Scouting Esmael Goncalves

The New England Revolution has recently been linked to striker/winger Esmael Goncalves. Beyond the information provided by YouTube and Wikipedia, the 22 year old Portuguese player is an unknown commodity to Revs fans. To help get some insight about this potential target, I spoke to fans from St. Mirren and APOEL FC, two clubs where Goncalves recently played.

Thoughts from Alan Wardrop, Chairman of the St. Mirren Fans Council:

• -Goncalves was christened the “Loan King” and his arrival was stunning with him scoring a goal in every one of his first few games.
• -He was carrying a little bit of weight when he arrived at first but soon got into great shape.
• -He made a real contribution to us winning the Scottish League Cup in 2013 (for the first time in our history) with a goal in both the final and semi final.
• -I am the proud owner of his second Cup Final shirt (they issue 2) and can tell you he is not just a good player but a really likeable character.
• -We would have him back in a minute but if he is off to the USA I am sure he will do well for you.

Thoughts from Jamie Wilson, journalism student and St. Mirren fan:

• -Goncalves can play wide on either side or up-front, usually working best alongside a target man.
• -He has great pace and a good first touch and is not afraid to pick up the ball and run at a defender.
• -Probably my only criticism would be that he drifts in and out of games.  He had the ability to win a game on his own for us whereas other weeks he would barely get a touch of the ball.
• -Ask any St Mirren fan about him and not one will have a bad word to say about him.  He is definitely considered a hero over here in Paisley after he scored in the semi-final and final of the cup last season.
• -He was definitely far too good for our league and when he went to Nicosia things unfortunately didn’t seem to really go to plan for him.  I don’t know what that could be down to but he did manage to bag a couple of goals in Europe for them. MLS is a league on the up and could certainly do with a player of his quality.

(Note: Jamie recently wrote about Goncalves’ stay with St. Mirren in a piece called “All I Wanted for Christmas: Isma Goncalves.” Click here to check out that article.)

Thoughts from the webmaster of APOEL.net:

• -He is a talented and skilled player. He is explosive (not particularly fast), has good dribbling skills and a decent pass. On his day he can be a real handful.
• -He seems equally comfortable both as a striker and as a (right) winger. His unpredictability makes him exciting to watch.
• -When he scored on his debut for APOEL, we thought we had found the new poster-boy for our team.
• -He had a few extra pounds, but it would be a matter of time before he shed those and became even better. Unfortunately it wouldn’t go the way everyone thought it would.
• -He was extremely inconsistent with his performances and the few extra pounds didn’t seem to go away. His physical condition never allowed him to play a solid 90 minutes. Then we found out that he had a habit of drinking and partying, even outside of the team curfew hours.
• -His lack of discipline on and off the pitch was starting to show and impact other players, too. The coach’s and management’s attempts to discipline him were in vain and thus, he was released. It is a shame, as he doesn’t seem to take his football as seriously as he should.
• -In short, he has the talent but will need to work hard on his commitment, in order to succeed. If his future coach and the environment he is in are such, he will evolve into a very good player. If not, he will be moving on before too long.

(Picture courtesy of BBC.co.uk)