Scout Report-Alberto Moreno, 21, Left-Back, Sevilla

Alberto Moreno making a hugely important challenge on Benfica’s Lima during the Europa League final.

Written by Chris Winterburn

If way back in August Sevilla’s Alberto Moreno would have dreamt of how he wanted his upcoming season to play out then I doubt it would have differed too much to what reality had in store for the Seville born full-back.

Making twenty eight La Liga starts, playing a key role in winning the Europa League and to top it all off being named in Vicente del Bosque’s provisional 30-man Spain squad for the upcoming World Cup finals in Brazil were just three of the main positives to come out of Alberto Moreno’s twenty first year.

Moreno’s outstanding performances over the last eighteen months have not gone unnoticed further afield that Spain however with Premier League giants Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool all harbouring an interest in prising the young full-back away from his childhood club.

Alberto Moreno Perez as he is known officially will not be an easy transfer target for a whole host of England’s top flight due to the fact the full-back signed a significant new contract as recently as October 2013 which was set to keep him at the club until at least 2018. However as we have seen with even more regularity over recent seasons signing a new contract often just means your transfer fee will be a few million higher.

Moreno has caught the eye through his enthusiastic way of playing the full-back position. All the instances of marauding forward and impressive technical ability that saw the continent stand up and take notice of Jordi Alba not too long ago are prominent in Moreno’s game too. Moreno is perhaps more suited to playing a defensive position than Alba and his crossing is a lot better too however he lacks the explosiveness which made Alba Barcelona’s main transfer target when it became apparent Eric Abidal’s career with the Catalan giants was coming to an end.

In order to evaluate just how far Alberto Moreno has progressed this past season we must go back to last summer when Moreno first caught the wider European eye. Whilst the Spanish national team were away in Brazil competing for the Confederations Cup the Under-21 team were in Israel competing for the European Championship.

Much of the press attention was on Thiago Alcantara who captained the side. It was widely expected at that time that Thiago was going to the first of many new signings of the post Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United, this was not to be the case. As a result Moreno escaped attention, Alvaro Morata took the majority of the headlines with his goals whilst David de Gea was outstanding in goal.

What did become clear however is that Alberto Moreno missed just one game throughout the entire tournament. Spain won every match they played and Moreno was a sizable part of that success.

His marauding forward runs ably supported the likes of Isco, Morata and Thiago in attack, he often beat the right sided full-back for pure speed and was able to produce a quality delivery into the penalty area when asked.

He may not have been the media’s star of the tournament but the people that mattered could see his progress.

Although he had been fully promoted to the Sevilla first team the previous February it was his performances in Israel which convinced the Sevilla management to utilise him as first choice at left-back for the 2013-2014 campaign. Moreno went onto impress during Rio Ferdinand’s testimonial at Old Trafford with a confident defensive display down the left.

Fast forward nine months and we see a completely different Sevilla and completely different Alberto Moreno.

After a summer of financial woes placated only by the sale of the club’s two prized assets, Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo, Sevilla looked set for a season in the wilderness. Then came the reprieve. Due to financial issues at Malaga resulting in a UEFA suspension, Sevilla qualified for the Europa League. Unai Emery’s side had a challenge to aim for as well as a much needed financial boost to get the necessary talent in to move forward.

Moreno despite being just twenty one, has had to mature quickly. The pressures of regular first-team football are huge and Moreno has dealt with them very well indeed. The full-back has handled the press attention which comes with being the next star in the Seville crown whilst maintaining the levels of performance which earned him recognition in the first place.

From a footballing perspective Moreno is everything you would want in a full-back. He is quick, although not blisteringly so like a Gael Clichy or a Jordi Alba but quick enough to ghost past an opponent nonetheless however he is also strong.

On countless occasions this term Moreno has been forced to cut infield whilst in possession in order to play a clever slide rule pass in behind to either Bacca or Gameiro. When doing this Moreno has been faced with physically stronger central midfielders and defenders but he has an uncanny ability of being able to shake them off.

