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

We have to win the Nations League to get that cagao insurance.

 

Leao and Jota are solid striker options, even Andre Silva if he regains form at Sevilla.

I think Santos learnt Bernardo needs to start in the middle...hopefully.

 

Robbed. That clear handball even without VAR. Can't fathom how the ref failed to call that.

 

Bruno Fernandes, who has been healthy as unluckily gets injured during training for the Ukraine match, put a serious damper on Santo's plans and formation I believe. With how well he has performed this year I think the starting midfield was supposed to be Fernandes with Neves and Carvalho which is the best combination moving forward. Bruno gives you the goal scoring ability which we haven't had from a midfielder in a very long time, Neves also gives you a midfielder not afraid of shooting from distance, Danilo's brilliant strike aside this is what has been missing from our national team.

That midfield moving forward with Felix, Ronaldo, and Bernardo as the front 3 gives us the best team we can field, hopefully that happens at the UEFA nations league finals. Felix is more dynamic than either Dyego and Silva, which will help free up Ronaldo with players having to worry about his dynamism. Bernardo I agree should be more in the middle but not if Fernandes is healthy, We need both in the lineup and Bernardo has experience playing more on the wing, he plays in a wide midfield position or on the wing with City as well, so Santos hasn't really done anything differently than what he's been utilized so far in his career at both Monaco and City. Teams having to deal with Bruno, Felix, Ronaldo, and Bernado will be very tough to deal with and then you have two strong midfielders in Carvalho and Neves, with one being able to shoot from distance.

By the way can we not all give Carvalho his due, the guy is a straight up beast. He should be on one of the best teams in the world, can you guys currently say you can think of anyone with his size as a defensive midfielder who is as calm and silky smooth in his movement and passing than him? he is legit Elite, he always impresses me, I rate him as world class.

 

Tuned in and saw Rafa and Pizzi and that's all I had to see.

As I mentioned earlier, Gelson doing well in Monaco and Leao tearing it up at Lille yet we have sorry ass Rafa and Pizzi playing.

Portugal may fail, they may not. But if they do, Santos and the FPF have no one but themselves to blame.

 

Rafa did alright bar poor decision making in the final third, but Pizzi adds nothing to the national team, I agree.

Bruno Fernandes was a big miss too..

We could get lucky, apparently Ukraine an ineligible player during their last two games. The Brazilian on their squad. This could lead to two automatic losses.

Santos playing 4D Chess

 

Wait, what? The Brazilian was an ineligible player? and could result in their tie and win being altered to a loss? what is your source? i have not heard anything of such and can not imagine a team like Ukraine would use a player like that knowing the damage it could cause.

These are the moves of 3rd world countries in Africa and what not..

 

https://maisfutebol.iol.pt/fifa/jun...er-defrontado-portugal-com-jogador-irregular/

 

Yeah, i actually just came across this too.

I am not to familiar with how such situations take place. I mean, i must assume the FPF will take a serious look into this, as will Luxembourg. It would not be a story if there wasnt some meat on the bone..

I would take the extra two points how ever i can get them to at this point, it would turn an extremely disapointing result from two home matches to something much more credible.

Again, its a shitty way to earn points, but, no one would give Portugal mercy or feel bad for us if we fielded a player who wasnt 'allowed' to play..

 

How far and real do you think this gets? do you believe Ukraine will be handed tow losses for this? or is this something the courts will just brush off and move on from over time and have this kind of go away into thin air..

 

If Felix wasn't injured and played.

5-1. Easy.

 

The issue of Júnior Moraes was briefly discussed in the 'Player Eligibility' thread of the FIFA/Tournaments forum after the Portugal-Ukraine match. They usually try to stay on top of such issues so I'm sure they will be following it as more news comes out.
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/pl...eral-discussion.1946720/page-27#post-37637503

 

I swear, man....Eastern European poachers.

Iberian teams should be the only ones allowed to cap South American players because at least they have some ethnic binds to us. It looks retarded when any other country does it.

