CD Atlético Marte lost 2-4 at home against Salvadoran giants Alianza FC. Alético Marte set up in a 4-4-2. They opted for a middle-high defensive line and a balanced playing style. Alianza FC set up in a 4-3-3 and had a more direct approach. Alianza FC led 0-2 after 25 minutes because they scored two goals in two minutes. The hosts quickly scored the 1-2, but Emerson Mauricio scored his second goal to make it 1-3 before Diego Chévez brought the score back to 2-3 from a corner-kick. Nelson Bonilla made it 2-4 to Alianza FC in the final minutes of 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 a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Diego Chevez
- Nationality: Salvadoran
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 02/03/2000
- Club: Atlético Marte
- Career: Turín FESA FC, Brujos MC, Atlético Marte
- Position: Centre-Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Diego Chévez captained the Atlético Marte side against Alianza FC. He started off in right central defence and formed a defensive partnership with the experienced Tardelia Peña. Standing at 1.86 meters with a strong frame, Chévez is not the most mobile defender. He struggles to turn quickly, while he is also not the quickest over short and long distances. This sometimes restricted him from defending in a middle-high defensive line, because he lost almost every race to the ball. The Salvadoran defender should compensate this with his strength in the duels, but that was not the case in this match. Alianza’s striker Emerson Mauricio won almost every duel (with his back towards the goal) as Chévez did not manage to snatch the ball off of him or to even disrupt him.
Chévez has good anticipation dealing with through passes near the halfway line. He gets in front of his opponent to intercept the pass at the right time. In deeper areas, though, his timing seemed less good as he was too late in the duel, meaning that his opponent could easily turn away from him. As mentioned before, Chévez did not have the speed to get back into the duel. The Salvadoran has good tackling ability, as he times his tackles well and fully commits to the tackle. He showed good aggressiveness in duels far from his own goal, not allowing his opponent to get past him. Diego Chévez closed gaps towards the wing well. He made sure to close down the runner on the wing, showing good decision-making to sometimes stay in his position.
The Salvadoran defender looked comfortable on the ball dealing with awkward passes (at knee-height). However, he always kept it simple. His long passing technique was average, but he found his teammates pretty often. He did receive the ball in a few occasions in the box and he actually looked pretty good in the small spaces. Chévez looked at ease and also scored from close range from a corner-kick.
Rating – B1
I do not think, based on this match, that Diego Chévez has what it takes to make that step towards a better league. He is not strong enough defensively to compensate for his lack of athleticism and ball-playing ability.
Mauricio Gomez
- Nationality: Salvadoran
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 11/08/2000
- Club: Atlético Marte
- Career: Atlético Marte
- Position: Defensive Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Mauricio Gómez played as the right central midfielder in Marte’s 4-4-2. Gómez is around 1.72 meters tall and has a normal to stocky build. He seemingly has quite a strong frame. The Salvadoran midfielder does not seem like the most athletic player I’ve ever seen, showing average speed on the turn and in straight lines. During the times that he was sprinting, he looked really slow and never won a sprinting duel against the player who was in possession. He occasionally made a good interception, reading the game well and showing good timing and aggressiveness. Gómez often leaves his position to put pressure high up the pitch (in between the two strikers) but shows good discipline to get back into position as quickly as possible. It was a tactical decision to let him track the opposition’s midfielder that dropped deep in possession. The midfielder got dribbled past quite easily, mainly because his lack of athleticism. His opponents managed to turn away from him time after time. One of those situations led to the corner from which Alianza scored.
He looked comfortable on the ball, but his passes were sometimes very bouncy and not with the right pace. Gomez did not control the ball that well occasionally, struggling to maintain possession under pressure. Maurício Gomez did not offer that much in possession, not progressing play at all and always going for backwards passes. However, Gomez did offer protection for Marte’s defence when they had settled possession. He did well to win second balls and is a tireless midfielder. The midfielder looked really fired up throughout the game and often tried to fight his opponent.
Rating – C
For someone of his frame, you’d expect more tenacity and aggressiveness in the duels, while also being more athletic and quick. However, he did not offer that in this game and does not look like he has the potential to ever offer that. He was also not good enough on the ball. In this match, he was a liability for Atlético Marte.
