You and I usually agree on stuff, but watching those highlights, I couldn't disagree more. It's only one game, but from what I saw in those highlights, I was actually impressed (not blown away; but I thought it was a good debut; positives to build on). I am not sure if he's ready to be the main man yet, but I don't think he's far off - like one season of acclimatising).
Here's why. In preseason, what I want to see from new players is their ability. When I watched Darwin in his first preseason games, I saw a guy scoring a couple of goals, but also a guy with an average to poor first touch, very poor link-up play, poor decision-making, poor finishing and non-existent dribbling (it was kick and run). I wasn't impressed and whilst he's improved over his time, he's still not at the level we require.
With Hugo, based on the highlighted clips, here's what I saw:
0:25 - Excellent pressing from behind, wins the ball back. Salah heads it out.
0:34 - Quick to loose ball and wins 2 v 1 challenge by using his length to get a lovely little flick off to Szobo and get us possession, who then gets it off to Salah in a dangerous position.
0:38 - Excellent forward run between defenders, decent first touch with the outside of his boot to hold up possession, then a poor 2nd touch as he tries to touch it with the outside of his right foot and he misses the ball (as he's concerned about the defender). Then the defender nudges him off balance as he’s about to try a drag back to retrieve the ball. (replay around 0:55 shows this more clearly)
0:46 - Playing between the lines. Intelligent link up play and awareness with a simple lay-off to Bradley, but what’s more impressive is the desire he shows to join in after the lay off. Gets well away from his tight marker after the lay off.
1:00 - Pressing (although I’d have liked to have seen it more curved).
1:06 - Excellent first touch and positive driving run. Runs into too many players though. Should have retain possession, but I like the fact he control the ball so easily with his studs.
1:19 - Good pressing from behind again. Wins ball back.
1:25 - Checks shoulder and engages with defender, then times his run across CB to get a flick shot at goal. Had the ball been played in from of him and not behind him, it would have likely been a one-touch goal. But the movement here was sharp and well-timed.
1:41 - Tries to step across and hold off defender. Loses ball as he’s nudged off balance. Needs to work on his strength. Would also have liked to have seen him press after losing it.
1:50 - Negative slow play. Could have utilised a 2 v 1 with Gravy there, but could have been instruction from Slot to slow the play down a bit at that moment and not go gung-ho end-to-end as we always did under Jurgen.
2:01 - Reacts fast to loose ball. And good one touch off to Salah, then looks to get the return. Simple, intelligent link-up play. Not greedy poor decision making. He also has a good instinctive reaction (to press) when he sees we lose the ball.
2:13 - Nothing to note here.
2:18 - Finds space in the box, but not a great touch to control. It comes at him fast, and there’s a defender who jumps in front of it; it required a special touch, but wasn’t able to do so.
2:24 - Wins a duel for a loose ball he’s not favourite for, and gets it off in one touch to Bradley.
2:33 - Excellent pressing. Almost wins the ball.
To surmise:
Good intelligent link-up play.
Reacts fast to loose balls.
Generally a good first touch.
Sharp movement in box. Understood it would take a one-touch finish and positioned himself as such.
Generally good pressing and first reaction when we lose the ball.
Good aggression to attack space once he’s laid it off.
He looks pretty mobile too.
Needs to work on his body strength as he may get bullied in PL, if he tries to be physical and hold off defenders; which may affect his link up and hold up play.
This is my opinion just based on the clips alone. Maybe he had another 100 shocking touches that I haven't seen that wasn't clipped. But on these clips, I see a technical foundation that can be built upon and is good enough to be effective in the PL.
