Sheffield Wednesday played out a 0-0 stalemate with Millwall on Saturday, but there were many positives to the performance – Dominic Iorfa’s defensive showing was one, Fernando Forestieri’s long-awaited return from injury was another, and Alessio Da Cruz’s debut was the icing on the cake.
The 23-year-old will spend the season at Hillsborough after joining on loan from Parma, and supporters may be excited at what’s to come from Da Cruz after his showing on the weekend. He came off the bench in the 66th minute and looked lively.
Like what I have seen of Da Cruz so far. Looks an exciting, quick, direct player. It is early days but very promising signs. #SWFC
— Dom Howson (@domhowson) February 1, 2020
Da Cruz has looked an exciting prospect, his first thought seems to be to take the ball forward and his link up play has been encouraging so far #SWFC
— Nancy Froston (@nancyfroston) February 1, 2020
Thought Da Cruz movement etc yesterday was great, hopefully get a start vs Barnsley, our forward play is generally too pedestrian especially with Nuhiu #swfc
— Howey (@howeybaby) February 2, 2020
4 things that need to happen to stand any chance of 6th place:
1. Forestieri finds form from 3 years ago.
2. Da Cruz be a gem of a find.
3. Wickham bags a dozen goals minimum.
4. Midfield contribute more goals.#swfc— Phill Richardson (@PhillRichardso2) February 2, 2020
Thought Da Cruz looked decent when he came on, hungry for the ball, looks like something we've lacked. Forestieri looked sharper than I'd have expected given how long he's been out. Good to see him back. #swfc
— Tom Taylor-Batty (@TomTB1995) February 1, 2020
Da Cruz showed a couple of glimpses of what is to come. Decent cameo #swfc
— Vital Wednesday (@VitalWednesday) February 1, 2020
Best thing about today… Da Cruz looked decent for the last 20 #swfc
— Craig G (@CraigGamb) February 1, 2020
Da Cruz looked decent. Odubajo surprisingly good. Forestieri offered a bit of something. Still nowhere near good enough though #SWFC
— Ashley (@Ashley_Wilson96) February 1, 2020
Against Millwall, Da Cruz played for 24 minutes, had 10 touches, completed 83.3% of his six passes, won one aerial duel and had one shot. He was sharp on the ball and linked up well with fellow substitute Fernando Forestieri. Garry Monk may contemplate starting him from the off against Barnsley.
Before his move to Sheffield, Da Cruz contributed 13 goals in 19 games for Parma. The 23-year-old was prolific in Serie B and could be a shrewd capture from Wednesday if he can continue where he left off in Italy. He’s started well so far.