Independiente del Valle crushed Sporting Cristal’s hope of getting at least a point in this match. After Sporting Cristal opened the score early in the game, Independiente del Valle recovered quickly and outplayed Sporting Cristal in each aspect. They were better tactically, technically and physically. Independiente del Valle set up in a 4-3-3 in possession and a 4-1-4-1 out of possession. They were very disciplined throughout the match and all players looked to be tactically educated, as you’d expect from a youth team of Independiente del Valle. This match proved once again that the Ecuadorians have set an example for the rest of South America to invest more in youth facilities.
This match report is slightly different from the ones I usually write as I tried a different style.
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
Kleber Pinargote
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 27/04/2003
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Goalkeeper
- Preferred foot: Right
Kleber Pinargote was Independiente del Valle’s goalkeeper this match after Joan Lopez was in goal in the first match. Pinargote stands at 188cm and had a relatively small build for his height. He did not have much to do, but when he needed to come off his line he looked really quick on the first meters. Pinargote has a good passing technique with his right foot, but he was less good with his left foot. On the ball, Pinargote often chose for an easy option nearby, playing passes into one of the two central defenders or full-backs. The right-footed goalkeeper was very composed on the ball and sometimes moved between the two central defenders to create numerical superiority in the first phase of the build-up. He had good patience on the ball and his short passing was always accurate.
His longer passes with his right foot were often accurate too, but the longer passes with his left foot were less accurate. Pinargote had one moment in which he was fast to spot his teammate making a run in behind and he showed that he has a very good drop kick technique. Pinargote only conceded two shots, one of them went in and the other one went on the post. The Ecuadorian goalkeeper had good communication with Ordoñez and made it clear when Ordoñez needed to leave the ball for Pinargote to pick up.
Rating – 2
Based on this match I can not really determine his goalkeeping ability, but he looked quite good on the ball and has a good build for a goalkeeper. He has an interesting profile and it will be interesting to keep an eye out for him.
Joel Ordóñez
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 21/04/2004
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Right
Joel Ordoñez was Independiente del Valle’s right central defender in this match. Standing at ~185CM with a muscular build, the defender looked really strong in the duels and he had a good leap in aerial duels. Ordoñez has a good recovery speed when covering the depth and had a lot of power. His agility and changes of direction did not get tested in this match. This is something I need to look out for next match, as his muscular build could prevent him from turning quickly. The central defender saw a lot of the ball throughout the game. He showed that he possesses a good first touch and he controls the ball well. Ordoñez did not get put under pressure that often. His short passing was adequate as his passes were accurate but he kept it simple. His longer passing was quite inconsistent as his technique was not optimal, but he did get a pre-assist for the 6-1 after he played a very good long pass.
The right-footed central defender liked to get in front of his opponent in the duels. He was composed on the ball and kept it easy. When stepping into midfield with the ball at his feet, he looked over the ball to assess his options. Ordoñez closed gaps towards the wing quite well and looked at the ball in the 1v1 duels, able to cut the passing lanes and intercept the ball. The Ecuadorian showed great composure in defence and had good communication with Pinargote. Most of his actions on the ball were near the halfway line, but he also often got into possession in his own defensive third. He played most passes to Marco Angulo, Garis Mina or Orlando Herrera.
Rating – 2
Joel Ordoñez’s athletic ability did not get tested that much throughout the match and this is something I need to look out for in the next matches of Independiente del Valle. Defensively, he looked strong and composed. On the ball, he kept it easy but did not make any big mistakes.
Garis Mina
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 20/08/2003
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Right
Garis Mina played as the left central defender for Independiente del Valle. Standing at ~182CM with a slim build, Garis Mina looked agile without the ball and he could turn quickly. Despite his slim build, Garis Mina looked strong in the duels as his aggressiveness helped him in most duels against Sporting Cristal’s weak side. Mina looked quick on the ball and showed good acceleration and speed over longer distances. His long passing technique looked good, but especially in the first 20 minutes, it was very inconsistent. As the match went on, Mina’s confidence seemingly increased and he did not play any inaccurate long passes anymore. His short passing was good and consistent.
