Squad selection for Iceland and Denmark

my worst fears have come to pass..no Pepe or Coentrao.
this is Bento's worst selection in his tenure. Obvious these selections are made with fear of losing.

WTF Quaresma!!? Amorim, Ricardo Costa, Paulo Machado!?


Lista de convocados:
Guarda-redes: Beto, Eduardo e Rui Patrício;
Defesas: Bruno Alves, Eliseu, Sereno, João Pereira, Ricardo Costa, Rolando e Sílvio;
Médios: Carlos Martins, João Moutinho, Miguel Veloso, Paulo Machado, Raul Meireles, Ruben Amorim e Ruben Micael
Avançados: Cristiano Ronaldo, Danny, Hélder Postiga, Nani, Nuno Gomes e Ricardo Quaresma

after taking a deep breath, i do understand Ricardo Costa move, even though i cant stand the guy..

This squad scares me.. and that back end depresses me, considering who we could have back there.

Bosingwa's relationship with Bento is obvioulsy terrible, because if he cant find himself on this squad now, he never will..

Quaresma should never see the NT again, but hopefully he never sees the field! If he does see the field, it means we are probably losing, or Nani or Ronaldo have injured themselves..

i'm ok with Nuno Gomes and Postiga, since i believe some experience for these games will serve the team well.

my prediction for starting 11;

Patricio
Perreira Alves Rolando Silvio
Meireles Martins Moutinho
Nani Gomes Ronaldo

Glad to see Quaresma back.

i would definitely like to see Danny in the central mid role over Martins, i just cant see Bento all of a sudden doing that.

oh yeah, cant wait

My feelings exactly. Let's consider who's missing (injury (i) or has issues with Bento (b)):

R.Carvalho (b) (wc)
Bosingwa (b)
Pepe (i) (wc)
Coentrao (i) (wc)
H. Almeida (i)

That's 3 undisputed WC players (wc) and 2 undisputed starter/subs. That's a gulf of talent down the drain for 2 critical qualies... Luckily our 2 replacements at CB are good but from that point on it's dire...

This is a brutal call-up, shocking really.
Obviously something went down between Bento and Bosingwa in the past. Just like the Ricardo Carvalho situation. That's the only logical explanation for one of the best right backs in the World being left out again.

Not sure about Sereno and Ricardo Costa....I would have preferred Manuel Da Costa, whose playing really well in Russia. Or even Tonel, who's a regular starter for a team that's in the Champions League.

The midfield looks pretty crappy. I would prefer Manuel Fernandes and Andre Santos or even Hugo Viana instead of Martins and Amorim.

Not a big fan of Quaresma, he's had his chances. Much rather see Veirinha, whose the star of the Greek league and scored again yesterday. Or Helder Barbosa, who scored yet again yesterday for Braga.

Up front, we look desperately thin. 2 strikers, one of which is 36.
I don't recall Bento calling up Liedson, even once. Even though he's been banging them in for Corinthians.

All in all, some weird call-ups.

Wow, this is just shocking. Has to be the worst call up I've ever seen from us since I've been watching the NT.

It's hard to know where to start, so I'll just go from the top.

Eduardo & Patricio concern me, but we have no other options. Patricio has made some horrendous decisions as of late for Sporting. I'm sure he'll be the starter.

Losing Pepe and Coentrao are massive blows to combine with Carvalho's absence. Three of our regular back four gone. However, I trust Alves & Rolando in games vs. opponents like Iceland and Denmark. Pereira resumes his regular role at RB and I assume Silvio will start in Coentrao's absence on the left or possibly Amorim (he has featured as a LB at times for Benfica, right?). The backups here are horrendous. Ricardo Costa? Sereno? I'm a Porto fan (he's on loan to FC Koln) And I can't tell you anything about this guy. No excuse for why Bosingwa was neglected again. Out of curiosity, where does Tonel play now?

Eliseu should be listed in midfield I believe as he is an attacking winger.


Joao Moutinho & Raul Meireles are class in the MF but some of other callups are concerning.

Now that Carlos Martins is playing for some bottom of the barrel La Liga team, I was hoping his NT days are over. I guess not. Paulo Machado is seriously the worst player I've ever seen put on the Portugal jersey, and keep in mind I say with a deep hate held for Ricardo Costa.

I guess Ruben Amorim can be utilized here or at LB and although I hate him too, I can somewhat understand his call up with the loss of Coentrao. Micael looked horrible in his last few NT outings and too also plays for a bottom of the barrel La Liga team now.

I hope Veloso gets the start here as I was impressed with him in his last call up and has been playing a regular full 90 for Genoa.

How Machado, Martins and Micael are called instead of Santos, I'll never know. Even Eliseu or Quaresma should have been left off for Santos at least.

Ricardo Quaresma is another mind boggling call up. He's had multiple chances and disappointed each time. I know Varela isn't featuring much for Porto these days, I much rather see him than Quaresma. Eliseu is also mind boggling.

I really hope Bento watched the Porto-Zenit game and had a realization of how Danny should be utilized. He was world class in that game. I'm sure he'll be glued to the wing if he sees any action though.

