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| Saturday, 01 September 2012 00:21 |
Javi Garcia out, Lima in at Benfica; Moutinho stays at FC PortoTransfer Deadline Day round-up The final day of the summer transfer window is usually a frenzied affair, and 31 August 2012 was no different. The major transfers that went through saw Benfica lose midfielder Javi Garcia to Manchester City, but succeed in their bid for Braga striker Lima, who signs a 4-year contract at the Estadio da Luz. Potentially just as significant in terms of this season’s title race was one transfer that DID NOT happen: João Moutinho’s proposed switch to Tottenham Hosptur, despite being reported as imminent throughout the day, failed to materialise. Right through the summer a raft of Benfica players have been linked with moves away from the Portuguese capital, notably Nico Gaitán, Axel Witsel and Oscar Cardozo. However, it is Spanish defensive midfielder Javi García who leaves the Estádio da Luz. The former Real Madrid man signed for Manchester City in exchange for €20 million, with possible further €3 million on top depending on performances. Benfica are also entitled to 50% of any resale fee above this transfer price. While García has been a model of consistency for the Eagles, it is a good return on a player who cost the club €7 million three years ago. Some of that profit has been reinvested immediately, with the purchase of Braga striker Lima. The fee is believed to be around €4.5 million, with ex Paços de Ferreira marksman Michel going in the opposite direction on loan. The capture of 29-year-old Lima gives Benfica extra firepower whilst simultaneously weakening one of their direct opponents. The Brazilian was joint top goalscorer in the Liga ZON Sagres last season, scoring 20 goals for the Arsenalistas, the same number as his new team-mate Oscar Cardozo in 2011/12 in the league. StrikeforceBenfica’s centre-forward options now consist of Cardozo, Rodrigo (who recently signed a contract extension until 2019), Lima and Kardec. Saviola rescinded his contract before heading for Málaga yesterday, Yannick Djaló has been loaned to Toulouse, while young strikers Nélson Oliveira and Hugo Vieira have also been loaned to Deportivo La Coruña and Sporting Gijon respectively.For much of the day it appeared FC Porto midfielder João Moutinho was on the brink of a move to Tottenham Hotspur. André Villas Boas was keen to link up again with the Portugal midfielder, but the deal ended up being aborted, either because of a discrepancy in the transfer fee, or a failure of the London club to meet Moutinho’s wage demands, depending on which source you choose to believe. Porto’s other star man, Hulk, is also staying at the Estádio do Dragão. President Pinto da Costa’s resolute stance on demanding a huge transfer fee for the Brazil forward has ensured that the immediate future of ’O Incrível’ is at the Portuguese champions. Zenit St. Petersburg's Russian transfer window does not close until 6 September, but a late bid from the Russian club seems unlikely. One Porto player who is leaving is unwanted right-back Sapunaru. The Romanian has signed for Zaragoza. It is another departure of Porto’s 2010/11 treble-winning team, after Freddy Guarín (Internazionale, last season), Álvaro Pereira (Internazionale, last week) and Fernando Belluschi (Bursaspor, yesterday), all found themselves pastures new. Porto also released Ghanaian left-back David Addy, who joined Vitória Guimarães. Sporting’s giant American centre-back Oguchi Onyewu has been loaned to Malaga for a season, with the writing on the wall having appeared along with Marcos Rojo and Khalid Boulahrouz. While Onyewu did little wrong at the Alvalade, Sporting fans will feel no regrets at the news that Valeri Bojinov will not be at the club this season, having been loaned to Verona. French left-back Atila Turan, who is yet to make a senior appearance for the Lions, has also gone out on loan, to Orduspor of Turkey. Europa League participants Académica have brought in Algerian centre-back, Halliche, a couple of days after losing central defender Henrique to Blackburn. The Coimbra club also welcome one of the stars of Portugal’s U20 World Cup run to final last summer, Sana. Olhanense strengthenOlhanense coach Sérgio Conceição threatened to walk out recently given his frustration at a lack of recruits ahead of the new season. Club president Isidoro Sousa managed to patch up his fraught relationship with Conceição and will no doubt have further pleased the fiery ex Portugal international by bringing in goalkeeper Bracali (from FC Porto) and forwards José Luís Fernández and Djaniny (from Benfica). Fellow coastal club Estoril made one notable move, in bringing winger Carlitos back on loan to the club where he spent two seasons, from Hannover 96.
