I love Bruno Cesar but this is not a game he needs to play. We need creativity out there not a bull dog. Throw Iuri out there..
I love Bas Dost. Draws the penalty, makes no mistake with the penalty and then clears the ball on a threatening free kick late in the game. I ordered his jersey the other day. For the record it was a weak penalty. But I mean, from the refs view, in real time it looked like one. Dost sold it well.
SIIUUUUUUUUUUUU SIUUUUUUUUU CHUPAAA Didn't Setubal beat us last year? I don't think they are too easy to play against these days... I couldn't catch the game but seems obvious Bruno fernandes needs to start in mid.
It was a weak call. But we dominated the game. Make the right starting lineup, Jesus. Stop f*cking around.
Well... I can only assume he was subbed because we needed more creativity, but his replacement was Bruno Cesar so.... As for my preferred lineup at the moment: Rui Piccini (for the time being) Coates Mathieu Coentrao Battaglia Bruno Fernandes Gelson Acuna Doumbia Dost As for today's performances: Rui - he literally didn't have any work due to our fantastic defense today - Setubal didn't produce a shot. 7/10 Piccini - this game demonstrated his weakness, he's not great going forward - very curious to see what Ristovski brings here. 6.5/10 Coates - since Setubal decided to park the bus, he stayed back and provided good cover. 8/10 Mathieu - our best defender today, he showed strength, tackling and speed - he's not the slow player most people thought. 9/10 Jonathan - noticed him less than Piccini as most attacks went through right side with Gelson, but also needs to improve going forward as his crosses were poor. 6.5/10 Battaglia - another great performance, he's not William because he doesn't have that ability to pick out a pass or quickly switch the flank but great pressing and strength in the tackle; he gives the team confidence in defensive phases. If William leaves we have a good substitute. 8.5/10 Adrien - better than last week, but still not the Adrien we know. And tbh with him and Battaglia in midfield, we had a lot of 'muscle' but little creativity, I think either Adrien or Battaglia should play DM with Bruno Fernandes ahead of them to provide the creativity and vision. 7/10 Gelson - first 60 minutes showed a team too dependent on Gelson to provide creativity; he continues to need work on his final pass and decision making, Setubal shut him down mostly. 7/10 Acuna - the usual hustle we've seen from him, it's nice to have wingers with different characteristics to be more unpredictable. 7/10 Podence - Got the start like most of us (myself too) wanted ... but frankly didn't deliver. I'm starting to see what JJ was saying, he lacks 'substance' and seems to be more of an impact sub. Was correctly subbed off for Doumbia. 6/10 Subs: Bruno Cesar - I kind of agreed with Acuna coming off, but was hoping for Iuri to come in for more creativity, came in and did his job. 6/10 Doumbia - instant impact up front, the Double D was in effect. Yes, he missed two glorious chances but he's an animal in the box and his speed and versatility changed the game. Really hope we see him start next game. 8/10 Bruno Fernandes - came on for Adrien, and also added his creativity, he's also tactically smart, knows when to press, I'm really a big fan of his and he deserves to start. 8/10
Piccini proves still to be the biggest issue in the lineup IMO. As mentioned he's not good at going forward, and that's just not a good fit with what we've got going on here. Really can't wait to see Ristovski out there. Aside from that I think we gotta sort out the midfield situation between Bruno Fernandes and Adrien. I thought Podence was good, especially early going. For me I'd go ------------Dost--Podence Acuna----------------------Gelson -----------------Bruno -------------------Battaglia Coentrao-Mathieu-Coates-Ristovski --------------------Patricio
Definitely liking the amount of options we have now. Benching Adrien the last couple of years would've been sacrilege, but now it seems like he finally has to earn his spot
Penalty was weak, but was a penalty nevertheless. There was also 2 other penalties that weren't called. Seem's like video replay is just a gimmick!!
Lol c'mon man. You can't keep complaining about benfica buying the league and then say that this was a penalty. We all know it wasnt. So we should of got 3 penalties that game eh? Seems reasonable.
Like I said, it was a penalty. A very weak one, but according to rule books, it's a penalty. "we all know it wasn't", reference the rule book. Now, if you said I don't think it's a penalty, then that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. You disagree with the 3 penalty statement? The push on Coates back was way worse than the Dost one and wasn't called. At the end of the day, good to see the video replay is working great!!!!