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Soccer evolves. Today players are forced to be creative and hard-working. To know how to perform on the court as if they were “multifunctional men”. And that demand is greater for those who have to move in the middle of the field. With the help of Jorge Giordano, Nacional is forging in its ranks the most complete midfield in Uruguayan football, because it found leadership, quality, skill, recovery and a journey in Emiliano Martínez, Felipe Carballo and Gabriel Neves.
If the oscillations or market trends and even a strengthening in economic security could allow it, the tricolor could begin to build a stronger team based on the three jewels that it has with these footballers who stand out for their reading of the game, for their intelligence to interpret which is the best move to execute and for his tranquility to move on the court.
The classic that played Emiliano MartinezFor example, it was confirmatory that he is a player of unparalleled elegance. His peripheral vision allows him to anticipate opponents and locate the ideal place for the play to develop with an advantage for his team.
At 21, Martínez became the best player in the match against Peñarol thanks to the intelligent movements he made to receive the ball in a space free of opponents and the courage he had to not rush even if he was surrounded by three players. Relying on his technique, he resolved to hook, feint, and slip away in the midst of so much effort to stop his advance.
Felipe CarballoMeanwhile, he also confirmed last Wednesday in the Champion of the Century that he has the active attitude of the modern midfielder. With more experience than Martínez, because he is 24 years old and his classic statistics are positive, Carballo was present throughout the game. He assumed the role that the team required and thus demonstrated that he is capable of varying the speed of his game as well as nurturing talent or delivery to the play.
Felipe Carballo makes an impressive display and organizes the game. Photo: Nicolás Pereyra.
As he usually does, he returned to lavish on the routes and his work was good in recovering the ball. The defense again had his support, because it is not in their plans not to do a hard job. Nobody runs as many distances as Felipe.
Then there is Gabriel Neves. Despite not being yet to reach the superlative level that allowed him to occupy the highest step among the three-color midfielders, he was able to deliver on the court the kind of passes that only he is capable of giving away due to his ability to do the unexpected.
Gabriel Neves ensures talent and surprising passes. Photo: Nicolás Pereyra.
Neves has all the earmarks of an old fashioned steering wheel. He can play 5 or 10 because he controls, drives, tricks, dodges and throws passes fluently and accurately.
In his splendor afternoons, he is the perfect midfielder because his hitting percentage is high. It does not fail when it passes and it stands out for the quality of the control.
At Nacional, the conjunction of this trident is bringing it closer to a better organized football. Still a game of sustained elaboration, of ball possession with a clear objective: to go to the front goal. Although each midfielder has his own style, there is an identity that clearly appears. Which does not mean that everything is already resolved.
No. Time, if it is possible for them to stay together in tricolor rows, is what will make it possible for them to get higher. That they raise their percentage of shots from outside the area, so that they get closer to what a forward shoots.
With the assembly that only allows the repetition of the matches, perhaps also with some modifications, they will be able to take advantage of the center forward who fixes the positions of the defenders and gives them the fertile ground to find their way to the goal.
On the other hand, it seems clear that with full-backs that open the court and also use the outer corridors on a long run, this midfield jewel could be more explosive and lethal.
Developing more individual capacities is an element that depends a lot on the training of each one, but there are also external factors -such as having good partners- that end up being of enormous weight so that those attributes that begin to send very positive signals are consolidate in the collective game.
What is clear is that National evolves thanks to its three jewels.