Yeah what do you think his major weaknesses are? I've been hearing a lot of people agree with you that Djalma might not be that great.
He just looks extremely average, I just don't see him bringing anything to the table. Definitely not a starter, also don't see him as a sub when we need to attack more or defend more. It's hard to find a situation where a player like that could be useful.
We have a deep team. GK: Helton LB: Sandro (I assume Alvaro will be sold) RB: Danilo (Fucile will be sold, Sapunaru stays on as a backup) CB: Otamendi & a signing (hopefully Coates) (Rolando sold, Maicon as 3rd CB and Sereno as a 4th backup) DM: Fernando & Souza CM: Guarin, Moutinho, Castro, Belluschi & Micael (1 of Micael/Castro loaned out) W: Hulk, Varela, James & Djalma (James being the super sub, Djalma will rarely see time barring injury) St: Falcao, Kleber & Walter (maybe a loan for Walter) Our key bench players will be James, Kleber, Belluschi and Castro/Micael At this point I don't think Fernando, Moutinho, Hulk or Falcao will be sold. I think Rolando & Fucile will definitely be sold, and possibly Alvaro. I think only one of Castro/Micael remains (the other loaned out) and possibly sell Belluschi if we get a good offer
I still believe he will struggle to make much of an impact before the new year, similar to what James experienced last season. I mean we're talking about a teenage kid who hasn't played very much football over the past year and won't even be joining Porto until the end of August. I just believe he'll have to work hard in training during his first few months at Porto to gain an acceptable fitness level.
Just a reminder, the presentation game to the fans kicks off tomorrow at 7PM local time in Portugal, which is 2PM on the east coast of the US. We play Uruguayan side Penarol, who reached the final of the Libertadores. Should be a lot of fun seeing the new jerseys and the first game of the season at the Dragao!
Well said. But I think we should sell Hulk over the winter. This would make room for James as a starter and Iturbe could have a shot at being the supersub. If they're all there, I don't see Iturbe getting many minutes unless he explodes from day one (which is unlikely for any player).
Porto doesn't really sll big name players during winter. Hulk will also be CL tied so that might be a deterant for the big clubs to pay up.
True. I just fear we have too much depth for our business model. We can't really afford to have one of Iturbe or James rotting in the bench...
went to portos presentation game...penarol was just awful. Goes to show you how better european football is.
Cool, hope you enjoyed it. How was the atmosphere, were there a lot of fans, etc? We've won all our pre-season games expect for Monchengladbch, and we only drew that one because Hulk was stupidly sent off. Hopefully Lyon next weekend will provide a better test.
it was a near sell-out. The crowd was into it for the majority of the game. More so in the 2nd half considering the 1st half wasnt as exciting. Everytime hulk took a corner he was applauded with a standing ovation.
It's in Switzerland next Sunday at 8PM Portuguese time. I agree that it will definitely our toughest game so far, and amazingly the Super Cup vs Vitoria is coming up already on the 7th of August! BTW, congrats to Alvaro and Cristian Rodriguez on winning the Copa America with Uruguay. Probably bitter-sweet for Fucile as well, since he's been a key member of that squad for several years now.
Hey guys. Im a Peñarol fan. Im sorry that we committed to playing this match with this roster. We were the Copa Libertadores Finalists only 1 month ago, but most of those players have left like they do every year and new ones come in. It sucks but that's the way it is. Therefore, our roster is compiled of a few starters from that team, a few subs, and a few youth players. If we had our real team, it would've been a closer game. We almost beat Real Madrid last year in a friendly with a pretty shitty team. Out of the 16 players that played yesterday, 5 were starters on our team last year, 3 were subs, 3 were new players, and 5 were from our youth system. The rest of our roster should be filled out in the next couple of weeks. Again, it sucks but that's the way it is. Watching the highlights, our keeper, who was one of the stars of our Libertadores run, was dead awful, as was our entire team Im a little embarrased but hopefully we redeem ourselves in our upcoming European friendlies
No need to apologize. It's a friendly game. Some people value friendlies way to much. Our team is missing some players too and we have a new coach that we are praying come pull off another league title because he has zero experience. Good game though. Didn't compare to when we faced each other in snowy Japan
I can't wait for this game. Vitoria da merda is right up there on my list of teams that I dispise. Strong words I know, but remember these are the c _ _ _ _ that went crying to UEFA, along with the other c _ _ _ _ from the south, to get us banned from Champions a few summers ago. I'd give my right testicle to beat them twice in a span of few weeks, first the Super Cup and then the first game of the season.
Haha, those are some very strong words indeed! I'm thinking we'll get a better idea of what the starting XI might be for the first Vitoria match from what we see vs Lyon this Sunday. I don't know when the Copa America boys will return, and we'll see if anyone is sold soon as well.
VSC always plays the game of their lives vs Porto so it won't be a walk in the park. I don't think they picked up anyone decent this year so i expect Porto to beat them by 2 or 3 goals.
Don't expect much from Lyon: 3 of our playmakers will be out for injuries (Gourcuff, Pjanic, Ederson), we only have one and a half n°6 left (Gonalons, young Koné) after the departure of Toulalan for Málaga and we haven't bought a central defender left to bench our avô Cris... Even the reserve team is decimated with 6 of our best youngsters in currently Colombia for the u20 world cup... It'll probably be 2-0 of 3-1 for Porto
Wow, that's a lot cheaper than I would have imagined. I'm guessing that tickets for big games (CL, Benfica & Sporting, etc.) would be like 4-5 times that much?