Away from Portugal, Deportivo La Coruña increased their contingent of Portuguese players to eight, by signing Rio Ave left-back Tiago Pinto. by Tom Kundert |
I assume JJ will rely on the ultra attacking team to apply pressure high up the field - I cant think of another option.
They get away with it because they have many greater passers in the midfield that they can starve the other team of the ball.. Benfica does not.. Portugal is better at that but that same formation with Meireles or Veloso at the DM or Deep playmaker gets beat when playing the big juggeraunts like Germany, Italy, etc.. who do use a DM and especially germany who uses two strikers.
So although it is a valid formation to win if you have the right players truth is that both Benfica & Portual would benefit more with a solid DM because we have so many wingbacks that can provide the offence up the wings.. with an overlap.. without a good DM.. holes are created and good teams can break it and exposé our back lines.
Just my opinion.. although I appreciated your comments immensely and the great read, Thanks Ricardo.
and I personally thinkthat mentality is what creates the Bento's.. that create more offence without a DM.. yet leave so many holes at the back that they will never win a major tournament..
In my opinon Portugal is missing a DM and the 4-4-2 formation against weaker squads and later on in a game against the good.. that would take them beyond squads that have squeaked by them to win big tourines in recent history.
To be honest this is not an idea I came up with read an article regarding DM's by very clever Mr Cox at zonal marking.
This season Javi started better was really liking his play but the money was good so I understand why he had to move.
I too like Andre question JJ's thinking it seems of late he is hellbent on getting every player in the squad to be on the offensive attack.
He has been playing a 4-2-4 that at times on the pitch was a 2-2-6.. now that Javi is gone that would be more of a 2-1-7..
He has bought more wingers, more strikers.. and no defenders.. All the games might be of the 5-4 type of scoreline if we are to win anything this year.. although I definitely think we have the firepower to do it.
I have to question the addition of Lima.. his form early on this season hasn't impressed me.. although I can appreciate to a certain extent it is addition by subtraction.. because with Cardozo & Rodrigo healthy.. Lima should get limited playing time as for me he is the 3rd stringer.
Also why sign a 29 yr old to a 4 year contract.. we are going to have another useless Saviola on our hands hogging playing time of a younger more talented set of players in a couple of years.
As for Moutinho I too get mixed feelings would`ve liked to seen him in the EPL too as Raffy stated.. but am glad he also stayed for Porto`s CL fight..
Hulk on the otherhand is way over-priced.. it is one of PDC`s only mistakes.. he should`ve valued Falcao at 100 mil and Hulk at 40 mil.. Falcao was a specimen his performance the other day against Chelsea with a hat trick was that of a legend.. truly he should`ve been nick named the Hulk.. because it is him who smashes defences.
Anyways won`t be happy to see Hulk`s dramatics in the Liga.. but am also happy that he will be there for Porto in the CL.
My life long goal is to see the Portuguese Liga surpass Snoria A and their douche bag fans.. to beat them in the World Cup Final would also be at the top of that list. Benfica a CL Final win over AC Milan or Juves as well as an other Portuguese team would also bring delight to a man who has watched the Italians in my lifetime cheat to every title they ever won.. and then be proud of it.
In Toronto they burn Portuguese flags for fun..my number one result at any tournie is to see the Italians out, because the longer they hang out the more cheating is involved to get them results.
Unlike Matt I would never recommend a Portuguese player go to Italy it is usually a wasteland of Portuguese corpses.. very few have succeeded there.. mostly because the ankle and knee crunchers hate flashy players.
Also Matt have you watched Snoria A of late they are technically bad, if not brutal.
It will be interesting today to see JJ`s squad and what his plan of attack with Javi gone and at LB.. see if his speech about Portuguese players is true.. doubt it.. sure Matic and Malgarejo will get the duties.. but we will see..
Would be nice to see Luis Martins on the left and either Vitor, Almeida or Gomes in the middle.. but from past track record I would extremely doubt any of those players would pass the pasport check at the door of the Luz.
