Congrats to Freddy on his CL-group play debut. Long way from Salt Lake! Really like the way Benfica is bringing Freddy along and making him earn PT and get settled in at the club and country and then slowly doling out the PT as he earns it, keeping his hunger and confidence up at the same time. It's really good for the kid to have to earn his minutes and it will make him a much better player. Finally, congrats to Benfica on the three points.
Adu turned the ball over badly once and ********ed up a 1-2 but other than that had a solid outing. He made the pass into Di Maria that he assisted on Cardozo's goal. He didn't try to do to much or take defenders on. He earned a corner off a long shot and a FK that he took dangerously. Overall I'd say a 6, I don't think he hurt his chances at more steady playing time.
for a while yeah. but adu was a right winger for the majority of the game. though we can't really see too much into the coach's thinking until rui costa is out. but both adu and di maria seem to have the freedom to float around the field quite a bit.
Freddy played well. Created a few chances. Connected well with other attackers in the buildup to the goal. Drew a few free kicks. A good showing.
Huge win for Freddy and Benfica. Even if they aren't one of the top two in the group, it would still be great experience to get a UEFA Cup spot.
I thought he looked good...and he gets the MLS secondary assist on the goal if I'm not mistaken, though basically a very nice combination between DiMaria and cardozo
The feed was still up and they were interviewing Freddy, (and not the goal hero lol) But there was no sound??? irritating
good 3 points earned, now they can duke it out for the 3d spot against celtic, maybe fight for 2nd with 3 games left
Looks like the SKY reporter is interviewing Freddy after the game, but since my stream has no sound...couldn't tell you anything about it. way to go Fredddy, looked fine out there, some touches that could have been improved, but when he came on the Celtic momentum suddendly shifted.
Not sure what you mean, he played just fine, drew free kicks in the last 3rd, the team won, didn't look out of place, was part of the build up on the goal.....?? The one play someone commented he could have got to a ball at the back corner was a wrong. To have a chance at that ball he would have had to been offsides. You all have unrealistic expectations, first extended play where he didn't score, oh NO!
Solid outing, I think, for Freddy. Congrats Benfica! I'm off to watch the Real Madrid game on ESPN Classic.
Fredy played well, messed up a bit at the beginning then he settled down and start creating scoring chances for the team. Needless to say he was part of the attack that scored the goal.
Benfica only have 1 home game left (Milan). Going to have to do some business on the road if they are going through. Celtic are vulnerable lately. Benfica need a least a draw at Celtic, if not an outright win. Both teams will need it if they want to finish second.
Nice win to secure a tough 3 points against a quality Celtic side. I'm eager to read more and hear more about Adu's play. Sounds to me like he held his own and wasn't over his head. I like how things are going so far for Freddy. His been brought along slowly but in a way that will will increase his game and improve his form. Benfica's been a great fit so far and it can only get better if Freddy buckles down in training like he apparently has. Today was a big 3 points for Benfica and I'm glad Freddy had some role in it.
yes, agreed. i for one am glad freddy didn't start this game and glad he isnt starting many games. make him eager for his time so when he gets onto the field he feels he has a point to prove instead of a place to lose. i think this sort of role is great for freddy right now.
We should have won 3/4-0 easily..but we werent to effective most of the time in the final third and were very vunerble to counter-attacks..ugh binya. Still. very encouraging and Cardozo was so unlucky, great for him to score after working so hard and hitting undersides of the crssbar etc. A few more goals and that 9 million we paid for him will come good Di maria on the bench because?? Adu> Bergcrap..Adu is a good sub to have off the bench, and hes miles better then bergessio. hopefully hes sold in january. We have another must win game at celtic in a few weeks, by then petit, nelson, gomes, and david luiz will all be fit and we'll finally have our full lineup, so hopefully we'll win.
why not apply this logic to all other players? Or why not play him even less and make him even hungrier? Maybe bench him totally and make him super-hungry? It is better for Freddy to play. But better for Benfica to use the players they need to win the game.
Freddy seems to be coming a long just fine. Benfica is bringing him a long slowly. He seems to be improving at a rapid rate. MLS prepared him well to make the adjustment.
im impressed with cardozo. he could be a bargain for 9M. he's settled in nicely now and looks quality. the chance from the long ball he had around the 70th minute or so was real quality. his control, turn and shot were all great. really unlucky not to have a few goals today. and of course great composure on his goal after he missed so many other chances and so much was riding on benfica winning the ga,e. he's going to score plenty of goals for benfica. and yeah, di maria should have definitely started.
Yeah, this resumes the game. First time the home team didn't win by a 3-0 result (between Benfica and Celtic games) Good win, but seriously... what the keeper didn't get the posts did... arghh! Good game from Cardozo!
this logic should obviously not be applied to all players. i'm amazed you didnt pick that up. i was referring to young talents with crazy expectations that are in a different situation. most players aren't 18 year-olds adjusting to a new country/league/etc. not to mention everyone knows who he is and have huge expectations for him. there is a reason many coaches bring so many young talents along slowly and protect them. of course there are rare exceptions, but given adu's case and often unrealistic expectations and media coverage bringing him along slowly is the right move im my opinion.
Exactly, hes only severly lacking in confidence. Once he hits his stride and feels comfortible he'll be a beast.
That and... the guinness world records book... "GWR DAY - Portugal A Team Effort The most widely supported football club is Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Portugal, which has 160,398 paid-up members. The record was acknowledged on 9 November 2006 during the celebrations for Guinness World Records Day. The team, better known as just Benfica or, by fans, SLB, has supporters in most municipalities of Portugal ** and in cities throughout the world, namely Andorra, Angola, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, England, France, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, Luxembourg, Macao, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States." http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwrday/portugal_teameffort.aspx The number is already outdated, since we surpassed it already. Unfortunately, most of them are from Portugal (no stream needed ) neither do the ones near Benfica "houses" from abroad. (from wikipedia) Sócios por distrito * Lisboa - 48,4% (68 639) * Setúbal - 11,4% (16 167) * Outros - 11,2% (15 883) * Porto - 5,8% (8 225) * Santarém - 4,8% (6 807) * Leiria - 4,1% (5 815) * Estrangeiro - 3,6% (5 106) * Faro 3,3% - (4 680) * Braga 3,1% - (4 396) * Aveiro 2,5% - (3 546) * Coimbra 1,8% - (2 552) o TOTAL - 141 816 I'm sure the same happens to be the case for Celtic.