Garis Mina did not often carry the ball forward in possession, but when he did so he looked good and always cut back to his right foot before playing a cross pass to Anthony Valencia or Orlando Herrera on the right wing. Mina was a very aggressive defender who stepped out of the defensive line quite often. As he is quite quick on the first meters, he closed down his opponent quickly. However, the 0-1 of Sporting Cristal was partly his fault as he stepped out and committed to the 1v1 duel while he should have stayed in position. His passive stance in this duel did not help as well, as he was leaning backwards and could not change direction. He occasionally was too late in the ground duel which led to him giving away a foul.
Rating – 4
Garis Mina looked composed on the ball, but his defensive decision-making was quite questionable. He does have an interesting build for this position, but I don’t think his future lies at Independiente del Valle based on this match. I will watch more of him though.
Hanssel Delgado
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 07/04/2002
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Right
Hanssel Delgado was played out of position in the match against Sporting Cristal. He usually is a right central defender, at least when I saw him previously, but in this match, he played as a left-back. Delgado stands at ~180cm and has a slim build. He has good acceleration and is capable of maintaining that speed over a longer distance. His footwork and mobility did not look great in some situations, as he struggled to deal with aerial passes and did not seem to get his footing right. Delgado moved more fluidly when playing one-two’s. However, in the 1v1 defensive duels he did not turn that quickly, which also was because he did not have a great technique in the defensive duels. He had a wide stance and seemed to lean backwards, instead of having a more active stance. This means that it will automatically take more time to turn.
The left-back (replacement of Jhoanner Chavez) got subbed off after 45 minutes and was not involved that much in the build-up play. He often stayed back on his own half in the first phase of the build-up. His short passing technique was good and he liked to play one-two’s with his teammates in the smaller spaces. Like all Independiente del Valle players, he was composed on the ball. Defensively, Hanssel Delgado got into a few defensive duels near his own halfway line and he looked strong in the duels when his opponent had his back towards the goal, but lost a duel when his opponent faced towards goal, as mentioned in the first paragraph.
Rating – 4
I think he looked worse than he actually is because he was being played as a left-back. I don’t think he is that familiar with that position. When I saw him playing as a central defender, he made a lot of progressive runs but seemed a bit undecisive at the ball. Thus, I don’t think he has the potential to be a starter for Independiente del Valle but he could definitely do well for a mid-table club in the future.
Orlando Herrera
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 23/01/2004
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Right-Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Orlando Herrera was Independiente del Valle’s right-back in this game. The Ecuadorian is ~175cm tall and has a slim build. Without the ball, Herrera looked quick, but with the ball at his feet, he looked less quick in some situations. This was mainly because he seemed to struggle to turn quickly on the ball when he had his eyes facing towards his own goal. This seemed more of a technical flaw than a physical/athletic flaw. He moved very fluidly when linking up with his teammates in the small spaces and looked confident on the ball. He was not so strong in the duels, mainly because of his slim build as he got pushed off the ball easily when he was in a 1v1 duel. In the attacking 1v1’s on the wing, he changed directions really well and he has good agility. He showed good pace, concentration and stamina as well.
Technically, Herrera showed good passing technique and often played strong passes into midfield. He has a good first touch with both his right and left foot and has a great crossing technique. His short passing in the small spaces looked excellent. Herrera has good positional play and seems really intelligent both on and off the ball. He sometimes even occupied the defensive midfield spot in possession when Marco Angulo operated as the third central defender. This confused the defence of Sporting Cristal and opened up spaces all around the pitch. Herrera has good decision-making on the wing and was patient on the ball. He got both an assist and pre-assist after putting in great crosses, showing good vision to spot his teammates in space.
Most of Herrera’s actions were near the halfway line, but he also operated in the final third quite often. He did not get into many defensive duels this match.
Rating – 2
At the age of 18, Orlando Herrera should be considered as a first-team option for Renato Paiva. I think he fits the profile really well and he has similar characteristics as José Hurtado and Angelo Preciado.