Iron sharpens iron. And I would like him to be in one of the top 2 leagues so he could regularly compete against stiff competition. That would encourage him to become even better. Yes Tottenham is not a great team. But they are a good team. And at least they actually wanted Moutinho. How many other teams in the world want Moutinho making him a priority in their team??? Lol. Not many. He had an opportunity to at least showcase his talents to a broader bigger stage where more fans could witness his quality and then raise his reputation even more. Okay yes people will see him in the CL group stage. Basically I think he just needs to challenge himself more domestically. He needs a greater challenge league-wise.
We already know Porto is most likely going to win the league again and it just started. Why cause thats how it always is cause Porto's team is always way more loaded with stars than other teams. Thats not fun. He won it twice already there. When is he going to get bored? He's got the talent to fit into anyyy top 4 team in the top 3 leagues in the world! I know that, but either Porto's ridiculous transfer fee demands or his own lack of ambition are keeping him in the same spot for longer than he should. Thats the way I feel about it.
I am not sure how moving to Tottenham would be a step up? Moving to a team in the Europa League that will most likely languish mid table this season is hardly a step up. Sure the Premier League is a more competitive league but he is playing in the Champions league and in a very strong team in Porto. Porto would beat a team like Tottenham 9 times out of 10.
His game has already taken a huge step forward in the last 2-3 years, a move to the Premier League is not necessary move. He is twice the player he was when he was with Sporting.
He is more suited to a move to Spain or Italy in my opinion, if he does move. This is due to his light frame and the more technical emphasis of players in those leagues.
I'm shocked Hulk is still at Porto. We know the asking price is impossible but you would have thought he would have forced his way out. He said as mucj. Believe it or not I'm happy Hulk and Moutinho stayed. I hope they do well in the CL.
I think Benfica will really miss Javi, but I wish him the best. Who knew he was going to be our big sale. I think will miss his experience. But I've been a big Matic fan and can't wait to see him show his wares. We'll see.
I can only assume that Lima was bought for cover for Cardozo should he leave in January?
Where's our left back?
Overall just happy to stop speculating.
However im now thinking its better he stayed at Porto, Tottenham may well be a sinking ship. They have started the season rather badly, their team is currently weaker than last years and many people are starting to doubt AVB and im becoming one of them he just doesnt seem to know what he is doing in england.
Moutinho is a top class player. He is a big fish. He needs to go to a big big pond, and battle it out against other big fish. He's just comfortable in this pond, and I'm dissapointed in him. No disrespect Porto is a great team. But I really think if he was ever gonna move, linking up with AVB again and a promising Tottenham team where he would have been highly valued and central to the team would have been a great opportunity. If you ask most people in the world about Moutinho they may say he is good, but few will say he is great. Thats simply because they don't see him enough cause he's not in one of the top 2 leagues. He clearly has the ability showed it in the Euro's and honestly he's BEEN showing it for a longgg time even back in Euro 2008 he was great.
I think he's not taking advantage of the opportunity to raise his reputation and his game. It would have been good for him. Please don't talk about Porto wanting more money , oh they have a policy of sticking by their clause etc etc. I don't give a damn about their money making schemes, there's alot of good south americans that they can profit off of by ripping people off. Go ahead and do that with them thats fine. But seriously nobody is ever going to pay €40 million. And if Porto is so stubbornly stuck on receiving that, then Moutinho will never leave Porto and will play out his whole career in complacency at the same level. That would be sad. The most any team will pay for Moutinho is €28 million €30 million maxxxx! On the other hand if Porto really accepted the bid and Moutinho was the one that refused cause he wasn't happy with his contract terms, that is pretty disappointing too.
If he went there and succeed sure they could have given him a raise afterward. Anyway I'm just dissapointed Moutinho didn't step up. He's a very very good player, but in my opinion he still needs to show a little more guts and ambition. That goes for his whole mentality and his style of play as well. He has the ability and he should be pushing forward more and getting more goals and more assists. But he seems like the guy who just likes to be quiet and stay in the background forever, as a sort of unsung hero. :\ Thats okay I guess, but I just feel that he has true quality to be a real world class worldwide star of the highest level. I want to see him gain that respect worldwide!