The styles of Moreno and Luke Shaw are eerily similar in that regard. Playing regular La Liga football from such a young age like Shaw, Moreno has been able to develop physically in a way which allows him to more than match adversaries, he can keep control of the ball when dribbling forward through his ability to come out the better of shoulder to shoulder challenges and the like.

With Liverpool looking for a better quality, long-term replacement for Jose Enrique this is a trait Brendan Rodgers is bound to view as positive. Continuing along the Liverpool centric line of argument, Moreno is also a clever footballer in that he knows when to use his pace to get into position to receive the ball.

A map of Alberto Moreno’s typical movements within Unai Emery’s system. Moreno looks to venture down the left hand side and reach the byline before putting in a cross to Bacca however he can cut inside on an overlapping run with Reyes and then place a short pass into Bacca’s feet.

With Liverpool’s passing game being based around short, quick tempo passes the opportunities for one two’s are significant. Moreno has shown an ability to initiate a one two pass with a teammate and then get into a position far ahead of the defender as a result of his speed before receiving the ball in a better attacking position. This would also pique the interest of Manuel Pellegrini whose Manchester City side too looks to kick start passing moves in a similar vein.

The attacking side of Moreno’s game was perfectly highlighted in Sevilla’s 2-0 victory over Real Betis in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-final in which Moreno recorded assists for both goals with exquisite, indefensible crosses into the penalty area.

Football wise Moreno is all but there, his talents are clear for all to see, as are his physical attributes and he is only going to get better. What is a worry however is whether or not a move to Liverpool or Manchester City will be a summer too soon for him.

The biggest game of Sevilla’s season was Wednesday’s Europa League final. The Andalusian club were victorious in a penalty shoot-out but rode their luck in normal time with Benfica under the spell of the Guttmann curse wasting numerous gilt-edged opportunities in front of goal.

Moreno struggled. Despite showing an innate ability to defend under pressure with a goal saving tackle on Lima early in the second-half the young full-back was in real trouble all evening long.

Admittedly he received little help from Jose Antonio Reyes just in front of him but Moreno’s positioning was inconsistent and at times wild. Early on in the second half it looked as if Moreno was trying to make too big an impact on the match and he ended up almost on the right side of midfield for one Benfica attack with the left midfield area left completely unguarded.

Several heavy touches and slips later and it looked as if the occasion was all too much for the highly rated Spaniard with it only through good fortune and the performance of Beto in goal that Moreno wasn’t punished for one of his errors.

This could very well have been a one-off but these are the slight measures upon which club’s make final decisions on purchasing a player. In Sevilla’s biggest match of the season, on the grandest stage available to the club, Moreno struggled. Of course he is young and it shouldn’t be a surprise but with both Manchester City and Liverpool looking at immediate first choice left-backs it is something to bear in mind from their perspective.

With the hype around Luke Shaw due to both his nationality and the price tag Manchester United appear willing to pay for him it is likely Alberto Moreno will not be the standout transfer of the summer should a move to England materialise however you would expect clubs to see the outstanding footballing ability Moreno possesses and how he has managed to hone his craft in such a short space of time.

With all this in mind it wouldn’t at all be a surprise to see Moreno move to pastures new this summer and with Liverpool and Manchester City believed to be assessing other targets it would take a brave individual to bet against Real Madrid attempting to secure solidity at left-back for the next decade with a late move for Moreno.

Scout’s Rating- 7/10

Follow Chris Winterburn on Twitter @Chriswin4

Porto fall glaringly short as Sevilla march on into the semi-final

Sevilla celebrate their early goal which levelled the tie and set the Spanish side on their way to the semi-final stage of the competition. (Photograph courtesy of Getty Images)

Written by Chris Winterburn

FC Porto headed to Andalusia this evening holding a slender 1-0 lead from last week’s first leg in Portugal however with the important duo of holding midfielder Fernando and top scorer Jackson Martinez both missing through suspension it was always going to be a difficult evening for Luis Castro’s side.