Marco Angulo
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 08/05/2002
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Defensive Midfielder
- Preferred foot: Right
Marco Angulo played as Independiente del Valle’s defensive midfielder this match. He stands at ~180cm and has a slim build. Marco Angulo is very quick on the first meters and moves really fluidly. He has good changes of directions and is agile. His bursts of speed are really impressive. He has a very good technique. His first touch and ball control is great, keeping the ball close to him. Angulo has a great cross passing technique and his short passes are excellent too. Angulo did well to stay out of the duels, but his aggressiveness in the ground duels helped him to win those duels. Most of these duels were in the final or midfield third of Independiente del Valle and this Miguel Bravo’s side to keep the pressure on Sporting Cristal. There was only one duel near the halfway line that he lost, which immediately led to the opening goal for Sporting Cristal. One of the duels he won in the final third led to the 2-1 for Independiente del Valle.
Angulo excels in the first phase of the build-up, moving between the lines swiftly. He also moves between the two central defenders quite often. Marco Angulo liked to play passes with the outside of his boot before continuing his run, exploiting his explosive acceleration to progress the ball further up the pitch. Without the ball, he only once moved into the final third and positioned himself well between the lines. Defensively, he cut passing lanes well and looked great tactically. He looked at the ball well in 1v1’s and did not get wrong-footed by the opponent’s quick feints. He has good anticipation and closed gaps towards the wing well. Marco Angulo showed great intensity in this match and looked very dominant throughout the match.
Rating – 1
Marco Angulo was the best player on the pitch today and looks like he has everything that it takes to become a really good defensive midfielder. I think he will join the first team this season and he will get a significant amount of minutes. Based on only this match, I did not see any clear weaknesses. He showed good aggressiveness in defensive duels and always helped Independiente del Valle to progress higher up the pitch.
Patrik Mercado
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 31/07/2003
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Attacking Midfielder
- Preferred foot: Right
Patrik Mercado played as the right central midfielder for Independiente del Valle. He is ~175cm tall and has a slim build. Patrik Mercado gets pushed off the ball quite easily in ground duels. In defensive duels, he looked a bit stronger. His aggressiveness in the duels helped him to recover possession. He was intelligent in putting pressure on his opponent and intercepted the ball a few times. Mercado has good acceleration on the ball. He moves fluidly and has decent agility. The Ecuadorian could be a bit quicker when changing directions as he often needed to slow down before changing direction, especially close to the byline. In that position he did not have good close control.
His technique in his passing was very good. Mercado was capable of playing good short and through passes and was very consistent. He was good with both his feet. Patrik Mercado positioned himself very well between the lines in the final third and liked to make runs on the right-wing after Valencia dropped deep. He recognized space very well and was a smart player. Mercado liked to play one-touch passes in the small spaces and to link up with his teammates. The Ecuadorian did well to scan before receiving and had good off the ball movement to create space for Valencia to cut inside. He did well to stay disciplined in the midfield line and he operated in the final third for the majority of the match. Mercado had great stamina and was making runs in behind in the late stages of the game.
Rating – 2
Patrik Mercado is a very smart player and has great technical ability. He did well to stay out of the duels and this helped him to stay in possession at times. I think he has the potential to play for the first team of Independiente del Valle.
Adrián Mejía
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 28/05/2002
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Left
Adrián Mejía played as a right central midfielder for Independiente del Valle. He stands at only ~176cm but has a stocky to large build. This led to him not being able to turn quickly with the ball. Mejía has good acceleration and can maintain his speed over a longer distance. The Ecuadorian youngster has good technique. His through passing was very accurate, both over the ground and over the top, even when he lost his balance. Mejía did not use his right foot that much and only used his left foot when dribbling. He was at fault for the 0-1 of Sporting Cristal as he failed to cover Paredes’s run. Adrián Mejía liked to occupy the left wing while Neicer Acosta carried the ball inside and recognized space well. He often made good runs and got into good positions. Mejía scored a penalty and scored another goal after positioning himself well in the box before scoring the rebound. The Ecuadorian has good speed on the ball in the counter-attack and did not slow down the attack. Adrián Mejía was not that involved in the build-up in this match and was mostly positioning himself high up the pitch.
Rating – 4
Adrián Mejía is one of the oldest players in this squad and he does not really have an interesting profile. However, he seemed like a smart player with good speed and I think he could already do well for a mid-table Liga Pro team.
