EURO 2020: Reigning, Defending, Champions Of Europe General Discussion

My take from the last two games..

Both Serbia and Lithuania are teams Portugal should beat. If you want to be Euro/WC Champs. You do not loose these games. Portugal didnt.

The defensive line definitely worries me. Even with Pepe, i am not entirely sure what sort of level Pepe can provide us with. He isnt in his prime anymore and has become very vulnerable to injuries the last couple years.

While Dias is a stud, Pepe is also the reason Dias had looked so solid too.. Dias has a lot to learn and experience before he comes close to elite status, and relying on him to anchor our defensive line could be problematic against the likes of France/Spain/etc on the world stage... i could be entirely wrong.. but simply the way i am observing things.

Never liked Guerreiro at LB, even if he did have a solid Euro 16. Would still consider Ricardo/Cancelo at LB with Semedo/Cancelo at RB.

The midfield had its moments. Both positive and negative. Not really sure i understand why Bruno keeps being used on the wing. Not really sure why Bernardo is also being used out wide. Neither have their A game when in this position.

Moving forward, i would love to see in a 3 man mid (assuming we run with a 4-3-3):

--------------------------B.Silva/Bruno
----------William------------------------------Neves

 

Yea not sure what games you're watching, honestly. That's all that needs to be said.

 

I have to disagree that Bruno Fernandes was one of the best midfielders, he gave away some balls and was largely anonymous.

HOWEVER it's not because he's not NT material, it's because he's being played out of position.

People say Bernardo is playing out of position - have you seen Man City play? He plays on the left and cuts inside just like on the NT. It was the same when he was at Monaco.

Joao Felix played closer to Ronaldo as a supporting striker/false 9 - also a familiar position as that's how he played at Benfica/Atletico and although he didn't score he had a few good chances and looked lively.

Fernandes was the sacrificial lamb because didn't play in his natural position. It's not a coincidence when Rafa replaced him the team got better, because he played on the wing and injected pace. In this team, he's either going to be the alternate for Felix OR he plays #8 role (where William played) a box-to-box role with a more defensive midfielder behind him like Danilo or William. Thankfully it's a good problem to have, it shows we have a lot of depth. But to say he's not NT material? Play him in his natural position like everyone else does.

 

Ummm, seems like you may have missed the last 8 games he has played for Portugal. Seriously though, look at the last 8 or 9 games and please tell me which game he performed poorly in, and if you can't do that than isn't that the very definition of consistent? I think you might be holding onto old reputation instead of adjusting to the current trends.

 

Damn... Felix the Cat could have scored 4 goals, he was everywhere.

anyone see Piers Morgan tweet calling in CR "the GOAT." Damn right he is. Hell yeah!!!!

 

Bruno Fernandes is Pizzi level last seasons stats show it.

 

Too many crackheads in this forum who've never played the game. No wonder the Portuguese are universally hated.

 

SCP_16
2019
"the fact that Felix is a weak shell of a man who is incredibly overrated and also doesn't belong on this team."

 

Yeah man, crack is a hell of a drug. I've seen heavy crack users say insane things like, B.Fernandes has more potential and is better than J.Felix.

 

He will have to kill himself if Felix wins a Balon D'or .

 

I said he has more potential? Where?

Also, this is especially rich coming from a dude who was slobbing up Sanches for weeks, coming up with excuse after excuse for every failing.

 

"I think Bruno Fernandes is better than both of them honestly. He's shown that he is." That was your exact quote. You didn't say potentia, what you said was even worse. Now your turn, show me where I made excuses for Sanches or where I was "slobbing" all over him? I'm sure I said what I always say, never write off anyone that has potential and is really young.

 

Honestly guys this goes both (or all three) ways. Way too many of you watch the national team with the emotional bond to your club clouding any logical judgement of players on rival clubs. It’s far from a sin to have an emotional bond to your club or their players, but it makes for poor assessments to performance on the national team many times.

 

Yes, I said Fernandes is better than Felix at this point in time. Never said anything about more potential.

 

This is part of my point. When you want or secretly hope for the failure of a player from your own nationality because he did not come from the club you love, or he comes from a club you hate, seems crazy to me. The entire world hates us. When we play any other national team, basically everyone, their grandma and family pet is praying we lose, I would have thought that would actually unit us all. Tribalism is part of human nature, but it makes more sense to me to be naturally tribal to your DNA or place that shares your culture over blind love for what is essentially purely a business.

 

At international level, I want Felix to be successful. I want Bruno Fernandes to be successful. I want Renato Sanches to be successful. If it means winning a Euro or World Cup... At club level, now that he's not at Benfica, I hope Felix succeeds cause the Spanish usually look down on tugas.

Only thing I hate is that how everything is about Benfica in Portugal and every youth product out of Seixal is the next Ronaldo.

