#TalentRadar Team of the Week includes the Best Young Players of the week across Europe’s top 6 leagues (i.e Premier Legaue, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1 & Eredivisie). All players in the lists were 21 and below at the start of the season. For more information on what is #TalentRadar, read this.
Best Young Players
Maxime Dupe | Nantes, France, 21: France’s U-20 World Cup winning goalkeeper made his 4th senior appearance of the season, keeping his 3rd cleansheet. The youngster played a vital part in Nantes’ crucial 1-0 Derby Breton victory over Guingamp. He made two double saves in the second half of similar nature, winning an aerial duel and saving the rebound, two of his most relevant contributions to protect his side’s lead.
John Stones | Everton, England, 19: The young centre-back has made it to the Talent Radar Team of the Week for the second successive week for his impressive performance in the 1-0 away win over Sunderland. He again displayed his defensive maturity and confidence earning another clean-sheet. He has played in seven consecutive Premier League games, conceding just 4 goals and keeping 4 cleansheets.
Tiago Ilori | Granada, Portugal, 21: The youngster on loan from Liverpool formed a formidable partnership with Jeison Murillo as the side earned a famous 1-0 home victory over the mighty Barcelona. The Portuguese man was kept busy by the likes of Lionel Messi but stuck to his task and kept the Argentine quiet, easily holding his own and keeping a cleansheet. He made the most clearances (10) as Granada sat back and absorbed the pressure. This was Ilori’s 2nd appearance in Talent Radar’s Team of the Week. Here is a detailed Scout Report on Tiago Ilori.
Christian Gunter | Freiburg, Germany, 21: After impressing last season, Freiburg have struggled in the relegation battle this season, but got an important 2-0 victory at the bottom of the table against Braunschweig. Christian Gunter put in a very impressive shift both in attack and defence. He created the most goal-scoring opportunities (5) mostly with his runs down the flank. Defensively, he made the most number of tackles (5), an overall performance.
Junior Malanda | Wolfsburg, Belgium, 19: The man who arrived from Zulte Waregem in the January window completed his second 90 minutes for Wolfsburg, and as he did in his other full 90, he managed to get himself on the scoresheet. He was on the mark in their 4-1 win over Nurnberg. He had a part to play in the second goal, winning the ball back in a crucial zone and allowing De Bruyne to set-up Perisic. He constantly made runs into the box, and this led to his goal, a through ball finished with a hard left-footed shot.
Davy Klaassen | Ajax, Netherlands, 21: Ajax took a step closer to their 4th consecutive Eredivisie title with a 3-2 win over ADO Den Haag. They were helped by Davy Klaassen who was on the scoresheet after playing a short give and go at the half-way line, making a fantastic run as he was met by a through ball in the box and capped it off with a neat finish from a narrow angle. He took the most shots as 5 of his 6 came from within the box. He also had 4 tackles in his own half, an overall performance.
Davy Klaassen featured in our list of Best Young Players to Watch-out for in 2014, coming in at #20 in our list of attackers. View the entire list here. For a detailed Scout Report on Mauro Icardi,head this way.
Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool, Brazil, 21: The attacking midfielder has been growing as a player and scored the winner in Liverpool’s most crucial game yet, a 3-2 win over Manchester City. But it was his defensive contribution as the wide man in a diamond that caught our attention. The ex-Inter man made 8 successful tackles, helping his side to an important victory. He even took 3 shots on goal, only 1 of which was on target, but his goal was the most important in the title race, yet. He moved out-wide and back to the centre, all with fair ease and smoothness.
Raheem Sterling | Liverpool, England, 19: The youngster put Liverpool off to a fantastic start in the 3-2 victory, turning Vincent Kompany and Joe Hart inside out before putting it into the back of the net. The City defense failed to stop him as his quick feet and movement proved to be difficult to handle. Sterling set-up a couple of chances but his contribution was reduced as his side became defensive. He has been improving with every game but after this one he seems to have established a reputation. This was his 2nd appearance in the Talent Radar Team of the Week.
Sterling featured in our list of 100 Best Young Players to Watch-out for in 2014; he was at #7 in our list of midfielders. See the full list here.
Adem Ljajic | Roma, Serbia, 22: The Serb played 87 minutes against Atalanta, his most at Roma, and it was arguably his best performance. He scored the side’s second goal in a 3-1 victory as he positioned himself in the box, De Rossi laid it off for him and the ex-Fiorentina man made no mistake, a simple goal. His assist for Gervinho was even better; as he lurked around the box the ball fell to him and he played a neat first touch ball to the Ivorian who finished emphatically.
Mauro Icardi | Inter Milan, Argentina, 21: With all the controversy involving Icardi off-the-field, he continues to deliver on it. He followed up his brace last week with another one this week against his former club, Sampdoria and his so-called ‘rival’ Maxi Lopez. Both his goals were set-up by Palacio; the first one was a cross which Icardi finished neatly first-time. The celebration that followed was criticised by his own boss as he tried to rile up the Sampdoria fans that booed him throughout. His second was a close-range finish, though it was from a nearly 90 degree angle which somehow squeezed in. This was Icardi’s second successive Talent Radar Team of the Week appearance.
Mauro Icardi featured in our list of Best Young Players to Watch-out for in 2014, coming in at #20 in our list of attackers. View the entire list here. For a detailed Scout Report on Mauro Icardi,head this way.
Torgeir Børven | Twente, Norway, 22: We debated long & hard as to whether the January Twente signing from Valerenga should be included in the list. He scored twice as Twente beat Roda 3-0, his goals though, were rather fortunate. The first came off from a fantastic cross which the Norwegian connected well with, only to have it saved by the keeper and rebound of him into the goal. The second came as a result of a poor clearance from the line to just ahead of the six-yard-box, he wasn’t going to miss from there. He did however take 7 shots, getting 4 of those on target which is impressive as he completed his second 90 minutes in the Eredivisie.
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