Bolívar La Paz beat The Strongest 3-0 in the final of the Division Profesional Apertura. They set up in a 5-3-2 and had a very direct playing style, often playing long passes to the strikers with the midfielders supporting the attack. Bolívar had a balanced playing style and were always in control of the match thanks to an early goal Francisco da Costa. The Brazilian striker formed a dangerous duo with Bruno Savio and left wing-back Roberto Fernández did well to support the attack with good runs in behind and good crossing ability.
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
Roberto Fernández
- Nationality: Bolivian
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 12/07/1999
- Club: Bolívar La Paz
- Career: Blooming, Leonesa, Bolívar
- Position: Left-Back
- Secondary position: Left Midfielder & Right-Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Roberto Fernández played as a left wing-back in a five at the back for Bolívar. The left wing-back showed good athleticism in this match. He moves smoothly and likes to pass and go. Fernández looked dynamic and was quick on the first meters. He is capable of maintaining that speed over longer distances. The Bolivian is also pretty agile and has good changes of direction when sprinting. In the final third, Roberto Fernández gets pretty involved in Bolívar’s attacks. He likes to make overlapping runs and proved once again in this match that he has a really good crossing technique. His crosses were always put in good areas. The Bolivian is pretty secure with his passing into the attack. He likes to play diagonal passes into the attack and has a really good passing technique. He sometimes had to deal with aerial passes while being put under pressure close to the sideline, he often lost possession in these situations because no one was close to him in those particular moments.
In possession, Roberto Fernández mostly operated as a left-winger, which is a position that he’s familiar with having played as a left-winger for Bolivia under 23 in the Pre-Olympics Tournament of 2020. Fernández is very good at transitioning from defending to attacking and has good stamina. The Bolivian wing-back won a penalty after making a good run in behind, doing well to cut across his opponent forcing him to pull his shirt to prevent him from scoring or assisting a goal.
Roberto Fernández is a passive defender. Even as a left wing-back, he does not step up aggressively and he always keeps his opponent in front of him. When his direct opponent receives the ball near the touchline, Fernández closes the gap and forces him back without being that aggressive. During the times that he does push higher up the pitch, Roberto Fernández reads the game well showing good anticipation to intercept passes. Against Henry Vaca (best dribbler in Bolivia) in the second half, he sometimes seemed to struggle in the 1v1 defensive duels but he never (fully) lost a duel. He always managed to get back in the duel or block/deflect the cross.
Rating – A1
Roberto Fernández has been ready to move to Europe since 2020 and I think he would be an interesting target for mid-table clubs in Belgium that play in a 3-4-3 (or similar formations). The Bolivian left-back is not super strong defensively – he isn’t bad either – and is outstanding going forward. He has a lot of attacking output and is instrumental for Bolivar’s successes in the domestic league.
Gabriel Villamíl
- Nationality: Bolivian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 28/06/2001
- Club: Bolívar
- Career: Bolívar
- Position: Central Midfielder
- Secondary position: Right-Back, Right Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Gabriel Villamíl played as a right central midfielder in a 5-3-2. Standing at 1.79 meters with a normal build, Gabriel Villamíl has a good build for a central midfielder. He is not the quickest but has decent speed. Villamíl has good changes of directions and is pretty agile. He likes to do quick feints to turn away from his opponent. The Bolivian midfielder has good receiving skills and controlled the ball well under pressure. He only struggled to deal with very powerful, aerial passes. He generally controlled the ball well while dribbling and managed to keep the ball close to him, even though he sporadically seemed to lose control over the ball for a few seconds before re-controlling the ball. The right-footed 21-year-old has good long passing ability.
His technique is pretty decent and he likes to switch the play. Most of these passes were played without being put under pressure though. In the sporadic moments that he was put under pressure, Villamíl did well to stay really composed and always turned away from the pressure. He occasionally carried the ball forward, showing good acceleration on the ball. Gabriel Villamíl got an assist for Bolívar in the second half after putting in a good cross to Bruno Savio, scoring the 3-0 and putting an end to The Strongest’s chances to get anything out of this game.
Gabriel Villamíl reads the game well in defence and steps up at the right time, aggressively taking over possession and picking out the right pass. Because of the formation, Villamíl sometimes gets dragged out wide because no one picked up the opposition’s full-back. I feel like sometimes he should have stayed more centrally because The Strongest could play vertical passes into the attack because he was not in position. The Bolivian sometimes got into isolated 1v1 duels on the wing because of the above mentioned reason. He had decent acceleration and showed good recovery speed. However, he gave away some needless fouls and did not seem super strong in defense.
Rating – A2
Gabriel Villamíl is a talented midfielder but is not ready for a step up yet. He should stay at Bolívar for at least one more season before potentially moving to the MLS.