#TalentRadar | A regular feature on our website is the Talent Radar Team of the Week with the best young players compiled into an XI from across Europe’s top six leagues. You can read this for details on what is Talent Radar and what we have planned in it for the 2014-15 season.
The third Talent Radar Young Players’ Team of the Week sees the return of the Bundesliga & La Liga, though they cover for only 3 positions combined. The Premier League suffers the most with this return as there is only one representative. Notably though, Memphis Depay makes his third consecutive appearance, that’s a 100% record; while Eric Dier becomes the only other player to appear more than once with his second successive appearance.
Before we do reveal our list for this week, it’s worth mentioning that Nice’s young striker, Alexy Bosetti, doesn’t make the list but he scored with the OUTSIDE OF THE BOOT this past week, and we completely enjoyed that. Though it isn’t enough to get him on the list, sadly.
Alphonse Areola | Bastia | France | Goalkeeper | 21: Claude Makelele’s men recorded their first victory after a 1-0 win over Toulouse, helped by a good showing by Areola. Though he wasn’t put to the test much by a poor Toulouse attack, he did pull off a couple of saves, notably one in the second half from Braithwaite’s shot after horrendous play from captain Squillaci. It resulted in a one-on-one but a brave stop from Areola followed. A first clean sheet for the man on loan from PSG.
Marquinhos | Paris Saint-Germain | Brazil | Centre-Back | 20: A second draw for PSG and by no means a good performance vs Evian, but Marquinhos makes the team any way. He was kept largely untroubled alongside country men David Luiz, but fell under the pressure once Cabaye was sent-off. 3 tackles and 4 interceptions in fairly advanced areas, alongwith a good 77 completed passes. A decent, and unspectacular game from the Brazilian. // Scout Report on Marquinhos
Matthias Ginter | Borussia Dortmund | Germany | Centre-Back | 20: Disappointing start for Dortmund, but the scoreline is misleading; Leverkusen did score in the first 9 seconds and in the last minute, but in between Klopp’s men were fairly steady, including Matthias Ginter. His reading of the game was commendable, making 5 interceptions against a fast Leverkusen side. He was also an attacking threat for Dortmund, and arguably had two of the side’s best chances with two aerial efforts from set-pieces.
Eric Dier | Tottenham Hotspur | England | Right-Back | 20: Eric Dier became the first ever defender in Premier League history to score in both his first two games, the latest a superb near post header from a corner against QPR. Let that not deceive you though, Eric Dier (who played centre back last week) was absolutely incredible at right back making a sensational 7 successful tackles. The Englishman was constantly well advanced playing in the opposition half providing width but back defending as well.
Layvin Kurzawa | AS Monaco | France | Left-Back | 21: The plaudits went to Falcao for getting Monaco their first win of the season away to Nantes with the only goal in his first start, but the real star man on show was Layvin Kurzawa. He created 4 chances and provided the cross for that Falcao goal, and in the whole of the 2014/15 season across all leagues, you will not see a more perfect cross than the one from Kurzawa. He also made 3 tackles & 3 interceptions, but it was his contribution in attack that was outstanding.
MORE READING
Marquinhos featured in our Talent Radar Young Player Awards 2013/14
Depay, Ginter & Marquinhos were among Talent Radar’s 100 Best Young Players to Watch-out for in 2014
Areola, Kurzawa & Marquihos featured in our 10 Best Young Players in the 2014/15 Ligue 1 season list
Dier featured in our 10 Best Young Players in the 2014/15 Premier League season list
Depay featured in the 10 Best Young Players in the 2014/15 Eredivisie season list
Gianluca Gaudino | Bayern Munich | Germany | Central-Midfield | 17: Imagine being a young teenager, making your debut in a star-studded side and still being a stand-out performer. Gaudino caught the attention of viewers with his professionalism & maturity displaying an incredible 97% pass completion rate against Wolfsburg, more than all other Bayern players with Alaba at 91% the next highest. He’s carried on from his pre-season showing, covering areas of the pitch constantly in transitions.
Morgan Sanson | Montpellier | France | Central-Midfield | 20: Playing on the right side of central midfield, Morgan Sanson had a quiet game before growing into it evidently. His first telling contribution coming as he saved Montpellier, clearing off the line against Metz with the score at 1-0, soon after he made a run down the flanks and set-up a neat cross for Camara to head in. Though unmarked, take nothing away from the cross. He actually created the most chances (3) and had the most successful dribbles (4).
Daley Sinkgraven | Heerenveen | Netherlands | Central Midfield | 19: Deployed in a deep role , Sinkgraven was able to influence play all across the pitch with excellent movement, aided by his energy. His vision was on display, creating chances from deep, though advancing forward as well. He’s always looking to play the longer pass rather than a simpler short one, a clear show of inexperience. A 90% pass completion was shown though, a long with 4 meaningful chances created.
Munir El Haddaddi | Barcelona | Spain | Forward | 18: Making his debut for the first-team in the absence of first-teamers, El Haddaddi captured the imagination of Barca supporters world-wide, marking the occasion with a goal, and fittingly, scored with the OUTSIDE OF THE BOOT in the 3-0 win over Elche. Besides the goal he showed good movement off-the-ball, settling right into Luis Enrique’s side.
Anwar El Ghazi | Ajax | Netherlands | Forward | 19: Another one making his first start for his senior side, Anwar El Ghazi too marked it with a goal in an exciting #TalentRadar players filled game against PSV Eindhoven. He opened the scoring after a delightful through ball from Davy Klaassen, and a clever finish over the keeper. Ajax lost the game 3-1 but El Ghazi proved to be a huge positive as another youngster coming through into the first-team.
Memphis Depay | PSV Eindhoven | Netherlands | Forward | 20: The biggest talent in Dutch football has been running the show over the last few weeks and dominating the Eredivisie as well. Though he wasn’t given the freedom as he would have liked, nor was his performance as solid as the previous matches, he was still PSV’s focal attacking point, even getting on the end of a good move to score his 5th in 3 games. The Ajax side saw him as the main attacking threat and looked to contain him, always having a man or two over when he was in possession. It worked occasionally, but Depay eventually started finding his way through. // Scout Report on Memphis Depay
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Written by Sami Faizullah. Chief Editor of this website. All our Talent Radar Team of the Week pieces can be found here.
