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Friday, 04 May 2012 09:23 |
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I just want to comment on a few posts if I may.
First, SupremoGino (and Xavier somewhat), I agree that the likes of R. Costa, Eliseu and Rolando are not good options for Portugal, but that isn't Bento's fault. For that matter, it wasn't Queiroz's fault when he called them up during his tenure. It's merely a testament to the dearth of quality for those positions that Portugal are encountering at the present moment.
He has to call up somebody, are there really better options? Many people have discussed Paulo Jorge as a viable option in central defense. Two things: a.) he's 31 and hasn't ever featured for the Seleccao, and more importantly b.) he plays in Cyprus. Now I'm not saying he couldn't be a good player for the Seleccao, but the odds are heavily stacked against him in my opinion. At right back, we did have another option in Silvio, but he got hurt and hasn't played too much for Atletico Madrid since then. We all know about Bosingwa, although I've watched him play for Chelsea quite a bit this year and haven't once been truly impressed by him on offence or defence.
Bottom line here is that we can't blame Bento for not having an overwhelmingly diverse variety of reliable options to choose from.
Next, Xavier, I agree that Bento not really giving Oliveira a proper chance was probably not the best idea, but there'll be two friendlies before the Euros where he might get a run out. Plus, do you really think Oliveira is going to play all that much in the Ukraine? In all likelihood, he will end up playing very little, just there to soak up the experience and be groomed for Brazil 2014. I can't read Bento's mind, but I think we'll mostly see Almeida and Postiga up top in this tournament. I also agree with you that Bento's predictability could be a problem, but it could also be a strength. At least the players know what they are getting and know what to expect from him and what their role is going to be. That's really important in terms of organization and confidence, and I think that Portugal will benefit from his persistence to stick to "his way of doing things".
In response to your (Xavier) lamenting about our failure to beat Poland, please keep in mind that we didn't play particularly awful, and we were really at half speed (Ronaldo and others were obviously not going all out). We had at least 3-4 good chances to score in the first half and changed things up in the second half, which is when we really lost control. Having said that, Poland are a decent team right now with Szceszny in goal and Lewandowki in attack plus a couple of others who all play with Lewandowski at Borussia Dortmund, this year's Bundesliga champions. After watching that game, there's no doubt in my mind we could beat Poland in a competitive match.
Second, I'll disagree with you that we couldn't beat Spain again. Did you watch that match? We wore them out, plain and simple. And if you think that they weren't trying, you should've seen the look on their faces after the game. Casillas was super pissed off. Now I'm not saying that we are guaranteed to beat a team like Spain if we play them again, but we have the means to beat them if we play like that. Portugal's counterattacking football is well suited to beat a team like Spain and it showed in that match. Spain are better than us in a lot of ways, but that doesn't mean we won't go totally rad on them again in the tournament should we meet in the knockout rounds.
Finally, I will second your motion that Daniel Carrico is not a "knight in shining armor" who will save the Seleccao from impending doom. Maybe he is a good option, maybe not, but in the end he won't see the field, I promise you. Bento will play the guys that he's familiar with and trusts the most and Veloso is probably going to be our defensive midfielder throughout the tournament. In my opinion, it should be Fernandes, but that doesn't matter because as has been previously discussed, Bento is a creature of habit and will continue to start a specific group of players and they have pretty much already been established.
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