Right from the off Sevilla flew out of the traps. Unai Emery’s side looked hungry and pressed high up the pitch using Ivan Rakitic as a reference point in the middle of midfield, every single player knew where they should be in relation to the Croatian and it made for a very fluid opening half hour performance from the hosts. Porto looked weak through the middle without Fernando and despite the best efforts of Steven Defour the Belgian is simply not as effective a holding midfielder. Without Fernando, Sevilla were able to flood the middle of the pitch and were rewarded for their efforts with a penalty inside four minutes.

Carlos Bacca went down rather easily, even a couple of steps after the initial challenge from Danilo however the former Santos defender’s challenge was clumsy and gave the Colombian an opportunity to go to ground. Ivan Rakitic converted the penalty with ease and the Sanchez Pizjuan was set for a historic European evening.

Eliaquim Mangala is reportedly moving closer and closer to a summer switch to Manchester City however the French defender didn’t cover himself in glory with his display this evening. In fairness Mangala is given a lot of work to do, he is playing in what is probably the weakest Porto side since early this millennium and it shows. This evening however, particularly in the first half Mangala was given the work of two defenders courtesy of Alex Sandro’s incredibly short sighted approach to the match. The Brazilian full-back looked to go forward at every given opportunity but was so slow in tracking back to his position that Mangala had to then cover the left-back position as well as his own area through the centre.

It seemed as if Benfica’s performance at White Hart Lane was the model for Porto this evening with the fluidity in movement between defensive positions essential the Jorge Jesus’ team’s success in London. The two full-backs surged forward whilst Garay and Luisao the two central defenders moved into wider positions to cover the space, holding midfielder Fejsa then filled in at centre half. For Porto it was an incredibly poor imitation with a lack of balance and discipline. Mangala moved to the left to cover Alex Sandro whilst right sided full-back Danilo didn’t go forward which left fellow defender Diego Reyes rather unsure of his position. Had Fernando been in the side to offer a bit more protection ahead of the defence then perhaps Sevilla wouldn’t have been able to take such advantage of Porto’s defensive lapses.

Sevilla after taking a 3-0 lead into the half-time break were given a setback when right sided full-back Coke was needlessly sent off for a second yellow card after a clumsy challenge on Ricardo Quaresma. What was most disappointing about Coke’s dismissal was just how the Spaniard picked up his initial yellow card in the midst of a melee in the first half. This red card changed the game, giving Porto a lot more time on the ball and a spare man to always pass to however the Portuguese side just didn’t have enough up front without Jackson Martinez.

Quaresma looked the most likely to make something happen however the former Chelsea and Barcelona winger was far too inconsistent in his decisions when on the ball which has been an unfortunate theme of his entire career. With Sevilla down to ten men and Porto without a manager after Luis Castro was sent to the stands early in the second half, it was certainly a gamble to throw on Juan Fernando Quintero, the starlet of Pescara’s Serie A campaign last term. Heralded as the next big thing, Quintero was sizably hugely disappointing this evening with the Colombian barely looking interested.

On too many occasions Quintero received the ball then played a pass only to not bother making a run to look for the return ball, it made Porto’s late attacking moves look rather laboured and ineffective with Sevilla seeing the final stages of the tie out with ease despite Quaresma’s late consolation strike.

As Chelsea did at times last year, FC Porto looked like a team with an ‘interim’ first team manager in that there was no direction about their play. The lack of defensive stability in the first half followed by Ricardo Quaresma’s all too common willingness to try and play the game on his own showed Porto in a really poor light without the discipline of Fernando.

