Just like that Porto is eliminated from the beer cup after one game. Big cagou. They still haven’t won this title.
If JJ doesn't work out this season, I want the coach from Santa Clara. That guy doesn't mess around. Spanked Porto like nothing.
Not a good match from Porto against Santa Clara (the match resembled a high school pick-up game in the first half). Porto were already trailing and chasing the game when they brought in some of their starters in the 2nd half. By the time Taremi came in, they were already practically behind 2:0 and while Taremi scored to give Porto hope of a come back, it was Santa Clara that added to their tally with a goal late in stoppage time to win 3:1. Although I was rooting for Porto despite this being a rather meaningless and even burdensome cup match for a side that needs to play both in the league and CL, the consolation for me was the fact that Santa Clara also have an Iranian player, Mohebi, who unlike in their league games, started and played the full 90+ minutes for Santa Clara. p.s. My take away from this game was that some of Porto's reserves suck. In particular, Porto should look for a better back up goalie (I could recommend a couple from Iran who are really good) and should also recruit some better central defenders for their bench for when Pepe is not available or retires.
I don't see what's so special about the Brazilian winger Pepe on Porto. Probably gonna end up being another high profile signing that ends up flopping like Oliver Torres from a few years ago. The Spaniard Toni Martinez is also a pretty meh striker. He could be alright as a backup against weaker porkchop league clubs but I don't see him going far in the grand scheme of things.
Portos major issue is the defence and organization. They are prone to suffering some soft goals. What did they do to remedy that this season? Last season I believe they scored far more goals than Sporting, but Sporting had the best defence and won the league. One of the few times in Portuguese football when the champion won largely based on defending rather than just spamming goals with an overpowered striker such as Eusebio, Yazalde, Mario Jardel, or Jonas. Strikers like that can really destroy many of the bus-parking sides.
The coach from Vizela may be better. They actually try to play football and he got them promoted twice .
Not GK or defence related, but Sardar Azmoun probably would've been a beast in the Portuguese league. But the Russians got him first and I don't even see the Big 3 shelling out enough money to get him now considering how frugal Portuguese clubs tend to be. Curious how Alireza Jahanbakhsh would've been done if he went to different league, as the years spent in EPL were clearly unproductive.
Mohebi could become a starter now since Santa Clara got a new manager. Nuno Campos clearly used this game to put together a new scheme and it looks like it can work. That's a pretty impressive coaching hire by Santa Clara considering Nuno Campos resume of being Paulo Fonseca's long time assistant. He spent 5 years as assistant manager with Paulo Fonseca at Roma & Shakhtar. I'm guessing he didn't want to wait for Fonseca to join the premier league. He decided now was the time to pick a club for himself and he chose Santa Clara.
Sardar Azmoun's contract with Zenit ends this season and there are several clubs from the "big 5" in line to sign him. But while Azmoun is a better finisher and header than Taremi, unlike Taremi who can sometimes make things happen on his own, Azmoun needs proper service to really shine. Overall, I think Taremi is a better fit for Portugal than Azmoun would be, especially since he came to Portugal very cheap and even today is (undervalued) at 16M Euro (which is is 4-5 times what Porto paid to sign him and 10 times what his earlier Portuguese club had paid for him). Azmoun by contrast, has come with a comparatively hefty price tag for a while now and his transfer market value is listed at 25M Euro. You are absolutely right about Jahanbakhsh. The EPL was not the right fit for him and he declined substantially during the couple of years he spent there. He is back at the Eredevise, but he is not yet in the form he used to be. The fact that he has scored 3 goals for Iran lately (ironically 2 of them in matches where he had been subpar), however, may hopefully help him regain his old form.
Possibly, but while I see Mohebi capable of helping Santa Clara once he fully settles in with the club, I don't expect him to be able to shine enough to move to any better clubs in Portugal or elsewhere.
The Bundesliga or Serie A may have been a better scene for Jahanbakhsh. Although I find the Portuguese Big 3 of Sporting/Benfica/Porto to be stronger than the Eredivisie traditional Big 3 of Ajax/PSV/Feyenoord, both of these leagues are similar in terms of scouting and development. However, they both need to operate in a way where constant player transfers are crucial source of revenue and survival. And with the EPL being infinitely richer than anyone else in Europe, even small time clubs like Brighton have money bags to make AZ Alkmaar an offer they can't refuse. The issue with players being stuck on mid to lower table clubs like Brighton is that competition within the league just becomes a constant logjam. Although, ultimately talent and effort needs to speak for itself.
Benfica's ex player scores a suspicious own goal against his own team. Guimaraes then scores the tying goal only to have it suspiciously disallowed for "offside". Now ref giving insane amounts of stoppage time. The big red machine hard at work
I don't think its just the league but also the tactical plan and system that different teams use and how that corresponds to the strengths and weaknesses of a player and the role that is assigned to that player Jahanbakhsh, for instance, rarely shined for Iran's NT when he was in his best form as the top goal scorer and one of the top assist givers in the Eredivise for AZ Alkmaar. On the other hand, and as counter intuitive as it might sound, I think would do well even in the EPL as a striker in a 4-3-3 formation using Juergen Klopp's counter-press system at Liverpool. He wouldn't become a Mo Salah necessarily, but I think he would do well in that system. As it was, however, Jahanbakhsh came to Brighton as the club's most expensive signing ever -- and then found himself rarely in the starting 11, usually languishing on the bench. Some injuries he suffered didn't help but overtime Jahanbakhsh lost his form and confidence, over-compensating at times and too timid at other times. (He did, nonetheless, score a spectacular scissor kick goal for Brighton against Chelsea, albeit perhaps not quite at the level of the goal Taremi scored for Porto against Chelsea in the CL). I agree about how the top 3 might have compared until recently, but Ajax is right now on fire, scoring a hat full of goals both in Holland and in the CL. As a Sporting fan, I think you got a taste of it recently, while in Holland some clubs would gladly trade even the 5:1 drubbing which Sporting suffered against Ajax with their own scoreline. Those teams would include PSV, who lost 5:0 to Ajax but also certainly a lesser side like Cambuur who were beaten 9:0! All that said, one thing about the Eredivise that stood out for me even back when Jahanbakhsh finished as the Eredivise top scorer was the generally abysmal quality of defenses in that league, especially among its less noteworthy clubs.
It ended 3-3. Benfica now has to beat Covilha by 3 goals, or by 2 goals while scoring at least 3 (3-1, 4-2, etc) to advance. Covilha sucks Though
LOL really ? We nearly lost that game. Extra time was not suspicious at all if you actually watch the game. The close offside was intentional ? Wow you are reaching bud. There are Ex Benfica, Sporting and Porto players all over the place. Thats a crazy card to be playing lol
And some think JJ would be great for out NT . NO THANKS . This is exactly what I expected with his return. Would love for home to prove me wrong though
3 legitimate penalties on him weren't call against Boavista, which must be some sort of a record by itself. It is a scandal how trolls have managed to create an environment where opposing players feel they have a license to push, trip and tackle Taremi and not just get away with it, but even possibly have him be carded and possibly ejected for falling because he was tripped or pushed!
Just from last night and this has become a recurring phenomenon, where you see several fouls on Taremi every game go uncalled.
Iranian and Porto fans defending Taremi. Bro the guy is a big diver if you watch the games. We also say the same about conceicaos son, Francisco, but he doesn’t seem to play much lately .