Its getting spicy now. Best not look at the bracket and only zero in on Morocco. Any team left should not, under any circumstances, be underestimated. Would be absolutely unthinkable starting CR7. Team was absolutely playing in an incredible flow vs the Swiss, now pray they can fire on all cylinders again.
Absolutely - much respect to Morocco they're the feel good story of the Cup. But it's gonna end on Saturday
Hopefully our players can get through the whistles everytime they have the ball, this will be like a hostile away game. Nobody has as much travelling fans as Morocco. They are relentless with the whistles. They seem to have affected Spain, Belgium & Canada. Tough team with very obnoxious fans.
I was thinking if you we go to penalties we got Costa who is fenomenal but Yassine Bounou against spain was marvellous, rather not tempt fate.
I passed by the grocery store this morning while Spain and Morocco were shooting pens and there was a small area with a tv. Some Moroccan fans were watching and going crazy for every kick A lot of passion with these fans for sure.
Will Santos play the same players? Or will he think he needs to get fresher players in? Does Cancelo get back in for Guerreiro on the left side? Otavio played great but does he try Vitinha in this one? Palhinha for William? Knowing Santos, it probably will be the exact same line up... Your thoughts?
I wonder if we shouldn't rest Pepe. A bit of a gamble, but it's either now or never. Otavio needs to stay on. William....wouldn't mind resting/replacing him.
I'd love to be able to rest Pepe but that's a HUGE gamble for sure! He's bee rock solid for us and such a great leader, especially if Ronaldo isn't starting. He's the captain (then Bruno). Maybe keep it the exact same but replace William with Palhinha/Neves?
So who else thinks Ronaldo starts next game? I think he will be in the lineup and I think its the right move against this opposition. Morroco will park the bus and sit back, which won't give space and freedom for players like Ramos to shine. It will be a slow methodical build up and crosses into the box, the one area where Ronaldo is still great at, heading the ball. If we get past Morroco then I think Ramos replaces him and hes on the bench vs England or France. Same thing if we got to the final. I think thats the best way to utilize Ramos and Ronaldo, any team thats going to sit back and absorb pressure then that's a game where you want Ronaldo in the lineup, any team thats going to control more of the possession and attack us you can't have Ronaldo in anymore.
No, he should not start the game and it wouldn't be the right move no matter who the opposition is. All of us who thought Ronaldo being dropped would drastically improve the team were so utterly vindicated yesterday and there are STILL people who think Ronaldo should start? Edit - And your reasons for doing so don't really make sense either. Take this for example: "any team thats going to sit back and absorb pressure then that's a game where you want Ronaldo in the lineup" That's exactly how Switzerland plays. "Slow, methodical build up" is also how Spain played against Morocco for 120 minutes and they had no success, and they do that better than anyone else in the world. You also won't break down a low block like Morocco's just crossing it into the box all game which is probably what will happen if Ronaldo plays. Not to mention that crossing it into the box for Ronaldo is what they did all group stage against much weaker defences and it had no success. Ronaldo had multiple chances where he had clear headers and he did nothing with them. So it seems like he can't even do that anymore.
I think Ronaldo will start but objectively shouldn't. I honestly don't mind, though. He earned it, I'm sick of the anti crowd relishing his end. It was sad watching him not being able to chase simple through balls or being offside by a mile. It didn't matter yesterday, but it might soon. But if there's one game where he could be useful it's the next one. Morocco will be tight at the back and compact, so it's more about positioning than running.
So you realize he's shouldn't be starting but you still want him to start just to stick it the da haterz. This pretty much sums up everyone blindly defending him. I don't give a shit about being "anti-Ronaldo" or wanting to see him fail. All my points are based on what I think is best for the team.
It's called loyalty. It has a price sometimes. You don't chuck your captain to the side like he's old garbage. He gave a lot to us over many years, that's worth something to me. And believe me, it's the type of things that makes future generations want to give everything to the team.
He can still be useful from the bench. A captain can motivate his team from the sidelines and he can come in to the game afterward.