Ivan Rakitic did his market value absolutely no harm this evening with the Croatian captain putting on a masterclass from the middle of midfield. When you look at teams such as Manchester United and Liverpool who are perhaps lacking a driving force in the middle of midfield Ivan Rakitic would fit the bill perfectly. The Croatian was always willing to receive the ball in the middle of the pitch and then turn and look to run at Porto’s midfield before playing in either Bacca or one of Sevilla’s wide players. He was constantly involved in the match and really drove his team on from the start, he was also a calming influence following Coke’s dismissal when the tie looked to be swinging in the favour of Porto.

The Europa League semi-final draw takes place tomorrow and it is a very Iberian dominated affair with Benfica and Valencia joining Sevilla and Juventus in the hat. Sevilla would welcome domestic rivals Valencia whilst all teams would hope to avoid the outright favourites for the competition Juventus. Whilst Sevilla fully deserved their victory tonight the lack of quality within Porto’s squad was highlighted and it will take a significant rebuilding job to take the Portuguese giants back to Europe’s top table any time soon.

Follow Chris on Twitter @Chriswin4

Chris Winterburn meets Alvaro Negredo

At the beginning of this season I caught up with Manchester City’s summer signing Alvaro Negredo after the Spaniard had enjoyed a wonderful start to his career in the Premier League. Here is what Negredo had to say to me with regards to life at Manchester City, differences between La Liga and the Premier League, his World Cup ambitions and an interesting little anecdote regarding his first ever pair of football boots.

Alvaro Negredo has set the Premier League alight in his first half season with Manchester City, scoring twenty three goals in all competitions.

CW: You mentioned the new Adidas F50 boot was light, does this affect how you strike the ball in any way?

AN: Yes, It helps with the power, the lighter the boot the more power you are going to get behind your shot and it helps that the boots are quite thin as well, you feel like your foot is a lot closer to the ball so it is more like playing without anything on your feet.

CW: As we have said it is a World Cup year this year, the Spain squad has already won the World Cup and are looking to make it two in a row, do you think you can play a big part in that?

AN: The competition for places is obviously very high for attacking players in the Spanish squad and all I can do over the next year is perform as well as I can and hopefully I will be there scoring goals for Spain next summer.

CW: Since moving from Spain this summer what immediate differences have you noticed between the game in La Liga and in the Premier League?

AN: Yes, the pace of the game, there is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and you have to get up and down the pitch a lot, a lot more in this league than in Spain. In Spain teams tend to keep the ball a lot more and prize possession over running quite so many distances but at Manchester City we have a lot of players that are very good on the ball and we keep the ball quite well so it isn’t too different for me playing when we do have the ball but when the opposition have the ball it is a little bit different as there is more running.

CW: As we are in a World Cup year, looking back through your life and the World Cups you remember which players have stood out in World Cups for you and who have you modelled your game on?

AN: The Brazilian Ronaldo is a player who is completely different to any other forward that has played the game, his speed over the first three or four yards was absolutely incredible and I loved watching him play, his physique was incredible and he scored goals, he was everything I wanted to be in a centre forward.

CW: European teams have traditionally not done well in World Cups hosted in South America, how confident are you? and how important would it be for Spain to be the first European side to win a World Cup in South America and also be the first side to win two World Cups in a row since Brazil in 1958 and 1962?

AN: We know it is going to be very difficult, there is going to be a lot of good teams out there but we have got exceptional players in the squad and we’re confident that we can retain it [World Cup] we won the tournament in South Africa which again is a different continent so we have got the experienced gained from that to be able to do the same again but we know it is going to be very difficult so we will just do our best to try and bring the trophy home.

CW: In the past playing for Sevilla you have worked with Diego Capel and Jesus Navas, small players and you have linked well with them, under Pellegrini’s style of football at Manchester City are you finding it to be anything similar?

AN: I like being a tall guy in any team but the players [he has played with] are all quite different, Silva and Aguero tend to keep hold of the ball a little bit more, they look to take players on and bring others into play whereas Navas and Capel are more direct and tend to run straight at players, trying to get to the by-line and then hit the balls into the box where I can head them in.