 

I feel the same way. At the national level I dont care where a player was developed. I want our NT to do well, PERIOD.
At the Seixal level I get what you are saying. For me I get excited because for the longest time, Benfica produced next to nothing. It was mostly Sporting.
I put Portugal ahead of League. Thats me. If Porto starts producing the next super stars, then our NT benefits for it.
I dont get Portuguese soccer fans taking pleasure when young players dont succeed to expected levels. That only makes our NT weaker.

Viva PORTUGAL secanas !!!!!! Nation over rivals

 

Wasn't Felix developed at FC Porto? The NYT article today says that he left Porto at 15 for Benfica... https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/sports/joao-felix-atletico-madrid.html

 

See here's the problem: I would normally root for my country's players 100% of the time. It goes without saying. I consider them my compatriots and, as such, I will root for them as often as I possibly can.

The problem is that Benfica has such a corrupt stranglehold on the country. They cheat, match-fix and do all the other sh*t that would get a club relegated, but because 70%+ of the country are Benfiquistas, including the JP and all of the checks & balances in Portugal, they are free to perform whatever corrupt practices they feel necessary. On top of that, all Portuguese media outlets and pundits are also Benfiquista and, because of that, they hype up every player that puts on a Benfica jersey, which then inflates the players' values and overrates the player to unprecedented levels. This, in turn, allows the player to get called up prematurely to the national team (which also has to do with our Benfiquista coach) and automatically qualified these players to be considered some of the best in the world.

It's an entirely fabricated corrupt system that Benfica controls from top to bottom. Don't get me wrong, Benfica has had some stellar talents (Cancelo, Bernardo, etc.), but it's difficult for me to support overrated players who haven't fully proven themselves to be top tier talents (Sanches, Cavaleiro, etc.). Period.

It has more to do with how corrupt Benfica and Portugal are than anything else. I said before and I'll say it again: if Felix is worth $120+ million, then Bruno is worth $140+ million.

Also, it's interesting to note that the people here saying they are objective in there stance on National Team players are the ones bashing Bruno, when he actually had a good game against Lithuania despite playing out of position. But Nelson Semedo and Danilo stink up the joint, they are not mentioned whatsoever. It's that type of ignorance that reeks of bias and hypocrisy.

 

He was. Porto considered him too weak and skinny. They lost out.

Then again, Benfica lost Fabio Silva to Porto and he looks like a future gem so it's all relative.

 

Ya thats right. Porto gave up on him. Too skinny, not strong enough on the ball.....
Benfica have also made judgment mistakes on players too.

 

Ok I get your frustration but still, that has nothing to do with the individual players. Hell in a couple of years they are gone to play in a bigger league any ways. I get your frustration/hate with Benfica. I felt that way when Porto were having their way with the league but that is at the Team level, not at the player level. When a Porto play put on the NT Jersey, its all Portuguese. No Porto.

I love Bruno, I dont think we are using him properly. Hated how Nelson Semedo played. Terrible, should never play for us again. Danilo stunk but has had good games for us too. We have major issues defensively.

I can not speak for all Benfica fans, I can only speak for myself and the Benfica friends that I know personally, we have supported for many years all the great Sporting players that put the NT Jersey on. No one cared where he was developed despite hearing all the time that Benfica develops no Portugues talent and only cares for South American players. Still made no difference. Now that Benfica is developing good talent, all the politics comes into play. I remember on these boards Sporting fans going nuts about up coming Sporting talent. No issues.

 

Oh really? The moment he was subbed off and Bernardo was moved there we scored and completely dominated on both ends of the pitch.

Pizzi level player you could have robbed a team of 60 million but because you have incompetent management focused entirely on Benfica you will never see that for him now.

https://www.transfermarkt.us/bruno-...verein=&liga=&wettbewerb=PO1&pos=&trainer_id=

https://www.transfermarkt.us/pizzi/...verein=&liga=&wettbewerb=PO1&pos=&trainer_id=

Pizzi was even more butt hurt by Felix than you are, If he passed the ball to him he would probably have even more assists.

 

I agree with most of this. The only difference here is that Benfica's level of corruption on Portuguese soccer is unprecedented. Porto couldn't even touch it. Porto also contributing to the National Team at a much higher level. Literally 75% of the Euro 2004 and WC 2006 squad was all Porto. They also won the Champions League and UEFA Cup in consecutive years.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I don't buy into the Benfica player hype because that is what it is most of the time: hype created by a pro-SLB country, league and media that has corrupted Portuguese soccer and made it nearly impossible for other teams to win the league. That is why I cannot support SLB players, because they are the beneficiary of a deeply corrupted farce.

Sporting players, when they were on the National Team, were not afforded the same advantages and corrupt benefits that the current SLB crop are afforded. You basically have not justifiable reason not to support them on the National Team. They've always faced an uphill battle in our Liga. My reasoning for disliking Benfica's players is that they are on the National Team as a result of the corrupt system in Portugal.

Until Portugal does the right thing and investigates Benfica's corruption, I will not support them or their players. Period.