Guarani under 20 managed to win their opening game against Newell’s Old Boys under 20. They played in a 4-2-3-1 formation and opted for a possession-based style, trying to play a high defensive line and put pressure on Newell’s Old Boys’s backline. Guarani failed to create many chances, most of them came through 19-year-old Matias Segovia. The central defensive duo by Guarani played really well this match and looked defensively solid. They did not get into trouble throughout the match except for a few moments in which Newell’s Old Boys had a dangerous moment in front of Guarani’s goal, but none of them led to any big chances.
Youth Ratings
1 – Ready for the first team
2 – Good, potential to be first team
3 – Decent, could make first team squad
4 – Decent potential, unlikely to make it to first team
5 – Unlikely to make first team
René Rodriguez
Player profile:
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 13/01/2002
- Club: Guarani
- Career: Guarani
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Right
René Rodriguez played as a right central defender and formed a partnership in defence with Thiago Servín. On the ball, René Rodriguez played good, strong passes into midfield. Throughout the match he showed that he can help Guarani progress the ball further up the pitch. His long passing was inconsistent, especially his through passes were often too powerful. Rodriguez was at the base of the first goal of Guarani. He carried the ball into midfield very confidently, dribbling past two players. Rodriguez played a powerful pass to Matias Segovia, who scored after playing a one-two with Rivarola. Physically, René Rodriguez has good pace over a long distance and had good acceleration on the first meters. He has good strength and mobility.
Defensively, Rodriguez had a strong performance. He did well to close the gaps towards Servin when he stepped out of the defensive line and to the wing when a gap opened up there. Rodriguez stayed composed and kept the right distance in the 1v1 duels on the wing. When his opponent turned his back towards the goal he closed him down quickly and forced him backwards. Rodriguez defended proactively and was very comfortable playing in a high defensive line. The Paraguayan has good strength and intelligence in ground duels. Rodriguez has good positioning when dealing with crosses from NOB’s right wing.
Rating – 1
Based on this performance, René Rodriguez is a complete defender who has the right mindset to succeed at Guarani. I think that he showed a lot of potential in this game and I am excited to watch more of him.
Matías Segovia
Player profile:
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 04/01/2003
- Club: Guarani
- Career: Guarani
- Position: Right Winger
- Preferred foot: Left
Matías Segovia played as a right-winger for Guarani and scored the winning goal for the Paraguayan side. The captain of the team showed mixed signs this match. The Paraguayan winger tried to take on his opponents very often throughout the match. Matias Segovia sometimes tried to take on too many opponents at once, in these moments he lost the ball too easily. The Paraguayan has a low centre of gravity and showed great agility in the 1v1 duels. To win more duels Segovia needs to improve his timing of changing directions/cutting away from his opponent. In terms of positioning, Segovia liked to drop deep and roam around the pitch a lot. He liked to carry the ball inside quite often and was always looking for teammates in space.
His through passing was poor in this match, as he often put too much power on the ball. His over the top passing was sloppy. His free-kicks were quite good. He showed a good crossing and shooting technique with his left foot. Segovia scored the winning goal, after positioning himself well in the half-space before playing a good, quick one-two with Rivarola. His finish with his right foot was very composed. Segovia is really quick on the first meters and seemed to maintain that speed over longer distances too. Matias Segovia has good stamina as he still took on his opponents in stoppage time.
Rating – 2
It was not the best performance of Matías Segovia that I’ve seen, but his creativity helped Guarani to create chances and in the end he scored the winning goal for the Paraguayan club. He will get more chances in the first team this season and it will be interesting to see how he performs.
Thiago Servín
Player profile:
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 05/06/2003
- Club: Guarani
- Career: Guarani
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Left
Thiago Servín played as the left central defender for Guarani and had a very inconsistent performance. In one of the first minutes, he got dribbled past quite easily as he overcommitted in a 1v1 duel. Later on in the game, he did not make any mistakes in defence anymore. However, he did make some mistakes in possession. Servín lost the ball on his own half, which could have led to a very big chance. He failed to transition from attack to defence quickly, too. His long passing technique was quite average as well, this led to most long passes being inaccurate. There was one situation in which Thiago Servín got dragged wide by his opponent that opened up a gap centrally which Newell’s Old Boys nearly exploited.
On the ball, Thiago Servín stepped into midfield confidently and he showed good ball-carrying ability. He was really smart to play the offside trap in one situation, in which he showed good defensive intelligence. Thiago Servín was press-resistant, he could turn away from his opponent when being put under pressure and looked comfortable in doing so. In these situations, he also looked strong in the duels and used his body well. Thiago Servín looked less competent with his right foot and probably needs to improve on his right foot. Standing at ~177cm, Thiago Servin was quick on the first meters and his height did not restrict him from winning aerial duels.
Rating – 3
Thiago Servín made some mistakes in this match, but also showed some promising signs. If he can improve on his technique and consistency with his passing, I think he could become a really good defender in South America.
Alcides Barbotte
Player profile:
- Nationality: Paraguayan
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 26/06/2002
- Club: Guarani
- Career: Guarani
- Position: Right-Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Alcides Barbotte played as a right-back in the opening match of the Copa Libertadores U20. He had a good performance, but there were also some limits to his game. Defensively, Alcides Barbotte looked very determined and he played with a lot of concentration. Barbotte stayed in the defensive line very well and showed good defensive decision-making throughout the match. The right-back from Guarani was strong in the duels and always gave his full 100% in these duels. He won most of his ground duels and did really well to get in front of his opponent. Barbotte also did well to cut the passing lanes towards the winger at times. His slide tackling was good and he only used it when necessary.
Alcides Barbotte also showed some weaknesses in defence. He did not turn that quickly when in the isolated 1v1 duels on the wing. This led to him getting dribbled past. Barbotte also allowed his direct opponent to cut back to his stronger right foot who put in some good, dangerous crosses from a deeper area. On the ball, he made one big mistake as he lost the ball in his own half. He turned away from his marker quite well in ground duels using his strength and made some good underlapping runs. When in possession on the oppositions half, Alcides Barbotte sometimes lacked support but he should have been smarter to stay in possession in these situations.
Rating – 3
Alcides Barbotte made a good impression in this match but I don’t think that he will be a starter for Guarani anytime soon. His agility in defensive duels and involvement in attack is below average. I think he does have some sort of potential and he could make some appearances for the first team in 2022/2023.
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