header and after Guarani got a red card in the second half, they did not have many chances to equalize.
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, re-watch
- D – Below average in this match
Wálber
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 12/06/1997
- Club: Athletico Paranaense, on loan at Guarani FC
- Career: Botafogo, Sport Recife (L), Athletico Paranaense, Figueirense FC (L), Guarani FC (L)
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Wálber played as a right central defender for Guarani in the match against Red Bull Bragantino and managed to make a good impression, looking dominant in defence and comfortable in possession. The Brazilian defender liked to dribble it out from the back and to play powerful passes towards the midfield. His passes did not always stay on the ground which made it hard for his teammate to control the ball. When he got put under pressure, he did not panic and just ran into space with the ball on his feet, looking over the ball to see if he could pass it somewhere.
The 23-year-old released the ball at the right time and did not get in trouble when dribbling it out from the back. He occasionally tried to play long passes towards the left-back Bidu or left winger. These passes were always accurate and he only rarely lost possession. In defence, he could stay calm and be more passive in the duels, while also being able to be aggressive and battle for the loose ball. In one situation, he came out on top in a duel with several attackers of Bragantino that tried to put him under pressure. The defender looked dominant and only got into trouble once, in which he did not clear the ball well. However, he got into the duel quickly and managed to cover one corner of the goal, which made it easy for the goalkeeper to make the save.
Wálber did well to close gaps towards the wing when the right-back would step out of the defensive line. He did well to check his shoulders and did not get into trouble when drifting out wide. The Brazilian defender chose the right moments to step out of the defensive line and came in front of his opponent well. In other situations, he would use his good physical ability to hold his opponent off and make sure that his opponent could not get to the ball. The 23-year-old showed good pace when Alerrando made a run in behind and did well to force him out wide, preventing Alerrando from being dangerous and able to have a shot on target.
Rating – A1
He would be ready to play in the Serie A (BR) based on this match. Also, he could do well in the Eredivisie or Jupiler League Pro in the lower top half teams. However, I obviously need to watch more matches of him to assess his current level and potential. At the first sight, it looked really promising though.
Bidu
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 04/05/1999
- Club: Guarani FC
- Career: Guarani FC (Y)
- Position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Bidu played as a left-back for Guarani in the match against Red Bull Bragantino. He really impressed with his ball-playing ability, being press-resistant and having a very good kicking technique. Especially in the first twenty minutes, he only showed promising signs. However, as the game continued, he showed that he does not have the required pace needed at the top level and that he is not the greatest defender, even though he did hold his own against Artur and managed to prevent him from getting an assist or goal.
The Brazilian left-back had some variation in his positioning when Guarani were in possession. During the times that the left central defender of Guarani got put under pressure, he would drop deeper while sticking close to the sideline to help out. When he received the ball in this area, the left central midfielder would always drift wide and Bidu showed good feet to get the ball there, as he first needed to get past the defender before he could pass the ball. He often used a drag back to get away from his defender and being able to pass it towards the left central midfielder.
He occasionally moved higher up the pitch while sticking close against the sideline again. Bidu sometimes received a long pass, especially from goal kicks, in this situation but did well to get his first touch right every time and showed good technique. The Brazilian left-back was very skilled on the ball and had various ways of playing out of pressure. He kept calm every time and always looked for the ball-playing option, rather than just booting the ball clear when getting put under pressure. The 21-year-old took a lot of set pieces and had a good delivery often, but sometimes he would get too much height on the ball.
He put in some good, dangerous crosses as well and nearly got an assist, but the strikers could not get on the end of his crosses at times. Bidu stayed calm in the final third as well as he did not put in crosses blindly, but cut back when he saw that there was no good run in the box. This allowed Guarani to stay in possession and was important for them, as they would gain a little bit of control over the match in these situations. Bidu helped Guarani stay in possession with his press-resistance and calmness in both his own half and the opposites half.
In defence, Bidu did well to stay narrow and he chose the right moments to step out of the defensive line. The 21-year-old seemed to be an aggressive defender who chose his moments to put high pressure on his opponent and did not put pressure on his opponent blindly, by which I mean that he did not put pressure in every single situation where the ball would get on his side of the pitch.
However, when Artur would drop deeper he would follow him around and this is where he got exposed a couple of times. Bidu was not very agile while Artur has decent acceleration and agility which allowed Artur to dribble past Bidu. The left-back could often not get back into the duels as he lacked pace. He got beat in the aerial duels quite easily as well as he looked to be quite small, which also led to the 1-0 but it was not really his fault as his opponent was a lot taller than Bidu.
Rating – B1
He could be a good addition in a team with a pacey left central defender who is able to cover Bidu’s back and can close gaps out wide well. His possible new team should also be a team where he can use his ball-playing ability and press-resistance as that is his main asset. However, I think that he will be stuck in Brazil for a while, but that he could go to Portugal at some point.