Inverted wingers?
Two additional signings were announced on Wednesday. A third goalkeeper and an interesting midfielder who may add another dimension to attack than we are used to seeing at FCE.
Nathan Ingham
Ingham is expected to enter preseason camp and the season as the 3rd string keeper, and he will serve to push Farago—a PDL product himself—for the backup position.
Nathan had a stellar 2015 at Kitchener-Waterloo United, winning the PDL title back in August in the Final against New York Red Bulls U23, saving a penalty and being named MVP for the game in the process:
KWU put up not the best, but a decent defensive record this season, keeping 9 clean sheets in 19 games. Ingham kept 26 clean sheets in his time in the PDL, a league record. Sadly, as a result of the recent PDL rebrand, access to stats or a match reports appear to be limited at this time. It will be interesting to see his full pro debut should that time come. FCE has had a string of young Canadian keepers shine in their first match for the Eddies.
Gustavo Salgueiro
Miller on the new Brazilian’s role:
“We knew we had to have someone in the middle of the park that could play wide left to replace Lance Laing,”
Initial research doesn’t show much data on the midfielder in terms of stats or performance. His playing experience has taken him to 9 clubs in 13 years, with most stays for only season, although he may have found a bit of stability spending a few years between his last club, Murici, and Lajeadense. Both of those clubs were only in their respective state championships, and not on the national pyramid of Brazil*.
“Gustavo has played most of his career in the Brazilian leagues and when I looked at his highlights and game footage, I had a real feeling that our fans would take to him right away.”
Search “Gustavo Salgueiro” on YouTube—uploaded by Gustavo, or perhaps by an agent, himself—and you can watch the same videos Miller probably did and scout him yourself:
Uploaded just over year ago, the above video is a showcase of Gustavo in 2014 with Lajeadense, among clips from preceding seasons. It shows that he’s light on his feet, both with the ball and without, indicating what he may be capable of in the FCE attack. Gustavo certainly has the flair we traditionally expect out of Brazilians and that FCE has lacked for some time. As with all these kinds of highlight reels, you must take them with a grain of salt for various reasons, one of which is they never show how consistently a player performs at their best. Gustavo also appears to be confident in himself to be a striker, saying so in the titles of the video as it starts.
It should be noted that FCE now has five of the seven international slots allowed taken up—Gustavo, Jones, Watson, Fordyce and Ameobi.
*In Brazil, there are two pyramids, a state championship, with its own tiers, run by that state’s federation; and a more prestigious national pyramid, run by the CBF. The best clubs participate in both. Wikipedia does a good job of explaining this.
Hours after the announcement of these signings, a Steven Sandor interview with Miller revealed two more signings are on the way, pending approval of both Fath and the league.
We don’t know what role those two signings will play in the squad. What we can do though, is to add the signing of Gustavo to a previous evaluation of the depth chart and see what is yet to be addressed.
Playmaker
Key to the Gustavo highlight reels above is to note where he is playing on the pitch and what role he plays with his teammates. It would appear that Gustavo has indeed played his best and most natural football while as an attacking midfielder, sitting just behind forwards. In this position, he will likely be tasked with the responsibility of being the playmaker of the attack, dribbling at defenders, setting up one-twos, or possessing the ball long enough for the forwards to get into position for him to pass to. Another responsibility would be for him to serve as a supporting striker, presenting himself as an extra finishing option.
Inverted winger?
In his statement, Miller also sees Gustavo operating on the left side of the attack to “replace Lance Laing”. While he may replace Laing on that side of the pitch, it is not a like-for-like replacement. Gustavo is right-footed, placing him on the left means he will likely be employed there as an inverted winger or wide forward. Expected to cut inside from the wing from deep, to present himself as a playmaking option or a shot while off the ball, or to draw a defender out while with the ball.
Interestingly enough on the 15-mintue video, is this graphic:
When you look at this graphic and see the highlights of this particular game with Lajeadense, Gustavo plays on the wing. In a lot of the clips of the game, despite having acres of space to dribble the ball into behind the fullback, he almost always looks to drift in to the top of the 18-yard box. There are a few occasions where he is forced to hug the line all the way to the byline, but his expectation is still to try and dribble with the ball into the box, rather than play a cross in from out wide.
So where does this fit in FCE tactically? It may also be noted that it appears Lajeadense did not play with a true striker that day. This is not to say that FCE’s tactical outlook will change to a similar structure. Edmonton does not have Gustavo’s left-footed equivalent on the right as of yet, but it is hard to see FCE not use their current corps of strikers, or at least take them out of their comfort zone. Instead, Gustavo’s addition presents a shift of focus from relying on the flanks to of the pitch to channel attacks through and presenting more options up the middle.
While the signing of Gustavo does address the hole in the left flank left by Laing, it remains to be seen how the team will actually form up on that side of the pitch. Smith remains the most natural left-footed winger in the traditoinal sense and we may yet see another addition to further shore this part of the pitch up.
The right fullback position remains lacking in depth, with only either of Edward and Ledgerwood being able to switch between that position and holding midfield. If both are likely to be starters, it would be ideal to sign another capable of shoring up the right flank.
It is not clear if any of the next two will be Academy signings. But those should happen sometime before the Scotland trip in March, if not before preseason camp begins on the first week of February.