Cesar Orellana
- Nationality: Salvadoran
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 13/09/2003
- Club: Atlético Marte
- Career: Alianza FC (Y), Inter Sivar, Atlético Marte
- Position: Right-Back
- Secondary position: Right Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
César Orellana started out on the right wing for Atlético Marte. He is listed as a right-back on Transfermarkt. The Salvadoran winger looks quite small (1.73), but has a normal build. He has good speed over both short and long distances. The youngster is agile and mobile. He is not that strong in the duels, which is pretty logical looking at his frame. However, I think that he needs to develop more upper body and core strength to be better in the shoulder-to-shoulder duels. The winger tracked back well and managed to recover possession a few times. He works hard out of possession. Orellana generally played with good intensity, always being on the move and being active. I did not see many signs of him being better as a right-back in this match, but he certainly has the willingness to track back.
César Orellana has good composure on the ball, when he receives the ball under pressure. He knows when he can turn towards the goal or when he has to play a backwards pass. Orellana has a decent technique. His first touch under pressure is good, but his close control while dribbling is a bit inconsistent. He had some good moments in which he turned away from his opponent really quickly, but struggled in other situations. The winger occasionally looked really good in attacking 1v1s, dribbling past opponents at full speed and also having a decent final pass. However, in other situations his cross or final ball was horrendous. The youngster gets himself into good positions in the final third, often moving inside and creating space for the full-backs. This situation also led to the 1-2 for Atlético Marte. His finishing ability wasn’t that great, he did not strike the ball well and does not have the greatest shooting technique.
Rating – B2
I think his performance was really inconsistent, but I don’t really believe that César Orellana could have a career outside of El Salvador in the near future. He needs to develop his strength and get better in the final third. There may be a future at right wing-back in a 5-3-2 for him, but his small frame and lack of strength in the duels will be a problem in that position. Thus, I don’t really know what his best position is at the moment. Maybe he could even play as a central midfielder in a 4-3-3. He does have the technique and positional sense to play there, but there is obviously much more needed than that to play in central midfield.
After writing this report I realized that I have watched Orellana at the Concacaf U-20 Championship, as a right-back. I mentioned that he was a really attacking-minded right-back with inconsistent dribbling and good speed. Considering that he just turned 19, Orellana has plenty of time to discover his best position.
Jonathan Esquivel
- Nationality: Salvadoran
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 30/12/2003
- Club: Atlético Marte
- Career: Marte Soyapango, Atlético Marte
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Jonathan Esquivel started on the left in Marte’s 4-4-2, but switched to the striker position near the end of the game. Standing at around 1.80 meters, Esquivel has a normal build. However, he does not seem like he has good upper body strength, being pushed off the ball easily in a shoulder-to-shoulder duel. The Salvadoran attacker does not have an explosive acceleration whatsoever, but he did manage to hold his own in sprint duels. It is at a decent level for this league but he could get in trouble in higher-intensity leagues. Esquivel worked hard out of possession, but was sometimes overeager to win back possession, getting dribbled past easily. He has good tackling ability though, winning back position and immediately carrying the ball forward in the late stages of the game. Generally, Esquivel showed good intensity in transition to get the ball forward as quickly as possible, but also to track back.
The attacker lost attacking 1v1s because he did not really commit to his actions. He looked undecisive in some of the duels, eventually ending up trying to draw fouls but failing. Esquivel sometimes failed to control the ball well while dribbling. He occasionally had good dribbles though, showing decent changes of direction and surprising the opponent by going on the outside to his weaker left foot. He created one 1v1 for himself by dribbling past two opponents. Overall, Jonathan Esquivel has an above-average technique. The Salvadoran attacker is comfortable playing one-touch football and is capable of playing good through passes to the runners in behind. Esquivel created several shooting opportunities for his teammates in this match. His receiving skills are really good. One thing he needs to improve at when playing on the wings is his crossing. He blindly put in crosses from deep and did not check whether his teammates were making a run into the box. Esquivel’s crosses itself were really good, showing great technique, but they did not reach a teammate because they were not in the box. The striker was unlucky not to score in the 81st minute after his attempt was cleared off the line. He struck the ball well, but was unlucky that there was someone in his way.
Rating – A2
Jonathan Esquivel joined CD Atlético Marte from Marte Soyapango, who were playing in the second division of Salvadoran football. I previously saw Esquivel play a few matches for the U-20 squad of El Salvador in the Concacaf U-20 Cup, where El Salvador got eliminated by future finalists Dominican Republic in the round of 16 after impressing in the group stages. He did really well as a striker in a 4-4-2 and I think that this is his best position. I already wrote a scout report about him.