With Almada leaving in the summer, I wanted to make a shortlist of players to replace him. Some are realistic and some aren’t.
Now, let's look at what we are looking for in a replacement. Almada’s best qualities are his passing and creativity. Thankfully FBref is a BEAST so we can look at his statistics in those categories. Currently, Almada has 45 shot creating actions (6.66 SCA per 90) and 12 goal creating actions (1.78 per 90). He is in the 98th percentile for SCA and GCA. Those are the main stats we are looking at for these replacements. There are some other stats that Almada are very good at like carries, carries into final third, passes into final third and progressive passes. Let us begin.
Leonardo Fernandez - 24 yr old, Toluca
Leo has had a great season with Toluca. He has 15 g/a in 29 games in this LigaMX season (Apertura and Clausura) He hasn't found the success in the Clausura like he did in the Apertura, only getting 2 goals and 1 assist in 667 minutes. In the Apertura, he was excellent, getting 5 goals and 7 assists in 15 starts.
Now, let's look at his stats on FBref. Leo has 142 (7.18 per 90) SCA and 13 (.66 per 90) GCA. He is in the 99th percentile on SCA and is in the 93rd percentile on GCA. Let's look at the other stats. Leo has 6.19 (per 90) passes into the final third compared to Almada’s 6.20. Leo also has 6.96 (per 90) progressive passes compared to Almada’s 9.17.
Gustavo Scarpa - 29 yr old, Nottingham Forrest
Alright, remember when I said some weren’t gonna be realistic, this is one of them. Gustavo signed to NFFC from Palmeiras in January on a 3 year deal. Unfortunately, Gustavo hasn’t been able to provide for NFFC like he did for Palmeiras. So, we are just gonna pretend that Gustavo still plays for Palmeiras. I will be using his 2022 stats. Gustavo literally played in 7
comps last year so he had 60 games played and he had 28 g/a in that span. In the Brazilian Serie A, Scarpa had 7 goals and 12 assists in 35 games. Gustavo played in a lot of positions in 2022 but his best position was AM.
Alright into the stats, since I'm using Scarpa's stats from last season, I'll use Almadas stats from last season too. Scarpa had 205 SCA and 19 GCA last year for Palmeiras, Almada had 172 SCA and 18 GCA last year. Scarpa only had 5.52 (per 90) progressive passes last year compared to Almadas 8.39.
Juan Brunetta - 25 yr old, Santos Laguna
Juan is currently having an amazing season at Santos (on loan from Godoy Cruz). He has 16 g/a in 31 games in this Liga MX season. Before coming to Santos, Brunetta played in Serie A/B with Parma Calcio. In his first season with Parma in Serie A, he got 1 goal and 2 assists in the 470 minutes he played that season. He did a little better in Serie B, getting 1
goal and 6 assists over 25 appearances.
In the FBref report, Juan has 151 SCA and 14 GCA in this Liga MX season. Almada has 45 SCA this season and had 172 last year. Almada also has 12 GCA this season and had 18 last year.
Giorgian De Arrascaeta - 28 yr old, Flamengo
Giorgian would be the best player in MLS by far if he came. He is a little bit of a monster with the ball. If you thought Almada was good with the ball, then you are in for a treat. The Brazilian season just started so we won't use his stats from this season (cause he hasn't played.) GDA had 33 g/a in 56 games last year.
GDA had 113 SCA and 14 GCA last year while Almada had 172 SCA and 18 GCA.
GDA had 7.41 (per 90) progressive passes last year and Almada had 8.39. GDA has 4.45 (per 90) passes into the final 3rd, Almada has 6 (per 90). You might be asking “wow, this guy is NOT as good as Almada” well the Brazilian Serie A is levels above MLS. GDA could 100% be playing in a top 5 league right now. If you are still questioning Giorgian then watch “Giorgian De Arrascaeta | goals, assists and skills.”
Andre Franco - 25 yrs old, FC Porto
Alright, imma ask yall to let me cook before I begin this. Andre started his career at Sporting CP but couldn’t break through to the first team so he went to Estoril Praia. In his first season in the top flight of Portugal, he cooked, getting 15 g/a in 33 games. He caught the eye of Portuguese giant FC Porto. Porto bought him for 4.07m. Unfortunately, Andre hasn’t been able to consistently play for Porto. I think that the reason why he’s done so poorly at Porto is because he’s playing as a winger and not as an attacking mid.
Into the FBref test, I will be using stats from his Estoril days. He has 97 SCA (3.44 per 90) and 13 GCA (0.46 per 90) in 2021/22. That's really it from his stats. He seems more of an attacking type of player instead of a creative player that Almada is. If we do get a creative 8 to replace Rossetto/Sejdic, I would like Andre.
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