 

It doesnt appear this is something that will seriously be considered. Unfortunately. We really needed 3 points from one of the two games.

Just gotta goto Ukraine and Serbia and win those matches. Plain and simple. Fully capable of doing it as well.

 

If felt that we were down a couple of players in these last two games and still controlled the games. Santos was unwilling to take any chances. Why is there no VAR for these qualifiers?

 

Controlled the game, but never threatened, with the exception of a couple of chances. We have no one clinical enough to finish. Period.

 

What do you guys think of a 3 5 2 system? Or 4 4 2, I just don't think our traditional 4 3 3 we have used throughout different eras is going to work moving forward.

I think I would go 4 4 2, same defence as the past two games, with hopefully a fit Bruno Fernandes on the left midfield, Bernardo on the right, and Neves and Carvalho in the middle with Ronaldo and Felix up front. Or you could possibly stick with 4 3 3 but use Bruno as the CAM. I think ultimately Bernardo is the better player over Bruno but talent wise you want both of them on the pitch at the same time, so Bernardo would then play on the wing, which he mainly does for City. This way adding Bruno and Felix gives us two guys who do things we can't seem to do consistently...…...score.

 

Breaking: Ukraine could be given point deductions for the games v Portugal and Luxembourg due to the call up and naturalisation of Junior Moraes. The player has only lived in Ukraine for 4 years and 8 months rather than the qualifying 5 whole years! 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️ https://t.co/vWP15i7zXf

— Zorya Londonsk (@ZoryaLondonsk) March 26, 2019

Might be a bit of luck incoming for Portugal after such a poor start to their qualifying campaign - Júnior Moraes, who made his debut for Ukraine on Friday, may actually be ineligble to play for the country... https://t.co/Qh5HGJUjLo

— Reginaldo Rosario (@Regi1700) March 26, 2019

There could be bad news for Ukraine: Brazilian now Ukrainian Junior Moraes might have not been eligible as he didn’t live for 5 consecutive years in Ukraine.
It could be a breach to Fifa rule, and if someone will appeal, Ukraine could lose 0-3 v both Luxembourg and Portugal

— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) March 26, 2019

 

Why is this not a bigger story? it certainly should be. I do not see this any where on abola.pt or even ESPN who love little gossip thrilling stories like this..

Thats what makes me think its entirely possible FIFA has made some sort of pass for them. Again, i cant imagine a nation such as Ukraine would make such a costly stupid mistake.

I really hope the FPF has appealed and is busting balls and get something done. An extra 2 points bringing us to 4 and the 3-0 forfeit win would be a miracle given how poorly we started.

Any further news, i would (and im sure others) would really appreciate if you could provide us with updates.

 

Ok, so afer my last post, i went to abola.pt and it is all over.. The FPF has appealed and contacted Uefa.

Man, we have had such bad luck the last two games, this could finally be a break in our favor.

https://abola.pt/Nnh/Noticias/Ver/780160

 

Exactly. And stuff like this: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-s...ker-before-euro-2020-qualifiers-idUKKCN1R01T9

Makes me believe nothing will happen and Ukraine addressed the necessary checks and balances.

 

The Luxembourg federation has also filed an official complaint.

 

Yup, just a bunch of crosses to Silva and Sousa hoping for some sort of defensive blunder I guess. If we had Peter Crouch, I can understand this tactic.

 

I think something like a 4-2-3-1 would work best with the type of defensive players Portugal has, especially, against the top tier teams. Having Pepe, Dias, Danilo, and William to shore up the middle of the defense with the fullbacks pushing up the flanks and helping on offense. Unfortunately, yesterday's game against Serbia, I felt both Danilo and William were both pushing a bit too forward at the same time leaving big gaps in the back which led to dangerous counters. Of course this is the danger with teams that tend to be very defensive against Portugal.

On offensive side of things, I feel like Portugal has a good amount of players that can be plugged in, rotated, and switch to different positions, depending on match ups.

But I give Serbia credit as they were very aggressive attacking the Portuguese players and did not give them many open looks.