Alvaro Negredo sporting the brand new Adidas F50 boots shortly after we spoke. (Picture is courtesy of FootballBoots.co.uk)

CW: You currently play under the Spanish boss Vicente del Bosque, what are his coaching methods? I know you only get to work with the National team manager for a short period of time so does that make it more difficult to adapt and learn his coaching methods?

AN: Spain have obviously got some of the best players in the World, so any time that you spend with them always makes you a better a player as you learn things from them. [Vicente] del Bosque is a fantastic coach and he has got no problems in transmitting his ideas to us on the days when we do have with him. It is fantastic to work with him and players with such great quality.

CW: As we are here for the unveiling of the new Adidas F50 boot can you remember the first pair of boots you had as a child and who gave them to you?

AN: I always used to wear colourful boots as a child, all the kids wanted a pair because they came in many different colours. For my first pair of boots, I went to the local sports shop and bought a pair of white boots and when I came home my mum said I had to go and take them back because I would be a target for opposition defenders, wearing white boots. I was told I had to take them back as I would just get kicked all the time but we talked it through and eventually I won the argument and got to keep my white boots.

This interview was conducted on behalf of FootballBoots.co.uk

Written by Chris Winterburn

Follow Chris on Twitter @Chriswin4

Alvaro Negredo close to Manchester City move but what can he bring to the Premier League?

It was little more than exactly a month ago that it was reported that West Ham United had seen their tentative £14.5million opening offer for Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo knocked back with the club not deeming the offer worthy of Negredo’s quality and the player preferring to move to a club which could offer Champions League football. Fast forward a month and it is Manchester City who appear to be in pole position to secure the services of the Spanish forward for a mammoth £22million which is just five million less than the fee paid to Wolfsburg for Edin Dzeko.

Negredo netted twenty five League goals last season and would fit into the Premier League with great effect should he sign with Pellegrini’s side.

According to The Guardian, Sevilla president José María del Nido has denied that there has been any bid from Manchester City as yet for Negredo with the only offer coming from fellow Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid who continue to look to replace the recently departed Falcao, “Manchester City have not made any offer for him… and the offer from Atletico was turned down 11 days ago.” Spanish reporters are suggesting that whilst Negredo was initially keen on a return to the Spanish capital, the interest from Manchester City has turned his head with England now the most likely destination for the former Real Madrid target man.

Manchester City are yet to confirm their interest in Alvaro Negredo as they look to keep transfer matters a secret from the majority of the press however an Atletico Madrid representative somewhat let the cat out of the bag earlier this week as he admitted to Spanish media that Atletico had zero chance of signing Negredo as they couldn’t compete with Manchester City’s financial capabilities, “We can’t compete with the petrodollars… we’re speaking but we won’t be able to reach the amount Manchester City can offer.”

Negredo is coming off the back of the most successful campaign of his entire career in terms of goalscoring with the Sevilla forward netting an impressive twenty five goals in La Liga during the 2012-2013 campaign which totalled up to thirty one when his six strikes in the Copa del Rey were taken into account. Negredo standing at six feet and one inch is nicknamed ‘La fiera de Vallecas’ which is translated to ‘The beast of Vallecas’ with the Spanish forward being renowned for using his physical attributes to power past a defender to create a goalscoring opportunity for himself. Negredo would be able to adapt to the physical nature of the Premier League with little effort, he can hold up the ball and bring midfielders into attacking moves as we saw so often with Negredo and Jesus Navas linking up on the right hand side in the last four seasons at Sanchez Pizjuán.

This is a partnership that could be rekindled at Manchester City with Jesus Navas having signed on at Eastlands earlier this summer. Make no mistake however Alvaro Negredo is not at all over reliant on his physical skills to beat defenders, he is also very quick footed for a man of his stature with the Sevilla supporters having seen countless instances of clever footwork and technical ability over the past four seasons with one volley against Espanyol struck from the edge of the penalty area and nestling in the top corner of Carlos Kameni’s net particularly resonating in the memory.

