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| Saturday, 29 October 2011 22:23 |
Rodrigo fires Benfica to another winBenfica 2-1 Olhanense Rodrigo Morena, Benfica’s Brazilian-born Spanish striker was the toast of the Estadio da Luz tonight, scoring an early brace to earn the Eagles a sixth straight victory. After a dominant first half Benfica fell asleep in the second forty-five minutes, allowing Wilson Eduardo to pull a goal back and experiencing some nervy moments in the dying embers of the match.
The game got off to an explosive start. Gaitan played in Rodrigo who advanced towards the net and struck an unerring finish past Fabiano from a tight angle. Just 20 seconds were on the clock. It was Rodrigo’s first goal in the league for Benfica, and the 20-year-old increasingly seems to be convincing Jorge Jesus he is worthy of a starting place in the side.
The perfect start further boosted Benfica’s already sky-high confidence. Jorge Jesus’ team remain unbeaten in all competitions this season, and the trio of skilful midfield schemers Aimar, Gaitan and Bruno Cesar had Olhanense’s players chasing shadows for most of the first half. Rodrigo in particular was enjoying himself and he soon doubled Benfica’s lead.
Maxi assistA typically marauding Maxi Pereira run resulted in a dangerous cross whipped into the six-yard box. A combination of Oscar Cardozo and a clutch of Olhanense defenders sent the ball spinning into the air, leaving Rodrigo with the simple task of nodding into the net from practically under the bar.
As the game continued to be played almost exclusively in the half of the pitch Olhanense were defending, the only surprise was that the interval arrived without further goals. Pablo Aimar especially will be kicking himself as some unusually poor control let him down when clean through and the chance was gone.
The second half, just like the first, started with a goal from the first attack. Olhanense captain Joao Goncalves found space for a low cross, which four Benfica defenders allowed to roll in front of them to enable Wilson Eduardo an easy chance from close in. The Portugal U21 striker made no mistake to put the visitors back in the game.
The goal transformed the Algarve outfit, who began to pass the ball more accurately and adopt a more adventurous approach. Simultaneously Benfica were unable to raise the pace of their game and seemed to miss Aimar’s creativity, who had made way at the break for Witsel.
Jesus apoplecticNonetheless, it was the hosts who carved out the few chances on offer. Matic headed just over the bar, and when Cardozo’s 69th-minute goal was erroneously ruled out for offside the already anxious Jorge Jesus risked being sent to the stands for a second successive match as he vented his considerable anger at the fourth official.
Dauto Faquira threw on veteran striker Djalmir for the final 15 minutes, and the Olhanense hero was close to grabbing a dramatic late equaliser. Maxi Pereira clumsily lost possession in his own half and as the ball was worked to Djalmir it needed a last-ditch Luisao’s interception to deflect the forward’s goal-bound shot for a corner.
Moments later the final whistle blew. Benfica draw level with FC Porto in joint top spot in the table.
Benfica:
Artur, Emerson, Garay, Maxi Pereira, Luisao, Bruno Cesar, Matic, Gaitan (Nolito, 65), Aimar (Witsel, 46), Rodrigo, Cardozo (Saviola, 81)
Goals:
[1-0] Rodrigo, 1
[2-0] Rodrigo, 13
[2-1] Wilson Eduardo, 47
Braga held in CoimbraEarlier in the afternoon Academica and Braga played out a hard-fought goalless draw. Braga were the stronger team in the first half, pinning back the hosts for long periods, but were unable to create clear-cut chances. Pedro Emanuel’s men were on top after the break. Eder sent a header crashing onto the bar, and Adrien Silva shot inches wide of the post.
The point is enough to take Braga temporarily at least into third place in the standings, but both Sporting and Maritimo could overtake the Arsenalistas if they win their weekend fixtures away at Feirense and Gil Vicente respectively.
Tom Kundert
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My first memories of Benfica are from the 80's, 7 -8 Portuguese players (including those from the colonies), a couple Brazilians, and a player from a Nordic country. Those were the days! Chalana, Nene, Mozer, Ricardo Gomes, Magnuson, Bento, Dimantino, Pacheco, Veloso and more, Shell was the sponsor, and the jerseys were either red or white, no black, grey or orange garbage like today. What Id do go to go back. Id love UEFA to put a limit foreign players in each league...but that will never happen with the laws in Europe. Until then, all Im worried about is Benfica winning, with blind men, cripples, even a woman.. the national team can worry about itself.
JJ looks at the pay cheque before he decides his line-up and the Portuguese players make far less.
Paulo.. if you had watched Vitor this year you would've seen that he was the best defender on the team when he went down with an injury. Was playing far superior than Garay who had made a few mistakes.
Now like Artur.. I like Garay and I think he is good.. but the constant sitting of Portuguese players for others who are on par if not worse is ridiculous. You can sell a Portuguese player for as much if not more than some Argentinian trash.
