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Friday, 20 July 2012 15:10 |
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I've been pretty pleased with Benfica's performances thus far. In my opinion, Maxi, Nolito, and Carlos Martins have been our most impressive players. I've never really been a huge fan of Martins, but he's looked really sharp recently. I also managed to watch Granada a few times last year and he was very impressive.
In the past, he's struggled with sloppy passing and a tendency to shoot on sight, but he's seemed to improve in those aspects in his game.
Pablo Aimar is definitely the more talented #10, but Martins is a good alternative to have off the bench. When he has his shooting boots on, he can be a great goal scoring threat.
As for the transfer rumors, I really wouldn't mind seeing Gaitan leave. He was always hugely overrated. Ola John has shown flashes of brilliance in the opportunities he's been given, so I'm excited to see what he can for us this year. Axel Witsel is arguably our most important player, so he'd be a huge loss if he's sold. Carlos Martins and Matic can play as the #8, but Witsel is, by far, the best option for this role.
I have also read that Oscar Cardozo may be leaving this summer. I know that he has his critics due to his obvious lack of pace, but look at his stats. The guy will consistently give us 15+ goals a season in the Liga. Rodrigo and Oliveira have tons of potential, but they haven't yet proved to be consistent goal scorers.
I read that Nelson Oliveira could be heading to Fiorentina on loan, but that would be a big mistake. JJ likes to use 2 strikers against inferior Liga opposition and Oliveira is better suited to partner Cardozo than Rodrigo. Rodrigo would be better than Oliveira as a lone striker.
Now moving on to the defense. We lack depth at both fullback positions. Luisinho has looked very good thus far, but another quality left back is needed for depth. Melgarejo simply isn't good enough defensively to play left back. Maxi is obviously our first choice right back, but we don't have another right back on the squad. Miguel Vitor and Witsel could play there, but I'd prefer a natural right back.
I've also read that Garay has been closely followed by Barcelona, Milan, and other elite clubs. He was extremely important to us last season, so he'd be a massive loss. Imagine what would of happened if he didn't get injured. We could have won the league, and we could have beaten Chelsea in the Champions League semi finals...
This will probably be our starting 11 in big games:
-------------------------------Cardozo---------------------------------
Nolito-------------------Aimar----------------------------Cesar
------------------Garcia---------Witsel--------------------------
Luisinho------Garay------------Luisao---------------Maxi
----------------------------Artur-------------------------
Liga games:
----------------------Cardozo----Oliveira-----------------------------
-------Nolito-------------Aimar-------------Witsel-----------
Luisinho-----------------------Garcia-------------------------Maxi
----------------------Garay---------Luisao----------------------
-------------------------------Artur----------------------------------------
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