I find it very strange that we couldn't afford to buy a new left-back (the likes of Rojo, Zeigler and Eliseu apparently didn't arrive because we didn't meet their valuations, which weren't even a lot really)...and then we somehow had 4 million euros to spend on yet another striker, Lima. How did this work? This was the same sort of money we refused to pay for a left-back! How could another striker be more of a priority than a left back? Sure Lima is a quality striker and will give us even more attacking options...but we could've just kept Mora or Jara or Vieira, or even Saviola as our back-up striker...and used the money to strengthen the defence instead.
I make it just 8 defenders in our first team squad...and one of those is Melgarejo who we all agree is not a defender and is certainly going to be our first-choice left-back now...so really we don't look anywhere near strong enough defensively, and until the January transfer we are likely to continue failing to keep clean sheets. Remains to be seen how much this will cost us.
My feelings on Javi leaving are also mixed. He played with a lot of heart and gave everything to the cause. But I will also say this, I believe the area on the pitch which Javi covers, has been our weakest point for the last few seasons. Not the defence as such (Luisao, Garay and Luiz before him are all class defenders)...but i feel the protection of the back 4 in midfield is what let us down time and time again, with dangerous counter-attacks from opposing teams. Javi was a hard-worker, but had serious lapses in concentration way too often, leaving the back 4 exposed. I actually think Matic could be an improvement on Javi if he is succesfully converted fully to a holding midfielder. He's big and powerful and could also help defending against set-pieces with his height (another of our weaknesses in recent years).
I also see Porto managed to hold on to both Hulk and Moutinho, this is surprising as I thought they really had to sell at least one of them to balance the books. This means to me that Porto remain the favourites for the Liga, as they have a lot more balance between defence and offence. This might suit Benfica however, not to be the favourites. After the great start we made to the season last year, it seems in the end we didn't handle the pressure of being favourites. Perhaps we can do better this season with less pressure, but we need defensive strengthening in January without a shadow of a doubt...however offensively we are looking a real threat to any opponent we play. Will be interesting!!!
If Moutinho had gone to Spurs, with Fernando injured what would Porto's starting midfield have been? I'm going to hazard a guess at Defour, Lucho and Danilo, with Miguel Lopes or Mangala playing right back.
Personally, I'd like to see James playing a more central role. He plays in this position in for Colombia and you can notice it in matches, as the match goes on he slowly but surely drifts into the middle, going out to the wings when we're on the counter or comfortably in possession, where Moutinho and Lucho occupy the middle.
What's very surprising is that all over Twitter, on Sky Sports News and other sources of transfer news, people seem to have forgotten about Hulk! We must remember that the Russian transfer window closes next Friday, so Zenit still have a chance.
All in all, I'm delighted that Moutinho has stayed, but also a bit annoyed that the only transfer we've made since Jackson is an inexperienced 20-year-old left back called Hector Quinones.... but then I remember I'm a fan of FC Porto, who's great players are made, not bought.
I thought, with Braga in the group stages of the Champions League, that he would stay for at least another season. Sadly that's not the case.
Without Lima in their team last season, Braga may not have even reached the Champions league spots.
He did the dirty work for Benfica, and now we have no one to replace him with. Axel Witsel can play as the trinco, but he's fantastic as our box-to-box player. Matic, like Witsel isn't a true #6.
Strikers: Cardozo, Rodrigo, Lima, Kardec.
Wingers: Nolito, Salvio, Ola John, Melgarejo
Attacking Midfielders: Pablo Aimar, Carlos Martins, Bruno Cesar, Nico Gaitan, and Enzo Perez.
Box-to-box Midfielders: Axel Witsel, Nemanja Matic
Defensive midfielders: NONE
Fullbacks: Maxi Pereira, Luisinho, (Melgarejo)
Silvio would have been a brilliant signing since he'd be a more defensive alternative to Melgarejo and Maxi, so it's a shame that it didn't go through.
We have way too many attacking midfielders and wingers, but NO DEFENSIVE MID,
I have no idea what JJ has in store. Maybe he'll use Matic, but he's not even close to Garcia in terms of defensive stability. I guess he could use Miguel Vitor or Andre Almeida, but again, neither of them give me any sort of confidence...