The problem with NJ's theory is he expects the small clubs in Portugal to raise talent yet.. they are getting less and less money to do so with the Portuguese Giants.. buying every turd out of Argentina or Brazil.. or the rest of South America. So the funding to create champions is dwindling.. the talent is there.. if you missed the U20 we beat Argentina and almost beat Brazil bar a flukey goal.
I think it is high time UEFA starts limiting imports and demands homegrown talent.. for the good of our game. We have the talent unlike some other nations.. but unless you break JJ's arm (or that of other managers) fielding of superior Portuguese talent will be minimal.
A player like Oliveira and Coentrao before him have passion for the team and nation.. for Garay.. Gaitan.. etc.. we are just a pay cheque on the way to another pay cheque. Hence the roller coaster ride for so many of these players.. they put up some great performances individually but are very inconsistent. The results show that.. as there isn't enough fire on a consistent basis from the squad. Funny how some of Gaitan's best performances were in Europe when so many high rollers were watching.
Mika would've made a great back up GK this year and Eduardo a great starter.. yet JJ's highly paid set of Frango's last year both got way more opportunities.. with Moreira who outplayed them all benched.
Truth is it is not about winning because we are talking about players at similar levels.. with similar upsides.. and no one can tell me that Nelson Oliveira wouldn't make a great set-up man for the Goal Dozer.. Saviola is a total bust and constantly gets action. Don't tell me they expect any money from the free transfer for Saviola.. when Oliveira & Rodrigo potentially are worth much more. But then again Rodrigo got the opportunity over a Portuguese lad that scored more goals in the u20.
So NJ your theory really goes to waste when Saviola is worth nothing and gets to play. Also if they didn't purchase so many southern hem bums and paid higher salary packets for them there would be more money to invest in higher level talent in Portugal and scouting for Porkchops abroad to integrate into our systems to keep a very high diet of quality players that would benefit both clubs and the NT.
Soon the big clubs will just bypass us and buy directly from the Southern Hem and freeze us out, if not the high rolling Russian clubs will.. then your strategy.. will result in our Liga dropping like a brick.
I'm glad that BryanSCB brought Porto, has also being awful. Braga with it's use of 4 Portuguese out of the 7 on the squad is so much better than the rest. LOL!
Thank you Paulo, for a wonderful explanation.
Since we are a selling league/club, winning isn't enough. We also need to make money off our transfers, ala DiMaria, Ramires, Coentrao, etc...
Whether we like to admit it or not, foreign players have brought in plenty. Some Portuguese players also move abroad themselves. Whether it's due to money or opportunity, they are out there. Instead of attacking the clubs in Liga ZON Sagres, why don't you point the finger at the FPF. They are the ones that haven't done a good job in tracking and finding Portuguese talent abroad.
I may be a Benfiquista, but I clearly believe that Martins should be nowhere near the Seleccao.
On a lighter note, has anyone noticed the despise of center backs throughout Europe. Terry, Ferdinand, and even Lucio have looked awful. More than a few "big clubs" are in need of center backs.
On that note, I wouldn't be surprised if we sold Garay come Summer, for a tidy profit. Too everyones delight, that could open the door for Miguel Vitor.
What I would've gone on to say.. is I am happy Rodrigo got some time.. but Cardozo and him are too similar.. and if you watched the game they do not work together. Sure it was the first match.. but if you watch closely on one of the goals.. Cardozo comes over to Rodrigo and he turns his back on the other.. so there is some bad blood here. Something the manager should have a pulse on.
Meanwhile Oliveira who is a great passer never gets any action. Won the right could've been replaced with Oliveira..
Saviola is never the right choice.. in any situation and definitely not replacing Cardozo.. if he was replacing the water boy.. then maybe.
I agree Eddie.. Benfica has a responsibility that NJ will deny.. but the fact is that there are Portuguese players on the squad that are better than others that JJ favours.
Hey Saviola sucks has proven it for 2 years now.. and he gets action.. yet a young buck that could play the wing.. like Oliveira who is a good passer is benched.. not to mention replacing Cardozo with the Argentinian Goal Retard was an extremely bad call. At that point you take Rodrigo out he gets an ovation.. and you bring on another spirited kid who can score and can assist in the Olive Man..
Funny thing is in other parts of the world club managers play their own first they favour them. It is one of my main complaints about JJ... he hates Portuguese with a passion and will only play them once forced to. His history is full of it.. Coentrao was not even 3rd string in his estimation ahead of him was juggernauts like Peixoto... in Bra ga he sent Eduardo on loan.. only to make him look like a retard.. when he became the best GK in the world under Paciencia...
Vitor outplayed every CB this summer then was injured.. his superiority allowed him not to get first team action anywhere.. crushing his career.. not the first time.. he has outplayed many to get loaned.
