PORTUGAL VS MOROCCO 2018 FIFA World Cup Group Stage [R]

I agree with the comment about Neves, he would be vital to this MF, his passing would keep up the flow... Someone like Maniche were crucial players BC they're glue guys.

 

The performance vs Morocco felt like we had 11 players randomly plucked out from the street and asked to play together. There was no cohesion/chemistry. We won but we can't afford to perform like that if we want to be serious about going deep into this tournament.

Fonte and Pepe didn't help with their passing. The quality of passes and decision making from Mario and Moutinho in midfield wasn't great. Guedes went missing again and Bernando lost the ball at least half the time he had it.

 

Poor mental preparation? Maybe FS should show them the euro cup run. This group look uninspired.

 

Man we stunk out there. But we got the win, and that's what lasts longest in people's memory and the history books.

Very soon after the goal Joao Mario had to know Guerreiro was doing too much work and needed to baby sit him zealously. Either than or move into the middle, and Guedes should have stopped pretending to be a striker and locked himself into the left wing. Andre Silva would have again been the better forward, because he is a better forward/striker. Andre Silva off the ball would have played the defenders better and Ronaldo would get more space (Guedes doesn't know how to do that).

Bernardo Silva out wide in the middle of the pitch is a waste of his assets.

William had some nice positions but he ran out of gas too quickly into the match. Stamina is important for our only DM, does Willian need a rest? Should Santos have brought Neves along? If we had Neves to sub into this game (while still 1 goal up) we would have gained a better grip on the game. Moutinho was our best midfield tackler today 7 attempts and 6 successful tackles. That's why I'm going to suggest Manuel Fernandes against Iran on the left wing. We need to win balls against Iran and not let the opponent test us so frequently. There's a point where not trying to win balls goes from Mourinho-esque to just stubborn and dumb.


----------------------Patricio-------------------------------

Cedric ------ Pepe ------- Fonte(Dias)------- Guerreiro

----------------------- William-----------------------------

Martins--- B. Silva ----Moutinho (Adrien)-- M. Fernandes

----------------------- Ronaldo -----------------------------

 

Theres not much to say except that we were God awful. Ronaldo saved us, and we barely hung on while a hardworking skilled team, but inferior on paper, completely manhandled us.

Our players were so shook, they failed easy passes, they panicked when approached with any sort of pressure, and they actually pulled out of 50/50 challenges both on the ground and in the air. It was shocking to see, we literally couldn't have played any worse.

Everyone was brutal.

 

Manuel José thoughts on the match.

https://www.publico.pt/2018/06/21/d...-falta-de-mentalidade-e-de-maturidade-1835312

 

Anyone who faults Guedes on that chance literally knows nothing about the game. There is nothing else he could have done. If he missed the ball, only then i would understand.....

He executed. Most GK's are not saving that.

 

I disagree about Sanchez being the missing piece - even at his best he was wasteful with possession which was precisely the problem we had yesterday. We couldn't move the ball with more than 1 or 2 clean passes before conceeding possession. Sanchez would only have made the problem worse. We basically needed another player like William who can control the ball, pivot and cleanly distribute - make Morocco chase the ball uselessly until they ran themselves into the ground - then pump 2-3 counter-attacks goals as they tired. Old Moutinho could do it but he is older and slower and his duties are much more defensive now. Instead, we thought that Bernardo Silva, Joao Mario and Bruno Fernandes would be able to do it but holy mother of G did they fail. It was truly bizarre - the most obvious explanation is youth - B Silva, B Fernandes and Guedes playing together mostly for the 1st time on a very big stage. Joao Mario - no explanation - except terrible form. Same for Guerreiro. Many will also say that Bernardo Silva and Joao Mario are much worse on the wing - so that is a thought for Santos - but something we should have worked on more during the friendlies.

 

No were are not (and I dont want to be) but we should be able to string at least 4 passes together to get away from pressure. All the small teams are using pressure to create rushed plays/turnovers.

 

Yeah, he showed good technique and the patience - the latter is unteachable, which points to his class - to let the ball fall enough for him to stay on top of it, he was just unlucky the keeper didn't do what keepers do 90% of the time on that type of play and go down to cut off more space in front of goal.

 

Haha! Ironically, a pet peeve of mine too... I want to blame Siri but that was just me rushing... unforced error just like our every pass yesterday...