Our back line will consist of Maxi---Luisao---Miguel Vitor---Capdevila Garay and Jardel injured. Emerson suspended. http://www.record.xl.pt/Futebol/Nacional/1a_liga/Benfica/interior.aspx?content_id=748969
Who would think a suspension and injury could actually improve a team?! I've always liked Miguel Vitor, only advantage Jardel has is height. Maisfutebol.pt is reporting that JJ is thinking about using Javi as a CB.
Yup, always experimenting and inventing in big important games. And it always fails. Nothing new. Since being on Benfica, I recall Javi playing CB once. God, he was atrocious! It was horrid to see. I mean the guy is built and looks like a CB, but he definitely can't play it well. I remember Real Madrid fans ranting about how horrible he was a CB and I didn't believe them until I saw it myself. It seemed hard to believe since he is a denfensive midfielder and looked like a defender. Plus he's a fantastic player. JJ better just leave the defending to Miguel Vitor, an actual defender, and leave Javi in midfield.
I was just thinking the same thing, he doesn't seem to try this stuff out against Portimonense in a league cup match. The guy just goes for it in the biggest matches of the season. He seems to trust his "tactical genius" over little things like playing players where they have historically always played their best. I've always defended JJ because his tenure has brought stability and broke what was for me Benfica's suicidal policy of hiring and firing a new coach every year. Problem is, like everyone else, I can't help but notice that the team doesn't seem to perform well in high pressure matches against equal caliber opponents. He's built up a club that psychologically only seems capable of beating down decidedly weaker teams. It's kind of a bully's mentality which fits because he's always been a bully on the sideline.
The best was when in two of the biggest games of his career (Liverpool at Anfield, and Porto last year), he, for some reason, thought against using one of the best LBs in the world in Coentrao, and instead used Luiz. The "genius" that prompted two ass spankings.
Not to sound like I'm coming at anybody, but some fans need to take a step back and look at what Benfica has accomplished this year. After the end of last season, if someone came along and told you that Benfica would be playing in the quarterfinals of the CL and 2 points out of first(hopefully IN 1st after tomorow) what would you guys think? My worthless opinion is that JJ deserves a long leash. Yeah he makes some head-scratching decisions, but overall look at where he has positioned Benfica this season with respect to last season.
Yannick finally recovered and called up. Lista de convocados: Guarda-redes: Artur Moraes e Eduardo; Defesas: Maxi Pereira, Luisão, Miguel Vítor, Capdevila e Luís Martins; Médios: Matic, Javi García, Witsel, Nolito, Gaitán, Bruno César e Yannick Djaló; Avançados: Cardozo, Saviola, Rodrigo Moreno e Nélson Oliveira.
This team is better than the team that won his first year, and having a 4-5 game stretch over the last month or so that the team is not preforming. Its not hard to coach Benfica to a top 2-3 finish in the Liga. No one but Porto spends like them. He's a good coach, but he doesn't have what it takes to push the team against strong opposition. First year = the meltdown at Anfield, and Fulham (YES, FULHAM) made it to the finals of Europa Last year = Losing to Braga in semis of Europa. BRAGA
Exactly. People have to remember the squad and budget at his disposal. I'm not comparing the team to Real Madrid, but for a Portuguese club, the team should be winning consistently in the Liga. As for the CL, the team hasn't really played all that well. We had a pretty easy group and draw. I want to see consistency and we really don't get that with JJ. It's tough to watch games against pretty even rivals. You gotta hold the mananger responsible for that. He needs to motivate the players and play the guys that are in form and motivated to win.
I was reading some of the comments over at portugoal.net a few days ago and most of the fans were saying the same thing about those two players. One guy was saying something about JJ always preferring "southern turds." He seemed to be referring to brazilian players like emerson. I thought he was talking about players from southern Portugal. Not sure...but JJ does seem to favor the oddest players on the roster. I just don't get JJ's mentality. The fans seem to figure things much sooner than him. Guy must be stubborn as hell...
Official Starting XI's... Benfica: 4-1-3-2 -------------Artur-------------- ------Luisao------M.Vitor------- Maxi--------------------Capdevila -------------Javi--------------- Gaitan------Witsel-------B.Cesar --------Rodrigo--Cardozo-------- Braga: 4-2-3-1 --------------Quim--------------- --------Douglao---N.Coelho------- M.Lopes------------------Elderson -------Custodio---H.Viana-------- Alan--------Mossoro-----H.Barbosa --------------Lima----------------
É bom ver Braga com seis jogadores Portuguesas em campo. Benfica, so um, e por causa de lesao. Acha que Nuno Gomes vai entrar?
Fantastic opening minutes! Gaitan looks motivated. Benfica all out attack, this is what I like! Braga looks deadly on the counter though. Not good against our slow defense. This is where we miss Coentrao and David, speed.
Where have the goals gone for Benfica? This has been one hell of a draught the past couple weeks. Nelson in the 2nd for Cardozo.
Btw, Gaitan is on the left. Bruno Cesar on the right. God I almost forgot how good Gaitan is on the left. It's seriously night and day difference
Yeah, what's the possession? I think it's like 64% or something and they can't score. Braga is soaking up the pressure and waiting for a fast break or counter attack. Benfica's offense doesn't seem connected or in sync at all up front.