Hey I love Artur.. sure he has a few Frangos.. but usually it doesn't kill us unlike Roberto.. and he has many great stops.. I was really happy when we picked him up... but the fact is.. Eduardo is better. and during the WC he was the BEST DAMN GK AROUND. With no offence we almost knocked off Spain who were champions.. bar a few favourable calls.. from the spanish eyed refs. we would've gone further.
Every time Eduardo plays.. he is great..
Hey Emerson sucks.. and JJ hates CDV.. but we also have another U-20 star in Martins that could've had a shot..
Then we have Javi Garcia that looks like a stud if you look at posters.. but in real life.. he defends as well as his compatriot Roberto.. a Frango is always at hand.. both have the ability to make mistakes that end in the back of the net. Meanwhile.. Danilo Pereira who is the future was sent out on a free.
JJ is a retarded Porkchop that thinks going elsewhere is the answer.. he is to blame for the Portuguese incompetence.. and he will.. beyond being forced with Coentrao only play a Portuguese player will only play Portuguese players that are so low in form that it makes all Portuguese look bad. Case in point Peixoto was never Benfica material.. that is why he was a starter... ahead of Coentrao... Amorim currently sucks and has got more starts than others who deserved it.
Martins was better than Aimar last year but still bad.. so he played him at times.. and when Martins was doing better he started Aimar.
We have Portuguese players in Portugal to replace most.. on all 3 big squads.. and the reward would probably be higher but the psychology behind JJ is easy.. he is a Portuguese Manager that has coached many portuguese prima-donas like Quaresma that do not listen well and he developed a hatred for the talented Chop.. to the point that when he moved to bigger clubs.. he would value a Brazilian or Argentinian douche bag over his own.
So I agree Eddie but the only one to blame for that is JJ.. because of his great skill at evaluating talent.. the truth is he is a very poor judge in talent and many great talents are bench players for him.. and sub-par players start. Whether they are Portuguese or not.. JJ is a bad selector of talent.. and after years of being told.. he only then changes formation.. he is very quick on the uptake.
I personally don't think it is LFV because there are enough talented Portuguese players around to give JJ options.. if he played any.. the fact that very few Portuguese play is an accumulation of the years he has been there.. this will continue.. whereas with Paciencia and the |Sporting school the opposite will be true.
Mika was never going to get a look .. he should've been loaned out to a team that would've used him at worst somewhat regularly.
The amount of talent that JJ has wasted is beyond belief.. sure retards before him were wasteful.. but the fact is he has had better all around and has wasted everything that didn't kick his teeth in..
Benfica does have a responsibility.. fire JJ now.. this JJ proof team could be even better with Portuguese players that have passion.. and foreigners who are outright better than their highly paid Argentinian counterparts....
Stop playing by salary.. start playing by talent.. we are a few players shy of a CL.. and with a real manager we probably could play as a unit enough to win.. without the other three.. with JJ we need another 20.. all foreigners from the most elite squads to win.
If only JJ went to Chelsea and Vila Boas was with Benfica.. with this squad.. we would only be missing falcao.. to sit with Cardozo.. to win.
Anyways..
We are in the era of "Making Everything Look More Difficult"..
There's two problems here: one, Benfica have had so many barren years for such a long time that in the interest of the club the main priority has to be the league and making the first team competitive and used to winning again, it is the only way to make money by discovering gems and profitting from big transfers down the line, JJ has referred to this as one of his jobs, Rodrigo will be sold off in a few years for a very good profit, possibly Cesar, and Nolito, Gaitan almost a certainty.
Well, what about doing that with portuguese players? Well, good question, and it takes me point 2. Maybe Benfica does not actually have players with that sort of potential, not world class as you claim. Miguel Vitor is a decent player and I think he could learn from both Luisao and Garay, and could become very good, but not right now, he's not good enough, I saw him last year and I can tell you he has a lot to learn still.
Another thing on this point is that players, and good young players, don't just suddenly appear, they have to be found, developed, and gain experience, it's a process that takes years to get right, and Benfica especially, are miles behind Sporting and Porto. Porto have had the finances for years now to be able to buy off the best national players (like Benfica used to do in the 80's and early 90's and before) and Sporting have always had a great youth development, the best in Portugal for at least 15/20 years.
Nevertheless, Porto's team still consists mainly of foreign players. Their team has only five or six national players, the best being Moutinho that came from Sporting anyway.
Sporting though, truly exemplifies the dilemna, connumdrum and puzzle that is the portuguese player. For the last few years, and you gotta to give credit to Bento, Sporting made a specific and conscious decision to back their academy and use their players in the main team, the last few years Sporting had lots of portuguese players, yet they were so far removed form the title as to make no difference. The question remains whether it was the players or the manager... Regardless, the new board went out this year and bought a brand new team... of foreign players!! And how are they doing? Very well thank you very much. Of course they also have a decent new manager...