Néicer Acosta
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 12/12/2002
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Left Winger
- Preferred foot: Right
Néicer Acosta played as Independiente del Valle’s left-winger in this game. He has quite a stocky build and stands at ~173cm. Acosta had average ball coordination when dribbling and was not that agile. The positive side of his build is that he is strong in the duels. He protected the ball well and has good acceleration and pace. He beat his opponent exploiting his good pace at the 1-1. Acosta has a really good technique. The Ecuadorian created a lot of danger with dead-ball situations. Acosta had a few good shots on target from free-kicks. He liked to switch play after carrying the ball inside. His crosspasses were quite good and his through passing was good too. The Ecuadorian also liked to make runs down the touchline. Neicer Acosta dropped deep quite often and he dragged the defender with him, opening up space for Adrían Mejía. He had a lot of involvement in the first half but faded away in the second half. To me, it seemed like he was saving his energy for the rest of the tournament.
Rating – 4
Apart from the danger Acosta created with his free-kicks he did not show that much potential in this match, even though he played quite well.
Anthony Valencia
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 21/07/2003
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Right Winger
- Preferred foot: Left
Anthony Valencia played as a right-winger for Independiente del Valle. Standing at ~176cm with a slim build, Valencia was very quick on the first meters. The Ecuadorian had good changes of directions and was very agile. He has a good balance and good coordination when dribbling. The winger was not capable of maintaining his speed over a longer distance. The 18-year-old does everything with his left foot and rarely uses his right foot. He looked really comfortable playing one-touch football in the small spaces. His short passes were accurate and consistent. His shooting technique looked less good but he did manage to score from long range this match. Valencia’s first touch when dealing with aerial passes was not great.
His playing style was mostly based on cutting inside to his stronger left foot. He liked to switch play and had a good long passing technique. Valencia’s positional play was really good. He liked to drop deep while sticking close to the sideline. This dragged the defender along and opened up space for Patrik Mercado and Orlando Herrera to run into. Anthony Valencia often received the ball in a deep area on the opposition half, where he would stay in possession and look to play the through pass from deep. I think that Valencia should up his intensity and be more active out of possession.
Rating – 2
I think Anthony Valencia has an excellent technique, but his intensity and speed over longer distances were very low. He will probably do well in the Ecuadorian league in the future.
Francisco Sagardia
Player profile:
- Nationality: Uruguayan
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 21/05/2002
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Defensor Sporting, Independiente del Valle (loan with option to buy)
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Francisco Sagardia played as a striker for Independiente del Valle this match. He stands at ~186cm but has a quite slim build. Francisco Sagardia does not have an explosive acceleration. He often needed to use this when making a run to the front post and managed to get away from his marker. Sagardia liked to fake a run towards the far post but changed directions well and moved to the front post. He was not that involved in the build-up and when he did he struggled to link up with his teammates well. Sagardia’s playing style mainly is based on his in the box movement. The Uruguayan striker relies on support from his teammates to put crosses in the box. He has very good heading ability and managed to score a goal. One other effort was saved but the rebound was scored and the third effort was saved by the goalkeeper. He seemingly has adapted quite quickly to Independiente del Valle’s playing style, putting pressure on Sporting Cristal’s back-line very well and forcing the goalkeeper to play long passes.
Rating – 3
I think he could perform well as one of the two strikers of Independiente del Valle, but I think he can work on his technique and involvement in possession.
Yaimar Medina
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 05/11/2004
- Club: Independiente del Valle
- Career: Independiente del Valle
- Position: Left-Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Yaimar Medina came on after the first half and was subbed on for Hanssel Delgado. He played as a left-back. Medina stands at ~175cm and has a small to stocky build. Medina showed good acceleration and was capable of maintaining that speed over a long distance. The Ecuadorian looked strong in the duels and won his only aerial duel. Most of his defensive duels were won thanks to his physical ability. When sprinting at full speed, Yaimar Medina could not change directions quickly. His short passing technique was good and he looked tidy on the ball. The left-footed player liked to play one-two’s to progress further up the pitch and he moved fluidly when doing so. Yaimar Medina provided width for Independiente del Valle in possession. Sometimes he made diagonal runs in behind, exploiting his good pace. He was not that much involved in the build-up, though. Defensively, Medina showed good anticipation to get in front of his opponent at the right time.
Rating – 3
The Ecuadorian recently turned 17 and if he is used in the right way, he could become a good player for Independiente del Valle in the future. However, his lack of agility and ability to change directions could hinder him in the future.
Target Scouting 