You forgot Andre Silva, Jota, Felix, Moutinho, Carvalho, and Bruno, lol. Let the pipe dream go. Ronaldo is here to stay for the World Cup. Let’s prepare with him included.
I just can’t understand how this coach can’t see what everyone sees as clearly obvious . Some of these players (as mentioned) have had plenty of chance and have failed . With the depth we have , starting these players makes zero sense . Having them on the bench instead of others is one thing but actually starting them is another
He must of known we have not beaten them at their home in 30 years he should of started a different formation. why send Ronaldo home on the last game is that last game going to make him fresher for the World Cup? At least when he is on the pitch in around their area he panics them and they double up on him that leaves someone else free
Fernando Santos lacked respect for his rival. Played the B team, what was expected? Otavio, Silva, Mendes, there's no place in the team. Weak coach, the World Cup is going to be another shame
Ronaldo playing today would not have made a difference if we started the same other players . Ronaldo needs to be served chances. The lineup we had in the first half had zero creativity .
The difference is that you won't find very people who will agree that the aforementioned players presence, or lack of it, will entirely change a game's outcome like some people do for Ronaldo. There's still the "PLaying without Ronaldo" psychological barrier. Some people will revert to the "if Ronaldo had played..." or "Portugal didn't win because Ronaldo wasn't on the field", even if Ronaldo's impact on the game has been mostly meager.
This. Ronaldo only shows once every 5 games or less nowadays. He would have done even less than André Silva (who I believe didn't do too bad given the context)
ive been a big leao advocate but in all honesty he has been extremely disappointing these couple of games, looks like he's trying to do to much. its one thing when bruno fernandes has a bad game but i just cant stand his body language he just whines and moans the entire game kinda how ronaldo does only difference is ronaldo is one of the greatest to ever touch a football so he should get a pass. i don't really understand all the vitinha slander i thought he played well, you can tell he is skillfull and positive, he looks to go forward i think him and bernardo in the mid field would be a great partnership. overall it was just one of those games, we could have easily won this game but things weren't falling in our favour. considering these games are basically tune ups why not give other CB a look? in these last 4 games that's the one thing i just cant understand.... you would rather play danilo out of position for FOUR GAMES? santos disappointing.
It's a really bad loss following 3 good showings. A win tonight would have solidified our position for the semis and shown we are a consistent team. A tie would have been a set back but this loss negates the previous 3 games and we are a team that wins or loses mostly on luck. It's Sad but clearly Bruno should not start, we desperately need Ronaldo and Renato and all the "darlings" are all hype. Jota and Bernardo, guedes and cancelo are the only guys giving a shit to win
Everyone needs to chill. I personally think we’re in a better spot than we were a few months ago and the team is slowly building. A goal after minute really throws the whole game plan out the window, I will say Bruno is really in horrific form. I don’t believe he should be an auto starter.
This Nations League is giving us a newer version of Jota and i am loving it. Hopefully he continues with the great form because if that strike late in the game had gone in, it would have been his greatest goal in a Portugal shirt. It's a good thing we are noticing who our good players are right now because this will prepare us for the World Cup. It's better to make our mistakes now and learn from them.
lol almost every player isn't good enough for the team according to you crackpots. A great example. Nuno Mendes has no place in the team? Sure.
I will not be chilling, what we saw today is reality. Lest we forget, World Cup 2018 + euro 2020= 10gp, 2W (Hungary and Morocco). Even in the euro 2016 victory we struggled to pull W’s with the exception of the Wales match. For me, an abysmal Germany side smashing us in the group stage was the last straw. To me that is still more embarsssing than finishing second to Serbia
As expected, the Portuguese cucks on Reddit are taking about how “lucky” Switzerland was and berating their time wasting. Is it really luck when your only chance prior to the 70th minute is a corner kick? Sure we had a few chances after the 70th once the donkeys were removed, but if you only begin to create chances after the 70th then you aren’t unlucky you just suck. Regarding the time wasting, it was hilarious seeing the coach complain about the added time. Brah you literally wasted 70 minutes before making adequate changes to play the match. Sit your dumbass down
So many hot takes in this thread over one game to try and put down other posters; we played shit, end of. Everyone ready to dump on Vitinha for example, but this game doesn't revoke the entirety of his body of work throughout the season and the quality he's shown. In terms of being a top quality player he has everything to be a world class CM. He was still better then anyone else on the pitch not named Pepe or Danilo, which also speaks volume of our performance. How did everyone's favourites Leao and Mendes perform? Not great is putting it lightly. If people watched them for the first time today they'd believe Serie A was the Andorran league if he was voted player of the year, and that Mendes must have played half drugged...failing 5 yard passes throughout the entire game, and barely being able to dribble with the ball. A lot of players only showed flashes of their quality in one or two moments, and generally played awful. Jota and Bernardo made a big difference coming on...that's about it. Guedes and Fernandes were dreadful, the former has no brain or IQ with his head constantly down, and the latter just continues his downward spiral. It's almost tragic to watch. What's disappointing is how almost no one used this as an opportunity to grab a place over these 4 games: Andre Silva not showing he's a viable option vs Jota Leao not staking a claim to being a starter, really lethargic displays. Bruno Fernandes not showing he can dictate play and be a creative force in the midfield for us. Guedes showing he still his faults in his game, not making smart decisions and failing to be dangerous Mendes showing that the difference between him and Gurreiro is nowhere near as big as everyone makes out if both are fully healthy. Today was truly poor. Must already be looking forward to the Maldives. Even Ruben Neves was very poor today, contradicting the last couple games, which I'm sure will hinder Santos starting him due to his inherent cautious nature.
Agree, with almost the entire post. Especially things other had not mentioned like Mendes being terrible and not for the first time. Gurreiro at his worst is nowhere near as bad as Mendes at his worst, although Mendes can still be greater than Gurreiro, who has stagnated. André Silva not taking his chance where he should of scored and thus not advancing his prospects. Article: https://www.publico.pt/2022/06/12/desporto/cronica_de_jogo/portugal-suica-cabeca-ferias-2009816 On Leão, according to this article he is like Ronaldo in not coming back and was at fault in not helping Mendes in the Swiss goal. In the game though he was the only one that 'scored', in which André Silva being offside cancelled it, i.e. he was the only player to put the ball in the Net. Was he good No, but it is his third or fourth game, I think he he hás got too much of the blame. Agree with Área 51 and the article on Vitinha.
To me a lot of this is the usual suspect -- Santos. Poor effort, decisions, unclear roles, that's all on him. What is he teaching/asking for from them, all of them pros with many of them having big time big game experience? There's more to the story, there has to be, stuff like this isn't explainable otherwise. Still, all these lineup changes seem like something. I still believe. I go hot and cold with Jota. He is explosive, gets right into the attack, but he bungles chances. But his aggression I like. Why do we always have to rely on the law of averages, i.e. "sooner or later they'll start kicking ass, they can't be mediocre forever"? Agree that Ronaldo is going to be there no matter what, so while we all have good reason to see the post-CR7 as exciting, he's part of the mix. He's lost a step (or three) but his instincts and presence still are there. Media and casual fans won't appreciate or even comprehend a Portuguese side without him but the players on the other end will. You can't deny we have talent, but that conversation is down the road. Last thing is be glad we are hated. The day we become the hip or vogue team will truly suck.