Lommel SK finally won a league game again after only getting one point from the last four games. Away against Lierse Kempenzonen Lommel had a rough start. The visitors dominated possession, but played a very low tempo and were very vulnerable against Lierse’s counter attacks. After nine minutes it was Euloge Placca who opened the score with a good shot from the right. Lommel SK came back however and equalized before halftime through Ugalde. In the second half Lommel didn’t play brilliant football, but the tempo was a bit higher at times. Lommel quickly scored two times in the second half winning the match with 1-3.
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
Manfred Ugalde
Player profile:
- Nationality: Costa Rican
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 25/05/2002
- Current club: Lommel SK
- Career: Deportivo Saprissa, Lommel SK
- Position: Striker
- Secondary Position: Attacking Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Manfred Ugalde scored 12 goals for Deportivo Saprissa last year, being just 17 years old. The Costa Rican moved to Europe and started out strong for Lommel SK. The natural striker played as the attacking midfielder against Lierse and scored his fourth goal of the season. In the 40th minute Anass Zaroury made a good dribble on the left and put in a low cross which deflected towards Ugalde who convincingly put the ball in the back of the net. Ten minutes earlier Ugalde missed a very big chance, but from close range his left footed shot went over the bar.
Ugalde played just behind striker Kadiri, but often dropped back just a bit to collect the ball. The 18-year old is only 5’7”, but the Lierse players couldn’t get him off the ball. The youngster has a low centre of gravity which combined with his agility and excellent technique made him a nightmare for the Lierse defenders. Ugalde seemed like a very smart player the way he moved off the ball, looking for one-two’s but also making some good runs behind Lierse’s defense.
Ugalde’s passsing was also very good this game. He showed good short- and long passes, passed with both feet and even played some nice passes with the outside of his foot. He was often pressed by his opponents, but always still had great vision spotting runs made by his teammates.
Rating: A1
Manfred Ugalde is a fantastic played for Lommel. He has adapted very quickly at just 18 years of age and has a lot of potential. I think he could be a good player for a lot of teams in the Jupiler Pro League already.
Vinicius Souza
Player profile:
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 19/06/1999
- Current club: Lommel SK
- Career: Flamengo, Lommel SK
- Position: Centre Midfield
- Secondary Position: Defensive Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Vinicius Souza started for the first time for Lommel SK after coming over from the Brazilian side CR Flamengo and showed that he can be a great player for his side. Lommel SK played with a three-man midfield with Manfred Ugalde as the attacking midfielder and Vinicius Souza and Sebastiaan Brebels in more defensive roles. It seemed like Vinicius had been a regular starter for Lommel for a very long time already. The Brazilian tried to lead the build up play, dictate the tempo and was constantly coaching his teammates. He mostly played as the right sided central midfielder, but sometimes dropped back in possession as a third centre back giving extra space to his fullbacks to move forward.
Technically it was still a bit of a mixed performance by the Brazilian. His technique seemed to be very good. He took some very good first touches, was quite agile with the ball and looked to have decent dribbling. He always remained very calm under pressure and always seemed to find his teammates in difficult situations. Other moments however he made very simple errors and gave the ball away, when he really didn’t need to. Despite these couple of errors his passing looked quite good throughout the whole match. He showed to have a good passing range and played some nice diagonal long balls.
The 21-year old Brazilian also did very well defensively. Vinicius Souza stands at 6’2” with quite an athletic build and covered a lot of ground for his side, reading the game very well intercepting ten passes this game. He did very well in his defensive duels, but wasn’t tested defensively too often. He also showed an impressive jumping reach, winning all of his aerial duels this game.
Rating: A2
Vinicius Souza instantly made a positive impact on this squad. If he cuts out the couple of stupid mistakes he made, he can easily play in the Jupiler Pro League. This was Vinicius’ first start in a professional game, making his performance even more impressive.
Anass Zaroury
Player profile:
- Nationality: Belgian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 07/11/2000
- Current club: Lommel SK
- Career: Zulte-Waregem (Y), Lommel SK
- Position: Left Wing
- Secondary position: Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Anass Zaroury had a rough start of the game, but recovered very well and had a great impact on the game. The left winger started off very sloppy, with some bad touches, poor dribbles and over complicating his moves. With Yentl van Genechten at right back for Lierse Zaroury had some tough opposition. In a game I covered earlier this season Zaroury’s end product was mainly the thing that let him down. This time he had a little more luck in the final third. Just like last time Zaroury was very unpredictable being able to beat his man on the inside and on the outside, but this time his crosses with his left foot were a lot better. In the 40th minute one of his low crosses got deflected to Manfred Ugalde who scored the equalizer. In the second half Zaroury scored the 1-3. The winger took on two opponents on the left side and ended up cutting inside towards his right foot, curling the ball in the far corner.
Physically he still has some steps to make. Zaroury lacks some strength, but it didn’t hurt his performance this game too much. He lost a couple of offensive duels, but did a lot better than last time.
Rating: A2
Zaroury showed more promise this game than the last time. His end product still needs to improve, but he showed that he can be really important for his team.
Target Scouting 