The thing is would Sporting have a world class player in the making, from the academy, to star for the main team? Could they have a van Wolfswinkel in Portugal, a player clearly destined for great things?
Is there simply a generation of players that is just not as competent as the previous one? Is the training in Portugal poorer? Do clubs find it too easy to just go out and get a brazilian player? Is it cheaper for clubs to get players from abroad rather than develop them? And I'm talking here of smaller clubs, not the big four. I don't think there is a right answer to this, certainly not a simple one, as it is a complex problem that's affecting other national teams in Europe not just in Portugal.
Personally I don't buy into the "blame it all on the influx of foreign players" idea/stigma, but of course it does have an influence, but it's just one aspect and not the only issue.
The Braga game was uneventful. I have to say both teams had some great back and forth in the midfield but when it came to those very few chances to score they both messed up.
Sporting and Maritimo have a good chance to pull ahead by a few points. Next week with Braga v. Benfica will be a critical match for Benfica wanting to stay top of the table and for Braga to keep hopes of fighting for a CL spot.
Lima is a terrible striker though. He simply cant score goals. Leonardo Jardim made plenty of mistakes too. Meyong should have come on earlier then the 89th minute. Regardless, Braga have the best defence in the league. Braga just need to score goals simply put.
I believe you are autistic.. as the signs point that way.
People with autism do have in common across the spectrum are challenges, disabilities, or delays in the area of social communication.
The other clear sign is a consistent repetition of verbal communication.
This Ref bollocks has become the mantra for you this year.. now that I think back throughout the years you have continuously repeated your points ad nauseum.
Hey some might accuse me of the same, but the fact is I have new reasons for some of those arguments every game.
Hey I ragged LFV the last few years.. last year mostly because he didn't fire JJ.
But I have to give him credit this year.. damn he has tightened his game and even his failures are successful and it has made the club so impressive. Even with an average manager he has put together a squad that can win even when they play poorly.
I think my Tag Line of "Making Everything Look Difficult" is maybe finally starting to sink in with some others.
Even my dad a big JJ.. guy.. has started to question the decisions made.
We all like Cesar most as an attacking mid.. on the wings he is slightly improved from Gaitan as he does track back.. it is just weak sauce defending.. Prime example Emmerson & Cesar get burned on that cross.. with both allowing the winger ample opportunity to make a wicked whipping cross.. that resulted in a goal. Both could've shut down that play with a modicum of effort.
Which is slightly unfair to Emerson because he does try most of the time.. he just is not that good.. and was hand picked by JJ before transfer so JJ's player selection again has to be questioned.. I believe Gaitan also had the Manager's personal request, it is clearly evident in the squad selections which players JJ requested.
The shame is all the bench time for Nolito is affecting his play.. still decent but he has lost the rhythm he is a step or two off on quick transitions.
My he is dad still says off form and so is Cesar.. meanwhile besides Cardozo they lead the scoring for the squad.. it is absurd comments like this from JJ.. that have others thinking it is true.
Coming off of the bench and playing with inferior players will always affect a player.
I for one am very surprised that he's been able to hold it together, after such a great year. Never an easy task to come in after such a successful manager that did so well.
As for Benfica, I too was frustrated by games end. It could and should have been easier.
I still think that Saviola could go come January. Rodrigo is the perfect replacement. With his pace and creativity, he would also work as Cardozos replacement up top. Cardozo would get much needed rest.
Granted I say that mostly due to my wild card pick as Benficas leading scorer being Rodrigo. LOL.
"Against a pathetic Academica side" right???? I'm guessing you didn't realise but Academica is in 6th place and they didnt need tunnels to get where they are unlike some other clubs did.
Rodrigo looked very good and is growing with confidence, and it's good to see him getting opportunities. But I still think that we have looked much better every time we play 4-2-3-1 this season, rather than 4-4-2. Even against teams like Olhanense (no disrespect), when we play 4-4-2, we have struggled to really dominate the midfield and win convincingly. 4-2-3-1 gives us a much more fluid balance, ability to control possession and prevent dangerous counter-attacks. I certainly hope JJ goes with it against Basel next week, as it was so effective in Switzerland for the first match. I really think this should be our formation for all Champions League matches, home or away. And even for all away Liga matches. November gonna be a testing month for us with some tough fixtures coming up...another win over Basel (and qualification from the group) would be a great way to start it off...
If we beat Benfica next week thats what matters. We'll see which team is better next week. Hopefully Benfica's best friend Duarte Gomes isnt refing that game.
This a very good Benfica squad, they can reclaim the title and with a bit of luck maybe even make it to the quarter finals of the Champions League.