Marco Silva's new golden boy could bench Benfica regular | OneFootball

The break for international fixtures is allowing Marco Silva to work more closely with the few players who remained at Seixal. Among them is Claudio Echeverri, a signing on loan from Manchester City, who is looking to earn his place in Benfica’s squad.

The Argentine had just over 10 minutes against Gil Vicente, but it was enough to convince Marco Silva. “I think the international break will be very important for him because, fortunately or unfortunately, we will only have a few players left. We’ll have good time to work and to get him to his best level,” he explained after the match.

The coach also made no secret of the fact that he was pleased with the youngster’s impact. “I liked him a lot. At a decisive moment in the game, a moment when he has to come on and play in a position where he has to be decisive, he has to take responsibility, and I liked that — the way he took responsibility, the way he wasn’t afraid to ask for the ball, the way that, in many one-twos and short-passing situations, around the edge of the box, he managed to do it — I liked that a lot,” he said.

Echeverri came off the bench in the following matches, against Milan at San Siro and Porto at the Dragão, but the break could help him close the gap in the battle for a place. Marco Silva has already identified the Argentine as an option for the more advanced midfield role, a scenario that puts Sudakov on alert. The Ukraine international started at the Dragão, but was substituted in the first half after Clément Lenglet’s red card.

With five matches scheduled before the end of October, Marco Silva will have to manage the squad through a packed calendar and the Argentine’s progress during this break could give him another option. Benfica return to action on 10 October against Vitória de Guimarães in Matchday 8 of the Primeira Liga.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.