Sebastián Cristóforo

Date of Birth	Nationality	Current Club	Position	Strengths		Weaknesses	Transfer Rumours	Market Value	Similar Players
				Physical	Technical + Mental
20/8/1993	Uruguay	Sevilla	CM	Stamina, Pace, Strength	Tactical Intelligence, Passing, Composure, Anticipation, Tackling	Experience	-	-	-

Sebastian Cristoforo is a 20-year-old Uruguayan who plays for Sevilla. Born outside Montevideo, Cristoforo was spotted playing on a pitch outside the capital and was immediately recommended to Penarol and the club signed him. He has progressed within the club before finally making his debut on the 29^th of May 2011, at the age of 17 as a substitute. The following season was his breakout season at the club as he appeared more regularly during the “Clausura”. He continued to be used as a rotation player with other members of the squad while being integrated with the first team. His performances were always very impressive as he would contribute to both attack and defence. He was part of the team that won the Uruguayan Primera Division in the 2012/13 season. This past summer was the first time I really got to watch him play properly during the U20 World Cup in Turkey. His performances at the world cup were a huge part of the reason for me to keep an eye out on his progress and development. He was a star performer in the Uruguay team that reached the final, only losing to France on penalties. His control of the midfield in the final against France was a huge factor in keeping France at bay. Following his performances in the World Cup he was transferred to Sevilla for £2.5 million to replace Cardiff bound Gary Medel. So far this season he has made a few appearances for Sevilla, primarily from the bench, however in those games he has shown some real qualities and will soon be a key member of this team under Emery.

While watching the player I found it extremely hard to try and give him a position that he is best at, or most naturally suited playing at. I ended up just saying ‘CM’ due to the fact that he plays as a central midfielder. In the past he is known to have played on the right side of midfield as well as both defensive and attacking midfield. This shows his versatility and usefulness as a football player. The reason I found it hard to pin-point a ‘best position’ is largely due to his tactical intelligence. Both his tactical awareness and discipline is something I find extremely rare for a 20-year-old. He has an extremely good understanding of the game and reads the game very well as it progresses. This is an extremely great trait to have and it will certainly help him with his future development. The reason I bring this up is due to the fact that I believe that he is suited to play anywhere in midfield, and due to his tactical understanding he will give you his best performance wherever you deploy him. The reason I have labelled him best as a ‘CM’ is due to the nature in which he plays. What struck me the most about Cristoforo is his ability to organise the midfield well.  Aged 20, Cristoforo’s tactical understanding has helped him with his leadership skills which helps him organise the midfield and position himself in the best possible positions. Some of the great attributes he possesses are his passing, tackling and composure. I have listed these three together as they all go hand in hand in the way he plays. Best deployed as a CM, ideally in front of the defensive midfielder and behind the attacking midfielder, he can keep the play flowing and recycle the ball towards the forward men. This is where his tackling and passing come into play. During the attacking build-up, he is able to receive the ball and continue the play going by linking the back to the front. He also has great vision and pass-execution and is not afraid of dinking long balls over for the forwards to run onto, or threading through balls between the opposition for his teammates to run on to. When his team is defending, he is an extremely great tackler and positions himself well in order to make the tackle and then build an attacking play from the tackle by recycling the ball to teammates. What is even more striking about him is that he performs both these traits with extreme composure. He is not rushed into doing anything and is calm when either going into a challenge or making a pass. Cristoforo is also a very energetic player. His stamina, strength and pace all account for this. It is through this that I would probably best describe him as a box-to-box destroyer. Although he is not much of a goal scorer, during his Penarol days there were times where you would see him in the opposition box as part of his teams attack. Another reason for me saying this is that he is an extremely good presser of the ball. This was best seen in Sevilla’s game against Barcelona this year. He was tasked with the job of pressing and cutting down the time Xavi and Iniesta had on the ball in order to give his team a better opportunity to shut out Barca from creating many chances. He played his role exceptionally well and was unfortunate in being substituted that game. His energy and his great pressing has led me to believe that his best position would be the connecter in the center of midfield. Although Cristoforo has not played many games for Sevilla, it is apparent the difference he makes for the team when coming on as a substitute. Emery, Sevilla’s manager, has tended to use their best player, Ivan Rakitic, in a deeper midfield role in an attempt to get him to dictate the game. However, Rakitic is more lethal when in and around the opposition box where he can contribute more to the attack and even get on the score sheet. In the game against Almeria, Cristoforo was brought on for the last 20 minutes with the game level at 1-1. By bringing him on, Emery allowed Rakitic to move further forward while allowing Cristoforo to battle the midfield and keep control of the ball and keep the ball moving during possession. The game ended 2-1 to Sevilla with Rakitic scoring late on. The impact Cristoforo had when he came on did not go unnoticed.

He is an extremely talented player and very mature. His tactical understanding is what surprised me the most due to his obvious youth in terms of age. However, he has done a great job impressing me and I am certain he will be a fine player for Sevilla as the season develops and for however long he remains there. A player with great energy and a certain game changer, he can develop into being an extremely top player. I look forward to watching more of him this year as the season continues and possibly if Sevilla go deep into the Europa league.

There are no videos of his overall play, however there is one of his only goal scored which I have added below.