Bruma: Scout Report

#TalentRadar

Sporting Clube de Portugal is one of the best club in the world when it comes to producing young talents. Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo and countless talented players. One of the latest starlets of this academy is Armindo Tue Na Bangna.

PROFİLE

Armindo Tue Na Bangna, commonly known as Bruma, was born in Guinea-Bissau, a country which is in West Africa. Bruma moved to Portugal when he was a little kid and joined the Sporting youth ranks at the age of 13. Bruma played countless games for youth ranks and scored more than 80 goals. In February 2013, he made his professional debut with the first team against C.S. Maritimo and the following week, he scored his first goal as a Sporting player against Gil Vicente. After his first season as professional player he moved to the Turkish side Galatasaray.

Talent Radar Accolades

• 2016-17 Super Lig Team of the Season

• Named in 100 to Watch in 2014 feature

Bruma has just started to appear in Galatasaray colours. He has played 3 league games and provided 2 assists. His display against Çaykur Rizespor in the first 30 minutes was flawless, he created lots of chances for his team mates and provided an assist. His ungovernable movements on the pitch have attracted audiences. He made his Champions League debut on 17th September, 2013 against Real Madrid in the 1-6 home loss.

Bruma’s national team career has been successful, so far. He has played 64 games for various age groups of Portugal and scored 28 goals. He hasn’t made his senior debut yet. Bruma was one of the best players of the U-20 World Cup in Turkey, catering multiple monumental performances netting five goals in four games and winning the silver shoe.

STYLE, STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

We could be witnessing the development of a new superstar in the world of football. His game looks similar to that of Cristiano Ronaldo but his style is unique. In my opinion, he has Ribery-esque potential, perhaps even more than the French-man. We are going to watch him play for Turkish giants Galatasaray in Champions League this season. He is ready for top level and this season he’ll prove it to us.

Bruma is extremely attacking minded player. He plays as winger (both flanks) and behind the striker. He likes to change his original position on the pitch, he looks for a empty spaces and knows how to benefit from those empty spaces between the defenders. Although he likes to change position, he manages to retain his position after his team loses the ball. He keeps himself available to receive the ball, and knows how to get rid of defenders.

He prefers to cut inside and provide open spaces for full backs and he is also able to provide good through balls to strikers. When he doesn’t have the ball, he likes to make forward runs into the box. He scored some good goals as a result of his forward runs in the U20 World Cup. We have seen some good forward runs at Galatasaray too, but he hasn’t been able to score just yet. Two images shown below can give you an idea about his movements on the pitch.

He got chances to score goals, but his finishing is poor. Last week in Turkish super league against Çaykur Rizespor, he missed several clear chances, wasting a couple of one on ones, as well. The other problem about his game is decision making. Bruma doesn’t have enough experience to take a right decision every time he has the ball. On the other hand, the positive thing about him is, he decides what to do with the ball before he receives it.

At first sight, you may think that his physique is not one of his main strength, but this is not. An agile player, Bruma’s acceleration, speed and stamina are wonderful.  He has good balance and despite having a thin body, he has sufficient power. All in all, his physique is enough to be a top player and Galatasaray’s super talented physical trainer, Scot Piri will have a positive impact on his physical development.

Bruma’s best quality is his drilling; he often runs with the ball at his feet and makes it very hard for defenders to get the ball from him.. His strongest attribute is the change of direction, with or without the ball. He manages to change direction very fast, even if he is running with the ball. This ability has caused distress to defenders in the Turkish Super League.

Bruma’s main weakness is that he is inclined to lose control of himself. Because of his young age, he has trouble controlling his emotions and this could be a problem for his improvement. Another area he needs to work on is to learn how to avoid hard tackles. He is skillful player and often, defenders throw in a hard tackle in order to win the ball. He is a player who wants to play football all day long but, he has to learn that sometimes he might need a rest to save some energy for coming weeks. Learning how to control the tempo of his game is crucial for Bruma. He needs to be careful to avoid the injury.

Bruma’s defensive contribution is decent. Although, he doesn’t know how to defend efficiently, he runs hard and his effort helps him to cover up this lack of defensive knowledge. It’s true that he is willing to defend but sometimes he looks funny on the pitch as he chases the opponent like a mad person. He’ll learn to be calm, he’ll learn to take a right position to defend his opponent. He needs some time. Positive part is he is willing to defend, always chase his opponent down and is always willing to put pressure on the defenders helping his team to regain the ball. The graphic shows you one of his tackles, where he chased his opponent and helped his team to regain the ball.

Having Didier Drogba as a teammate is priceless. It might sound unreasonable to you but in my opinion, the presence of Drogba will help him in terms of mentality. Drogba already has been through what Bruma will experience in his long career and so, the Ivorian can help Bruma to become a more mature player at such an early age. If this can be achieved, it would be one of his main strengths.

Overall, we are about the see a world class player. In my opinion, he’ll be at the same level as Ribery. He is already a complete player and in two years he’ll improve on his weaknesses too, then we’ll see a truly world class player.

QUOTES

Emre Utkucan (Galatasaray’s chief scout) : “He is one of the most important starlets in the world right now. He is just 18 but he dominated U-20 World cup. He is a special player, fast, athletic, very smart compare to his age and he is a complete player.”

Rıdvan Dilmen (ex-national team player,commentator): “Improving young talent. Good at one-on–ones, very good with the ball and talented player. Lucrative investment for Galatasaray.”

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