Independiente del Valle faced Cumbayá FC in the first matchday of the second stage in the Ecuadorian Liga Pro. The hosts managed to win 2-0 after a goal in the first and last minute of the game. Independiente del Valle set up in a 3-4-2-1 with Cabezas and Diaz as creative players behind Jaime Ayovi. Cumbayá, on paper, set up in a 4-2-2-2 but they did not have a clear formation that they were playing in. Sometimes it was a 5-2-3, sometimes it was a 6-3-1 and sometimes it seemed to be a 4-4-2. When Independiente del Valle had a goal-kick, Cumbayá were pressing high up the pitch and forced Luis Ortiz to make a big mistake on his own half, nearly leading to the equalizer. Apart from that, Cumbayá created a few other smaller chances and they probably did not deserve to lose by two goals.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Darley Carabalí
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 23/09/1998
- Club: Cumbayá FC
- Career: Cuniburo FC (Y), Independiente del Valle (Y), LDU Quito (Y), Aucas (Y), CD América, El Nacional (Y, L), El Nacional (Y), Emelec (Y), Cumbayá FC
- Position: Left Wing
- Preferred foot: Left
Darley Carabalí played as Cumbayá’s left striker alongside Paraguayan striker Carlos Monges. Carabalí mainly roamed around Monges, mostly to the left wing. Early on in the game, I was unsure whether he was actually playing as a striker or winger, but I think he was tasked to be a striker even though he mostly operated on the left wing. He seemed around 1.80m tall with a normal build, which usually is a good build for a winger or striker. Carabalí, though, seemed pretty heavy-footed when sprinting. He was not the quickest on the first meters and failed to accelerate more over long distances. However, the Ecuadorian still managed to turn pretty quickly and he has okay changes of direction. Carabalí attempted a lot of take-ons and rarely maneouvred his way past a few opponents. The Ecuadorian did not seem like a good athlete when he received an aerial pass which he failed to control because he was not flexible enough.
As mentioned above, Carabalí liked to take-on many opponents. In other words, he did not have an eye for his teammates that often, leading to many shots from distance that did not have a chance to go in. He lacked composure in the final third and generally took the speed out of Cumbayá’s attacks as he did not release the ball at all, or released the ball too late. In deeper areas, Carabalí seemed to lack the quality to play out of pressure. His passing was very inaccurate and it often seemed like he did not have an idea where he should pass it to. On the left wing, he had one moment in which he showed that he actually has a pretty decent crossing technique with his left foot.
Rating – C
All by all, it was an average performance of Darley Carabalí. He needs to work on his vision and composure – it would help if he had an eye for his teammates. It was my first time watching him, so I will definitely give him another chance to see if he has improved.
Melvin Díaz
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 26/11/2001
- Club: Cumbayá FC
- Career: El Nacional (Y), El Nacional, CD América, Cumbayá FC
- Position: Striker
- Secondary position: Left-Wing, Right-Wing, Attacking Midfield
- Preferred foot: Left
Melvin Díaz played as a right midfielder on paper, but he switched positions quite often and I am not sure what position he was actually playing in. Anyway, it was either right-winger, right midfielder or right wing-back. He was not that involved in the game in the first half, but in the second half he started to gain confidence and he showed some promising signs. Díaz seemed around 1.75 meters with a normal build, which is a good build for a winger. He was pretty athletic, Díaz had good acceleration with the ball at his feet and changed directions quickly. His quick feet often confused his opponents and put them on the wrong foot. In physical duels, he often lost the duels as he lost balance pretty quickly. However, he does have the potential to being capable of holding off opponents in physical duels if he gains strength in his body.
The Ecuadorian attacker had a very good first touch under pressure, which made me pretty hopeful about his future. He was one of the rare bright sparks of Cumbayá’s negative playing style. Melvin Díaz even controlled powerful passes with ease and kept the ball really close to himself. The 20-year-old had two shooting opportunities in this match. One was from really close range after the ball fell to his feet in the box. He kept his composure and chipped the ball over Moises Ramirez, but his effort was slightly too powerful. Another shooting opportunity came in the second half, when he cut inside to his stronger left foot before shooting from 25-30m. His effort was goal-bound, but Ramirez managed to save his great effort from long range.
Díaz generally had a good technique – his passing, dribbling, crossing and shooting techniques were all above average. He liked to cut inside to his stronger left foot from the right wing and once put in a decent cross to the far post, but even though his cross reached a teammate I think it was a bit too floaty. He lost the ball under pressure once in a dangerous situation, but that was not entirely his fault. His teammates at Cumbayá often failed to create passing angles for Díaz or a teammate making it hard to keep the ball in the team.
Lastly, Díaz’s spatial awareness seemed very good in this match. He made good diagonal runs in behind but was not found that often. In one moment, he showed great anticipation as Schunke failed to deal with an over-the-top through pass and his backwards header towards Ramirez was not powerful enough and fell to Díaz’s feet. Melvin Díaz had a 1v1 opportunity against Ramirez, went past him but made a dive trying to get a penalty. He did not quite get the penalty, but instead, he got a yellow card.
Rating – A1
Melvin Díaz needs to move to a different team as soon as possible. He needs to get minutes on the right wing in the Liga Pro consistently and should play in a more attacking-minded team. The potential certainly is there. He has a good first touch, good athleticism and seemed composed in the final third.
Edison Hernández
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 23/12/1998
- Club: Cumbayá FC
- Career: CD Espoli (Y), Esmeraldas SC, Deportivo Quito (L), Anaconda FC (L), Cumbayá FC
- Position: Central Defender
- Secondary position: Left-Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Edison Hernández played as a left wing-back or left midfielder and showed some good signs in this match, even though he does not have the greatest potential. The wing-back defends proactively and likes to step up to engage in duels high up the pitch. His steps are very powerful and he looked fast on the first meters. Hernández seemed very dynamic and athletic but this was not shown that much as he unfortunately had a pretty defensive-minded game, probably because of his manager. The Ecuadorian has good physical power in the attacking 1v1’s to hold off opponents and he protects the ball well while dribbling. However, from a standstill, Hernández does not quite have the trickery or bravery to get past opponents. This can also be the case because he orginally is a central defender (as listed by Transfermarkt, I am not sure if this is true). On the ball, Hernández was not involved in many attacks but his passing technique was pretty decent.
Defensively, he is pretty proactive as managed before and this also means that he does not stay in the defensive line that often. It often happened that Cumbayá had six players in their defensive line, but Hernández generally stayed a few meters in front of that, opening up space for the opponent to dive into. Admittedly, I did not see if Hernández was at fault for the opening goal (because I was just on time to start watching the match) but the goal came from that wing. This meant that he had to cut the passing lanes and he did relatively well doing so. He occasionally blocked passes by sliding in. In the defensive 1v1’s, Lautaro Diaz of Independiente del Valle liked to change directions quickly and even though Hernández has good changes of direction, he struggled to defend those quick direction changes. I thought he should be a bit more composed and look at the ball more.
Rating – A2
I assume that he has been used the wrong way for his entire career, because I think he could become a good left wing-back in Ecuador. He is listed as a central defender and I need to do research to see in which position he has been playing for Cumbayá. Matter of fact is that Cumbayá have a negative playing style and that I am not too sure if that suits Hernández.
Target Scouting 