Brutal luck, Carlos Martins was good for Grenada and is far better than Ruben Miceal..and he had some good performances against Spain, Argentina etc.. Atleast Viana and his passing is in..if Moutinho and Meireles run their asses off and cover Vianas lack of mobility(*sigh* I miss the Viana who would dribble and take players to school rui costa style when at Sporting/early months at newcastle..)..his passing could unleash ronaldo/nani/coentrao/jp quickly.
Ruben Miceal needs to get struck by a micrometeorite and Manelele can be called Carlos Martins> Miceal though...would have liked him there. ----------------Veloso----------------- -----Meireles--------Moutinho--------- Velosos poor defensive awareness, lack of mobility, and clumsy tackling....******** me. He better not be the Genoa Veloso who struggled to get into the starting XI,
You've been around for a while,having seen Viana voted best young player in Europe, through his journey, to what he is now.. In your point of view, what do you think happened in his progression to be the player he is now? He doesnt dribble or run with the ball anymore to draw players to him and then just lay in a killer through ball or glide by them to play it into space after....., it almost seems like at some point during his stay in Newcastle he got "lazy"..he still has that potential for a killer pass, but he just isnt the same I know he got played on the wing a lot there, that might have affected him. For Portugals sake he better recapture that ability of his, because just strolling in a deep laying playmaking role wont cut it against Germany/Holland etc...he needs to make the penetrating runs he used too to open up the gaps for his passing range in the final third. I also think Carlos Martins leaving also might have something to do with his Son about to get a bone marrow transplant, and him not being psychologically focused 100%...which is completely understandable. Forca Carlos Martins, wish all the best!
Purely from an observation POV, his time at newcastle IMO completely destroyed the player Vianna could have been, his confidence has never really reached the level he had at sporting. He seemed to go from being a player who could get in behind the defensive lines with both running play and passing to a much more simpler player. The other point i'd make is that the way Braga plays doesnt enable the central players to take players on if you consider that most of their play starts deep in their own half and taking a man on brings in the possibility of losing the ball in a very dangerous position. But if you think of the way portugal plays it enables your midfielders to play with a little more risk, so Vianna could easily slot into our midfield and add a different dimension to our play. The reason i would love to see Vianna play is so we can have a midfielder that will get the ball quickly to Ronaldo and Nani, at time i feel as though Moutinho and Meireles take far too long to shift the ball to our strengths.
I've been advocate of Viana making this team, but Bento made it clear that Viana didnt fit the style of play of this NT. So my question is, what's changed? Did Bento cave to pressure? This injury to Martins should have been opening for Manuel Fernandes.. Either way, congratulations to Viana, and let's hope the NT can avoid any more injuries..
Really glad Viana got the call up, but not at the expense of Carlos Martins. Custodio is the one who is injured now. Now take Custodio out and bring Manny Fernandes. Ehh, no matter what, we'll never be 100% satisfied. Best of luck to Martins in his recovery and my prayers go out to his son battling for his life.
I don't understand why Bento would select a player that's being distracted due to his son's illness. It's common sense, if you have a son that has a life threatening disease, you are going to be massively distracted, especially if you are playing in an international tournament knowing that you could be with your son. Get your head out of your arse, Bento.
I'm wondering if your confusing your recollection of a young Viana with that of another player. Viana was never one for running at defenses. He's always been a slow, cerebral player. Whatever speed he might have had was completely taken away by those knees injuries he had between 2006-09. The "Next Rui Costa" label didn't help. He was never going to be a Rui Costa type #10. Instead of Newcastle, he should have gone to Italy where he would have become what he is now with Braga - a regista. He probably would have received a more appropriate label - "Next Andrea Pirlo".