With Almeida's injury, I expect Postiga to start at striker. The Gomes call up is obviously disappointing but I guess there's nobody else really.

Here's to hoping we don't suffer any more injuries in league play this weekend as this call up is horrendous enough.

this is bang on, with exception of Liedson ... never seeing Liedson again wouldnt bother me one bit..

this is pretty much bang on as well. I'm at a loss for words in regards to what Bento is thinking with this squad..

That defence is..........horrific.

that defense looks so weak....and that midfield leaves a lot to be desired.

why are machado, sereno, quaresma, micael, eliseu and ricardo costa (among others) in this team? WHY???????????

Bosingwa has been exiled...who knows why

Vierinha is doing more than enough to represent us.

Danny is not being utilized correctly on the nat team...if you watch Zenit games, you know.

Gomes is too old for this squad...Eduardo only practices...why not Barbosa, Varela, Manuel DaCosta

it boggles my mind....I like what bento has done for the nat team, but it's hard to figure out his mind...he seems to be the type to hold a grudge...very stubborn and arrogant

What does Vieirinha got to do to make the team? I really don't know. And, yes, Barbosa would be a good addiction.

Weird Selections

My hopeful XI

---------------Patricio----------------
--Pereira---Rolando--Alves----Silvio----
----------------Veloso----------------
-----------Meireles--Moutinho--------
----Nani---------Postiga-------Ronaldo--

Also being realistic here. I imagine Silvio will get the start at LB. I like Veloso at DM so Meireles can push up a little more.

Postiga likely gets the start at ST as well.

That XI isn't bad. The bench however is horrendous. I really hope Martins doesn't start but he probably will.

Danny can't play now due to personal reasons...

a month ago the team was looking pretty solid, now it's a ********ing disaster of thermonuclear proportions

Good Lord, WTF is going on? It might very well be that he has legitimate reasons but the timing is bizarre and the lack of explanations suspicious to put it mildly... What, he's low on his heart-worm meds?!

Adding the RC case and the Bosingwa non-calls, the "veterans" like Tiago retiring from the NT, the bizarre call-ups (WTF is this a$$hole Sereno, are you kidding me?!) and now this last minute balk by Danny, I really wonder what's going on behind the scenes with PB...

It's no secret that Bento has the people skills of that of a piece of wood.

The word around Portugal is there is a bit of a mutiny among some players who refuse to play for him.

Supposedly Silvio can't play against Iceland.

Really?

But it's no problem b/c we can play Bosingwa on the left... oh wait, that's right - he WASN'T CALLED UP.

So, who's going to play LB? Eliseu, Veloso?

Meanwhile, Ronaldo is not practicing as he's got a touch... At this rate, we are going to end up with:

Patricio at times this year (I would feel far safer with Eduardo but he warms benches now...)
JP BAlves Rolando (ok with these guys but if any of them get hurt, God help us).
LB = ??? Veloso/Eliseu?
CMF: Meireles and Moutinho - Thumbs up. but who else? Take your pick of 3 bench warmers: Carlos Martins, Ruben I and Ruben II
Strikers/wingers: CR, Nani, Postiga - great but if any of them pick up a touch or need a sub -> Q-tip and Varela should be ok against Iceland but less than intimidating for game 2. Nuno Gomes? WTF - does he even count?!

To summarize: our NT is paper thin. Basically we have no bench. I can't even begin to imagine what 3 subs we might make with these kinds of options.

Likely is the Postiga out for Quaresma/Varela with CR going up top. It has worked zero times in the past but with no alternative strikers what else to do?!
The other 2 subs? One of the Rubens replacing Carlos Martins.
The 3rd sub? There is no one. Better play with 10 than bring any of those monkeys on the pitch. If R. Costa sees the pitch I am removing the safety off the gun.

I'd imagine Eliseu or Amorim will start at LB

Eliseu has been playing like left back for a while now in Malaga, it's not like he never played there.

Ruben Micael made a great game in the last one of Zaragoza.

Varela instead of Danny? Well i would rather have Varela 10x than Danny, who played like shi* every single time he used Portugal jersey, except for some few minutes last time.

So, blaming a man, who has the most % rate of victories since Humberto Coelho, and that trashed the reigning World Cup champion, rescued us on the brink of elimination, and made us played some good football is imo very idiotic.

The problem is his relations with some players, well actually Carvalho was a primadonna, Danny i don't see much difference in him in / out of the squad. The same goes for Bosingwa, he is a great player indeed, but ask Chelsea fans if currently they would not rather play Ivanovic in his position and you would be amazed.

Calm down folks.

The only thing i blame is the inclusion of Sereno and Ricardo Costa, why not try some youngster like Nuno Reis, to adaptate them to the Senior NT environment as both would not play at all?

lolz, the defense has gone from potentially

Bosingwa-Carvalho-Pepe-Coentrao

To:

Joao Periera-Rolando-Bruno Alves-Eliseu

LMAO.

And bar Meireles and Moutinho, all of those midfielders would struggle against any half decent opposition.

Tough times ahead.....