Universidad Católica beat El Nacional 0-2 away from home. Rockson Renteria got his third start for the visitors in a row and managed to impress again. They set up in a 4-3-3 with a single 6 in possession and moved to a 4-1-4-1 out of possession. Universidad Católica dominated possession and tried to build up slowly but were quite static and often were not able to progress the ball further up the pitch. However, two goals from 33-year-old Juan Manuel Tevez in the first half were enough to win this match.
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
Kevin Minda
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 21-11-1998
- Club: LDU Quito, on loan at Universidad Catolica
- Career: LDU Quito, Universidad Catolica (L)
- Position: Right-back (according to TM)
- Secondary position: Centre Back & Defensive Midfield
- Preferred foto: Right
Kevin Minda played as the sole defensive midfielder, after forming a central defensive partnership with Rockson Renteria in the previous two games. It could be seen that Minda has good potential, but also that defensive midfield not really is his position. However, I think that playing in a position where he needs to operate in the tight(er) spaces more will improve his ball-playing ability which was not great at times this evening. In possession, he often dropped deep to create a three at the back but also moved between the lines often. He sometimes did not do enough to open up passing lanes and could be more active in switching sides when the ball changed sides as well.
Minda was nothing spectacular on the ball, but did manage to turn the right way always as he scanned well and knew when he needed to play first time passes. These first time passes sometimes lacked accuracy as he could not connect with the ball well which could also have to do with the pitch, but Minda could have anticipated more on the fact that the ball can bounce before passing it. When he had a progressive touch, he would drive into the space without much aggressiveness but played some good forward passes and nearly had an assist late in the second half. In general, his passing technique can be a bit better when he is put under pressure.
Out of possession, Minda protected the defence well as he made the right decision always to either step out or to stay in position. This helped Universidad Catolica to not concede a lot of chances and this was partly thanks to the good positioning of Minda. He anticipated well in certain situations and would intercept passes while also looking good physically.
Rating – A1
Could play for a better team in Ecuador such as LDU Quito but his height is going to be a major issue if he were to continue as a central defender. I can’t really see him playing as a right-back or defensive midfielder so the Ecuadorian league might be the limit for him.
Rockson Renteria
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 25-10-2001
- Club: Universidad Catolica
- Career: Universidad Catolica
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Rockson Renteria played as the right central defender in this match and formed a central defensive partnership with 36-year-old Yuber Mosquera. The 19-year-old got his third start for Universidad Católica and seems to have conquered a permanent place in the starting line-up. He had a slightly different role relative to the first game that I watched of him since he stepped out of the defensive line less often and he sometimes needed to cover the back of Yuber Mosquera. This was quite logical since Yuber Mosquera is not the quickest player at the age of 36, Rockson Renteria is more athletic and could provide cover pretty well.
It is not his preferred role at all though and I think that he would form a great duo with Kevin Minda, which Universidad Catolica started with in the first two matches that Renteria started anyway. In this match, Renteria once again was very strong in the duels and looked calm and composed on the ball when he recovered possession. He found his teammates well and often chose for the simplest but best option. The Ecuadorian youngster got lots of touches on the ball in this match and was tested in possession. He passed this test but it could be seen that his powerful passes into the attack could do with some improvement.
Renteria had good accuracy in these passes but were sometimes intercepted as it was quite obvious that he would play that pass. He needs to learn to know when to play these passes and when to choose for the simplest option. The youngster sometimes struggled to find a passing option forward and this slowed down the attack, which was already going quite slow to begin with. However, as mentioned before, his short passing was great and he always played the right passes when choosing for the short option. Renteria also played some long balls which he played into good areas but the pass sometimes got intercepted as there either was miscommunication or he should not have played the pass.
The Ecuadorian blocked a lot of passes and shots and had good body positioning. He consistently blocked one corner of the goal off and reacted quickly when his opponent would not shoot on goal. His good acceleration helps a lot of these situations, next to his good mobility and pace. Renteria also got back into the duel rapidly after he got dribbled past, which only happened once.
Rating – A2
Should gain some experience in this league and improve on the ball before moving to Europe. I really like his playing style and he would be an amazing player next to an athletic defender who is good on the ball and can cover his back.