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

I wont argue anybodies top 5 list. It essentially comes down to the individual, but, out of curiosity, who would you remove from my top 5?

 

Nelson Semedo can't start, he can't.

He got absolutely caved in today. Horrible passes, pathetic defending, soft on the ball, panicked touches.

 

I don’t think it’s fair to judge Nelson semedo based on that game.

 

I disagree. In a single elimination match (which is what Portugals meaningful matches will be) it is scary to know a performance like the one we saw from Semedo today could pop up at any given point.

To be perfectly honest, i would still prefer Ricardo Pereira (when healthy) at RB, and if the Man City experiment is both continuous and successful with Joao Cancelo; him at LB.

 

Ricardo finally took over the spot - deservedly so - at the end of Euro 2020 Qualifying and will be there once he’s healthy again. He’s been among the best players in the EPL the past two seasons.

One thing I will say re: Semedo is that he has performed just fine in single-elimination matches for Portugal as recently as the 2019 Nations League Finals. But everyone knows he’s not as talented as Ricardo or Cancelo, so he’s basically been a stopgap between Cedric and Ricardo (once healthy).

I wouldn’t judge any one player too harshly, saying they should never play again after a single performance in which their team allowed 8 goals. Based on that logic, Diogo Jota should unquestionably start every match for Portugal since he had multiple hat tricks this season.

 

Ricardo is our best RB, followed by Cedric. Yes , Cedric. I know it’s an unpopular choice but he is very steady defensively. He started for the 2016 winners team, and he has a reputation of being a model professional.

 

fernando santos disagrees he doesn’t select him anymore. Don’t think you can argue with a euro winning coach

I think it’s unfair cause Barcelona’s team is a distasteR right. It would be like banishing Ricardo for his disaster performance against Uruguay. Cancelo has had many very bad games himself too

 

Santos as much as I respect him, he tinkers too much. He usually gets it right but when he gets it wrong we see what happens (ie the game Portugal lost to Ukraine, for example. The Uruguay game in World Cup).

Cedric should be back into contention. Defensively he is still probably the most reliable that we have.

 

You have to remember that you don’t see what goes on behind the scenes. My contacts tell me that Cedric is a top level dude and this makes a difference . Cancelo supposedly is a big diva.

 

Cancelo did alright today at lb, but it was very evident his final balls were not the greatest due to playing on the wrong side. Probaly a better backup option than Mário rui though

the bald fraud did not even give Bernardo silva a single minute. Mad disrespect

 

I agree cancelo could be an option at left back. He had a solid game today.

 

Excuse me coach, What do you think is going on with all the Spanish managers as of late? Is there style just not up to par? Are they not using analytics like the Germans? Is it simply a nationalistic patriarchy?

 

I agree that Cedric’s quality and solid play was too easily overlooked by Portugal supporters and at 29 (as of Aug. 31) he should still be under consideration each time Santos has to select a squad.

That said, Santos has been pretty consistent about selecting players who are seeing regular minutes for their club. Each of the past two seasons Cedric has hit the new calendar year in the middle of the season and then played sparingly the rest of the way (first after being loaned to Inter, then after being sold to Arsenal).

He’s always been more solid than spectacular, so like many in that category he tends to be less effective when not paired with top notch defensive partners. It’s no shock Cedric’s best years so far were while playing next to van Dijk/Fonte at Southampton and ~2016 Pepe/Fonte. At this point Portugal might need more from a RB until the next generation CBs hit their stride.

 

William with a good goal today

 

William really impressed Pellegrini, who said he has tremendous quality but has never fullfilled his true potential on a consistent basis. Can't fault him for telling the truth. William should be at a big club, but never consistently reached the heights we know he can.

 

Ruben Dias to man city.

 

Portugal and Spain signed an agreement today to put in a joint bid for the 2030 world cup

https://www.abola.pt/nnh/2020-10-07...m-candidatura-conjunta-ao-mundial-2030/863326

 

Lets hope this happens.

 

What did the Great Belgium do apart from beating minnows in qualifying and group stages?

Their biggest achievement was beating a weakened Brazil 2-1. Incredibly overrated for YEARS now.

 

It's really not a surprise... look at their roster of players, supposedly they're stars but how many have been part of Champions League winning teams? Pretty sure the answer is zero. Not a coincidence.

Edit: Just checked their roster and forgot Origi won with Liverpool and did have a part in their win to be fair but he's an anomaly and not doing anything of note these days.

But in terms of teams that actually dominate Europe in recent times, namely Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern there is no presence from them. And it matters. Modric and Rakitic being pivotal players for these types of historic, dominant European clubs had much to do with Croatia's success in recent years.

Things might be different for them if their most talented player, Hazard, wasn't also lazy AF. Guy might be the worst example of wasted talent I've seen in recent years. Shows up for pre-season training each summer as a fat slob who has no self-control over his eating. Has openly said he doesn't have interest in challenging the likes of Ronaldo or Messi and is 'happy' with 15-20 goal seasons. He has his chance to be the main man at Real Madrid and he's destroying it. He has younger brothers playing professionally looking up to him too. How a player with his talent can look at a player like Ronaldo and not be ashamed at the contrast of work ethics is mind boggling to me. That's Belgium's best player so there is no shock as to the lack of success they've had.

Some will mention De Bruyne but he players for a loser club in Europe. If you can't lead your team to significant European success then you're not going to do it with your national team. And that task is likely beyond him. For a club to win their first Champions League, many stars need to align. Aside from Chelsea, all Champions League titles have been won by former champions and that Chelsea win is seen by many as the biggest fluke win in recent times.

Anyways, I agree with you, I would be irked seeing everyone talk up the Belgium team in recent years when it was clear (because of the above) that they were going to do jack shit. They would get smacked around by this Portugal team. If Portugal is playing well their only real competition for the Euro title will be France. If Portugal is playing well and Ronaldo is on his game then it'll be back-to-back titles.

 

Yeah it boggles my mind how much Belgium is talked up/favored in recent tournaments. Not saying they are a bad team at all but when pundits shit on Portugal and talk about Belgium as being as good as Brazil, France, Spain, and Germany I get so confused. To me Belgium is no better than Portugal. Just funny seeing them ranked #1 in the world in the FIFA rankings.

 

EPL Bias. Lukaku, Hazard, De Bruyne, Kompany, Vertonghen, etc. were all in the EPL.

 

Yeah it must be...

 

What a terrific week for our forwards! Lol at the Felix x Jota rivalry in this forum.