Portugals Euro 2008 Roster

Well, your supposed to play when your down. Djalo is that game changer, as is Manny. Take out a DM and insert him as a CM.

Caniera...ummm No. Ferreira is better then him.....at any position you bring up.

 

What other strikers do we have? As long as Nuno Gomes (or whoever starts up front) can create space for Ronaldo, Simao, Quaresma, Deco, and the rest, Portugal will be fine.

Also, every post you take a shot at Petit. We get it, you don't like him, move on.

Scolari will start 2 of the 4 (Petit, Veloso, Moutinho, Meireles), and any of them will help form a solid midfield.

 

Scolari is a dip s h i t and has a personal Vendetta against Maniche, which is very unprofessional attitude to have at the highest level of sport.Maniche arguebly our best performer when it comes tournament time get's left out.Speechless.

 

Not entirely true. Nuno Gomes plays better when he has support, as does Ronaldo in that free roam position that he plays at United. Guess what formation both these players have in common...4 - 4 - 2.

Good. I'm glad you know I detest him, now accept my constant rambling on him and move on.

I can tell you right now what the midfield it going to look like in the 1st game.

------ Petit ------ Veloso-----
------------ Deco -----------

 

Was there any episode of a fall-out between the two that I don't know of? To be fair, Maniche has never been detrimental to the team. If anything, Deco always seems to play better alongside him and given his history of doing amazingly well for the NT in major tournaments, I think that it should have been worth it to take him and see how he's playing in the training sessions.

Anyway, the team was chosen and it's time to now support those that are there. I truly hope that at least one of the young midfielders comes of age in this tournament. We'll need them.

 

My main problem is not so much Maniche not going but, Petit taking a spot away from Pele. Without Maniche on the squad Deco can forget being a primadonna #10, he has to get his nose dirty as he does in the 3 man Barça midfields. The only way we are going to have a chance with this weaker midfield is if they stay compact and fight. We need a trinco to sit infront of the back 4 protect it and distribute the ball this has to be Veloso, Meirelles has bite but is not as good on the ball as Veloso. Then you need the 2 other midfielders who can retain possession well, cover a lot of ground and have some bite to them too, Deco needs to be one the other will probably be Moutinho or Meirelles.
I'd like to see Nani, Simao and Ronaldo swapping positions up front with Nani and Simao doing the defending and Ronaldo staying up front when we don't have the ball. But I think we are more likely to see Nuno up front as the #9 with Simao and Ronaldo on the flanks.

Maniche was a big loss but I think the lack of a true infrom trinco may hurt us more than anything else. Either Pele or Fernandes should have gotten a chance, Pele for trinco and Fernandes for CM. But we all know Scolari likes fighters hence Meirelles and Petit.

 

Moutinho played good when Portugal beat belgium 4-0 in the teams best performance since world cup 2006.

other than that he hasnt impressed on the NT... but very few have lately also... the last couple of NT games the standout player was Bosingwa. Moutinho is a team player and that imo is important to have in this team... he never makes a selfish play (important becuase this team has alot of individualism on it) and he can play anywhere in midfield so he is a valuable addition to this squad.

point is, alot of people are worried about our midfield. we had a similar problem before the world cup, Costinha and Maniche were considered crappy and out of form before that cup and we made it to the semi finals... this time around only Petit is really out of form... Deco hasnt been playing lately because of the politics in Barca but in the first leg against man united he showed he can play well against a top team. Moutinho and Veloso are fit and playing for sporting all the time so I think we should have hope that it wont be a disaster out there in switzerland/austria.

anyways I agree with Joelzinho I expect scolari to start a midfield of Petit/Veloso/Deco for the first match against Turkey.

 

I'm surprised and disappointed at Maniche being left out too, but I see Meireles and Moutinho as very capable fill-ins too. The surprise element counts as well. The opposition knew more about Maniche's exploits than about M & M's

 

See , you're surprised too

 

And if Portugal wins it, the world will be surprised as well.

 

This type of crap (like not calling Maniche when he deserves a call up) is gettign old. I have always liked Scolari and thank him for what he has done for the team, But this is gettign ridiculous!

He always omits one player that deserves to be on the team final and surrounds the team with contreversy:

2004 - V baia
2006 - Quaresma
2008 - Maniche

Its like he need the attention...

 

2004 and 2006 he was proved right, those two guys weren't needed, but we'll see in 08.

 

Well my point is that they weren't needed therefore he was proven right in that respect. In 04 the goalie spot was well filled with Ricardo, and in 06 the more defensive adept Boa-Morte was a good choice over Quaresma since Simao and CR were already picked. Plus the maturity level shown by Quaresma at the time raised many doubts about him playing for the A- NT. He did play for the B-NT that Summer and bombed if I recall it right.

 

I think you guys are being a little hard on Moutinho, he contributes alot in the center. He's the kind of player that does have all skills slightly above average but which major qualities are mind ones. Great composure, concentration, antecipation, positioning, etc. He's the sort of guy that covers that center area ONLY...so he's useful to bring the ball forward and give the team more dynamic but he does it better than anyone in the squad...and I might say better than Maniche.
I think some guys here should watch closely Maniche's performances for the nt since the qualifyings and count how many times he lost the ball or was clueless about his next decision. He is a quality player but having a bad year and is unfit...unfortunately.

As for Petit, I guess Scolari will launch him at the end of games when we need to hold on the score. But I truly believe he's not that effective anymore...oh well...

Postiga is another rotten apple...Scolari should of brought another mid. How many goals has he scored in Greece anyway?

I think no one is a confident of a good campaign...let's hope Scolari prove us wrong.

 

How can you guess Moreira didn't help and Baia would? How can you guess that Baia would be able to encourage his teamates and would not have created problems?

And Boa Morte for Quaresma, did you see Quaresma's exebitions in the Under 21 Euro that same year?

 

2. Two. Deux. Dois. Dos. 2.