An enthralling game was played out in Gdansk, with Lechia running out 3-2 winners after being 1-0 down at half time courtesy of a 20th minute Robert Pich goal. A fantastic performance from Conrado Buchanelli did much to help Lechia, with the Brazilian finishing with a goal and two assists to his name. Lechia struggled to create in the first half, but the game opened up in the second half and chances flowed for Gdansk. the teams matched with 4-2-3-1 formations, with Lechia creating the majority of the chances, although Slask did look dangerous on the counter attack throughout the game.
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
Conrado Buchanelli
- Nationality: Brazilian
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 03/04/1997
- Current Club: Lechia Gdansk
- Career: Gremio (Y), Oeste, Figueirense, Lechia Gdansk
- Position: Left Wing
- Preferred foot: Left
Conrado put in a man of the match performance at left wing. He was intense from the first whistle, showing good eagerness and aggression in the press – he was involved in 27 duels, the most on the team. He was eager to slip low balls between the defence looking for the striker, and although wayward at times found more success in the second half. He had a small, stocky build, so was little threat in the air, however more than held his own in the physical battle with Slask defenders. He worked well with left back Pietrzak, and showed good communicative skills to open up space for both players.
His movement was exceptional throughout the game, either occupying half spaces between lines or positioning himself on the shoulder of Celeban the Slask Right-Back, who struggled to contain the Brazilian throughout the game. His ball control and trickery meant he was a handful for defenders, and drew the most fouls in the Lechia team with 5 to his name. his movement in the box for his goal was good, and the finish was clinical.
His assists were a level higher however. Both came from good movement down the left, and twice he fed good balls across goal to Flavio Paixao and Lukasz Zwolinski who finished well. Overall, Conrado influenced the game significantly from left wing, contributing to all 3 goals. He is certainly one to keep an eye on for the future and I believe he could be effective in a top 5 league, specifically In a lower to mid table Bundesliga team.
Rating – A1
Karol Fila
- Nationality: Polish
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 13/06/1998
- Current Club: Lechia Gdansk
- Career: Lechia Gdansk (Y), Chojniczanka (L), Lechia Gdansk
- Position: Right Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Fila lined up on the right hand side of a Lechia back four. The 22-year-old was on the ball a lot during the game. He looked to play the ball forward often, and showed good accuracy when playing lofted balls into Flavio Paixao, the lone striker in this game. He enjoyed bombing forward, and often undercut Jaroslav Mihalik on the wing. His forward movement sometimes left the two centre backs vulnerable, however Jaroslaw Kubicki at defensive midfield was effective in dropping between defenders to counteract this. His communication in defence seemed solid, and he did press out of the line on occasion but was good in recovering and making strong tackles. He was particulary aggressive, using his physicality to impose himself on attackers, he made a fantastic tackle in the box on the 63rd minute to stop a Slask goal.
Tall and good in the air, Fila was one of Lechia’s outstanding players on the night. He looked rarely troubled in 1v1 duels with Robert Pich, although position was slightly off at times, with Fila allowing Pich to cut in too easily in one instance. Going forward he was also an asset, and although he let his touch get away from him at times, he moved forward well and offered and overlapping and underlapping presence down the right hand side of the pitch. One to watch for Lechia for certain, and I look forward to watching more of him in the future.
Rating – B1
Jakub Kaluzinski
- Nationality: Polish
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 31/10/2002
- Current Club: Lechia Gdansk
- Career: Lechia Gdansk
- Position: Centre Midfield
- Preferred foot: Left
Kaluzinski started in central midfield for Lechia, in only his 6th game of his professional career. He was technically sound, with a good first touch and good awareness on the ball. He often dropping deep between lines to gather the ball and then looked forward to spray long balls out to the wings and up top to the striker. These balls were sometimes quite erratic, and he needed to settle and play more simple passes along the floor. In the second half he was more involved, playing more positive passes and kept the ball on the floor, which meant Lechia retained possession more effectively. His communicative skills were also somewhat lacking, and was very quiet during the game. Kubicki was often found mopping up some of his errors.
Defensively he offered little during the game. He has a very slight frame, and needs to put on more mass to become more of a physical presence. He did track back well at times, but lacked aggression in 1v1 tackles which did let him down, winning only 3 of 9 duels.
Stamina was lacking at times too, and although showing decent pace at times he often looked to be coasting along instead of looking eager to press the ball. Overall he is technically promising, and could be a stand out player in the Ekstraklasa in years to come, but is still a very raw talent and needs to improve on his work rate, physicality and defensive positioning.
Rating – B2
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