A number of Manchester City supporters have expressed their unease via social media websites, at their club spending such a lofty amount on a twenty seven year old striker who they believe to be remarkably similar to Edin Dzeko however this is simply something they need not worry about. Alvaro Negredo, whilst similar to Dzeko in size and ability when it comes to holding the ball up, is completely different to Dzeko in terms of movement when off the ball. Negredo is far more pro-active than Dzeko with the Spaniard willing to work hard and press when his team isn’t in possession of the ball and when other members of his team have the ball Negredo is always looking to make a movement that will increase his chances of getting in a position to score. Dzeko on the other hand whilst you can’t fault his work ethic on most occasions, struggles with the pace of the Premier League and is not given the same time to hold a position and wait for the ball to be played into him that he was afforded in the Bundesliga.

A Negredo/Dzeko partnership could well prove to be fruitful for Manchester City with the hard work of Negredo no doubt complementing the technical ability and positioning of Dzeko however the vast amount of attacking midfielders Manchester City now have in their squad it doesn’t seem likely that Negredo and Dzeko would have too many opportunities to play together should the Spaniard sign with Manchester City.

It must also be said that the immediate future of Edin Dzeko is still undecided with German media believing that Dzeko’s preferred destination is Borussia Dortmund and he will only make the move to Signal Iduna Park should Robert Lewandowski leave the club which at this moment looks unlikely with Dortmund unwilling to negotiate the sale of their star striker with fierce rivals Bayern Munich.

Earlier I mentioned the vast number of attacking midfield players Manchester City have at their disposal with David Silva, Samir Nasri and even Sergio Aguero having the ability to play in the ‘false nine’ position just behind the central striker. What is very interesting is that Alvaro Negredo thrives in the lone forward position, Negredo loves to come deep into the opponent’s half of the pitch in search of the ball and is very capable in bringing midfielders into play once he has the ball. Often during the past four seasons, we have seen Sevilla win the ball in their own half through Didier Zokora or Hedwiges Maduro and then play it towards Negredo who will be positioned either on or just ahead of the half way line, Negredo would then take a maximum of three touches before working the ball to either Jesus Navas or Diego Capel who would have made a run in behind him or down their respective flank.

Negredo forms good partnerships with smaller, technically gifted players and the idea of bringing him to the club and allowing him to forge such a partnership with David Silva and Samir Nasri must be very appealing to Txiki Begiristain.  With Manuel Pellegrini preferring a 4-2-2-2 system during his time with Malaga, utilising two holding midfield players, two attacking midfield players and then two attackers it isn’t difficult to see how Negredo could fit into that system. David Silva and Samir Nasri could be deployed as the two attacking midfielders with Jesus Navas as an alternative. Yaya Toure and Fernandinho would sit just behind them as the two very mobile holding midfielders which could make Manchester City a really hard team to play against when they are not in possession of the ball.

The movement of Toure and Fernandinho in terms of pressing opposition could be absolutely vital to City’s title challenge. The two attackers would then be Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo with the Argentine just dropping off ever so slightly leaving Negredo very centralised and able to link up with Navas, Silva or Nasri depending on the individuals on the pitch at that time. With Negredo in tow within this system, Manchester City’s fluid attacking play would keep its liquid movement so much more so than if Edin Dzeko was deployed as the central striker.

With the deal for Negredo still in the pipeline and not quite yet complete it is worth noting that a lot can change in the current climate of the transfer market but the current signs all point towards Alvaro Negredo being a Manchester City player before too long and in my mind it would be a really astute if expensive signing and would cover the loss felt by the departure of Carlos Tevez far more than any potential loss should Edin Dzeko leave the club this summer.

Written by Chris Winterburn

Follow Chris Winterburn on Twitter @Chriswin4