.. Date: Saturday August 19 Time: 6:15 p.m. Local Time | 1:15 p.m. ET | 10:15 a.m. PT Location: Estadio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes Television: Sport TV 1 Acestream: ArenaVision 17 Web Stream: TBD
Guimaraes won their first game 3-2 at home and lost 3-0 at Estoril last game - they obviously have issues at the back... so expect a world-class performance from their GK and defense to shut us out . What I'm hoping for: Patricio; Ristovski, Coates, Mathieu, Coentrao; William (while he's here let's play him), Bruno Fernandes, Gelson, Acuna, Dost, Doumbia What I'm expecting: Patricio; Piccini, Coates, Mathieu, Coentrao; Battaglia, Adrien, Gelson, Acuna; Podence, Dost
Lol you're hopeful lineup is what I'm looking for too, and probably many others. Rodrigo and Adrien at the same time is redundant IMO. I want Bruno to start in the mid field. The attack needs it. William is the best pairing but if not I'd go with Battaglia. Adrien has been horrendous. Up front I'd make the switch with Doumbia for Podence as well, Doumbia provides some presence and aggressiveness that Podence hasn't. Podence has been great in the opening parts of games then disappears. Might be used best as an impact sub. I also don't think his type of player is necessary up front with Bruno and Gelson. And then Ristovski for Piccini is no brainer, unless Ristovski isn't ready... which is be surprised if he wasn't still. I'm beginning to question whether Piccini is even a better option than Schelotto
Ristovski MUST go in....he is physically ready as he was playing in important games for his team last weekish....I don't care if he can't communicate with anyone on the team....Give him a smart phone with google translate and get him on the pitch Piccini is a goal against waiting to happen
Battaglia is a destroyer, William is a much better passer and playmaker - they're just two different types of midfielders. If JJ wants to use Battaglia as a DM he'll need to train and teach him a lot, because right now he fits in as a box-to-box naturally. In which case he needs a more creative player ahead of him (not Adrien).
My ideal pairing is William + Bruno for that exact reason. The offensive creativity/playmaking would be welcome. It'd be like having two release valves in the midfield to spring an attack after recovering the ball. Where you would lack a bit is the relentless attack to get the ball back I guess. Which is why I think my secondary preference would be Rodrigo/Adrien + Bruno Fernandes with a lean towards Rodrigo because Adrien is below form right now. Rodrigo + Adrien is my absolute last preference.
One thing's for sure, we have a lot of options in midfield at the moment and it's a good headache for a coach to have. We had a similar problem when we had William / Adrien / Joao Mario and it was JM who ended up playing as a "false winger"
Just looking at the head-to-head stats; this fixture has been bad news for us in recent times, another reason why I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar midfield of Battaglia - Adrien to be defensively strong. Last year we drew 3-3 on Matchday 7 in that infamous collapse when we were 3-0 up - this pretty much started our downfall last season. Before that in JJ's first season, we drew 0-0 at Guimaraes, which was the start of our title loss since a win would've had us at 4 points ahead of Benfica before that home loss (1-0) against our rivals. Season before that (Marco Silva) we lost 3-0 - our last win there in the league was a 1-0 with Leonardo Jardim, and that was Slimani in the 89th minute.
That infamous 3rd and tying goal were Soares pushed our defender from behind with two hands on that free kick to head the ball in, all while Artur Soares Dias(was looking right at him). I remember like it was yesterday.
SCP confirm that William is injured and out of the match tomorrow. In which case, my hopeful line-up changes: Patricio; Ristovski, Coates, Mathieu, Coentrao; Battaglia, Bruno Fernandes, Gelson, Acuna, Dost, Doumbia
Oh man I didn't even notice Ristovski not on there :/ Rough stretch here for Piccini with no real backup. Unless we get some Bruno Cesar RB action
Starting XI: Rui Patrício; Piccini, Coates, Mathieu, Coentrão; Battaglia, Adrien, Gelson, Acuña; Bruno Fernandes, Bas Dost Here we go again...