Watched his match against Everton today. Solid game. He's not particularly extraordinary in any facet of the game, physical or technical, but he reads things very well for his age. He weaves out of tight spaces cleanly. Reminds me of Uribe.
I think his future might be as a Uribe type who can play multiple positions but ultimately his best spot will be as a CM. He's still young but he does a lot of things well and is defensively very smart. I think he's they type of player that CQ likes and in the next couple years you could see him develop into someone who provides depth for us in a 4-3-3. Just to expand and agree with @Azucarero thoughts.
Steven Alzate played the full 90 minutes in today's victory against Norwich. This kid plays a smart game.
Yeah and they were in a close game with a goal needed and the coach kept him on, he's earned a lot of trust playing a bunch of positions. He almost scored a really nice goal dribbling through traffic and past a few players but the shot was a bit wild. This Brighton team is miles better then they were under the previous coach, they press and attack and move the ball nicely and Alzate is contributing nicely and growing as a player each game.
Yeah Izzy has had a terrible run of injuries, even when he gets back he's going to be in a really tough spot to break in based on the way the managers lines them up. Trossard who was their big singing has looked fantastic when he's played and plays wide and can come inside which fits their current system. When Izzy played this team was ultra defensive this would actually be a better fit for him, hopefully he can get healthy and either win his spot or get a loan to get some playing time once he gets fit.
Alzate played the full 90 but BHA got owned yesterday by Man U. BHA plays lots of possession football which is a switch from last year's tactics with their new manager but no match for Man U yesterday. His work rate is typical of an EPL player. Runs and fights for every ball. Positions himself quite well in space. He's a good player with the ball but I do wish he was a bit more decisive in the final 1/3 and took players 1 v1. That's more on the coach. Anyhow, I hope he gets some good minutes vs Peru to see what he can offer.
The game kind of got turned on its head because United got an early goal then got another shortly after. It played right into United's hands because they love to counter attack and not have possession. Brighton were also missing their best CB who is the key person that plays out for them from the back and was replaced by a guy who isn't really good with the ball at his feet, but overall this Brighton team is doing good things and Alzate has kept his place even with Trossard coming back and is continuously going 90.
Alzate is being played as a right back today away to Arsenal and has done a pretty good job. Nothing spectacular but he's very calm on the ball, is physical and combines well with teammates. I think he's a really good option as a squad player because he can play a bunch of positions fairly well. He's what you would expect from an Colombian who grew up in England, he's smart and has an eye to attack but is very physical and disciplined as well.
I saw that too. I like the versatility. Hopefully it doesn’t give CQ any ideas to freeze out Arias completely LOL.
Right before I typed that he turned his defender 3 times to make space in the box, then kind of trips over the ball and it goes out of bounds. He's done stuff like that in games a few times, where he does all the hard work then sort of fluffs it at the end. It's a good sign he's patient and has balls to pull stuff and I imagine as he gets more and more experience he'll start pulling those off.
did difference in trying something like that and failing and being able to do it and win but deciding to dive like Cuadrado
Starting again as a RB today, fits their system really well because they play a 4-4-2 with all 5 of the 6 midfielders having license to get forward, so often he just sits and is an outlet and is very good in possession. He just doesn't look like he'll ever lose the ball, so calm on it and uses his wide frame really well to shield. He was naive coming out and biting on a give and go that led to a goal, his man wasn't in a dangerous position and he has to win the ball there or take the foul if he commits. It wasn't great, and it shows he's playing a position he's not super experienced in as a RB you can't do that.
After watching him closely a few times he's definetely a promising player who has a bright future but is still very inexperienced, its hard for me to think he's ready to play for Colombia at this point other then being a good back up because he can play multiple positions. I think Agudelo should be playing ahead of him right now, I don't see Alzate competing at RB over any of our current options and I think in another year or two he'll probably be very good. Good to have him in the system but he should be down the depth chart, he's still learning on the job quite a bit.