Obviously was thinking about England.
Portugal - Euro 2020 Discussion
- Thread starter Raees
- Start date
@Peyroteo This time, and pretending he is going with the same system I would go with Andre Silva as number 9 and Ronaldo on the same role as Jota, problem is that I don't know if Ronaldo can do the same defensive role as Jota. The alternative would be a 4x4x2 diamond, problem is that hasn't been used by Santos for a couple of time.
I actually would keep the same midfield if Danilo is ok, but to me a Andre Silva/Ronaldo partnership with Bernardo playing behind them would cause more problems for the Belgium back 3, Jota hasn't played well in any game, for my surprise, time to try something new for the knockouts. For now Bruno looks a strange body on the team, while you're right regarding Bernardo, he dropped off a lot this last 2 seasons.
I actually would keep the same midfield if Danilo is ok, but to me a Andre Silva/Ronaldo partnership with Bernardo playing behind them would cause more problems for the Belgium back 3, Jota hasn't played well in any game, for my surprise, time to try something new for the knockouts. For now Bruno looks a strange body on the team, while you're right regarding Bernardo, he dropped off a lot this last 2 seasons.
Can't Bruno be straight swapped for Felix?
That wouldn't be an upgrade imo. Bruno is out of form but pretty sure Felix isn't in his best condition either.
I would rather have an out of form Bruno that still has the work rate to help press in the midfield than Felix walking around the field doing nothing.
Playing out of position isn't helping much either. In the game vs France he was playing as a right-winger while in the Germany game he was playing deeper than he is used to play.
I still believe he is out of form though, I just don't think that Fernando Santos knows how to properly use him and I don't think this style of play suits him.
He is more a player that wants to push forward and break the lines with a killer pass but in both games, we didn't have anyone in a position for that. At some point in the game vs France we were doing a good progression from the flanks but there wasn't anyone moving forward or in a central position/opponent area so there wasn't much they could do besides passing sideways.
Tbh I don't think this style suits our players at all for the most part. Ronaldo works better with a second striker that can open space for him like André Silva, Bruno doesn't have many options to open the game, Bernardo Silva seems a bit lost sometimes, etc.
Last edited:
What do you mean? Felix starting the game? Under this system can only see Felix playing as a false 9, unless he goes for a 4x4x2.
Reason why I would like to see Andre Silva more involved in this team, but you are right, under Santos the majority of the offensive players never have the same output as they have for their clubs, it’s not only Fernandes, in this 3 games I didn’t saw nothing from Bernardo or Jota also.
I think Jota is just having a bad tournament overall and it's one of the few cases that I'm not gonna blame Portugal's playstyle because his first touch and decision making is just not there although he had a few opportunities where he could make something happen.
I think with a few tweaks this team can go far but for that to happen Santos really needs to drop Jota for André Silva. André Silva can stay in more forward and central position while Ronaldo shifts left. This way Bernardo Silva has a reference point in the opponent area while moving forward instead of being forced to slow down the game or pass sideways and Ronaldo can switch between playing in the left flank and moving to a more central position to try to take advantage of the space that André Silva gives him.
The midfield of Moutinho - Renato Sanches and Danilo worked well but trading Danilo for João Palhinha will be way harder to bully. Both Renato Sanches and Palhinha's work rate are second to none and imo Palhinha is an obvious upgrade to Danilo.
If we are chasing a result it makes more sense to sub out Moutinho for Bruno Fernandes or even Pedro Gonçalves since I'm pretty sure both Renato and Palhinha can provide a good cover and hold that midfield while Bruno moves forward.
It kinda annoys me that we have the Portuguese top scorer and the Bundesliga second top scorer on the bench while Jota that didn't provide much all 3 games still plays.
All good points. Even with a Bruno out of form, I think we have to try and get him into that #10 role because even on a bad day he can get a goal.
Renato Danilo/Palhinha
Bruno
Silva Ronaldo Jota
Take Bruno out and we lack a danger man. Belgium out gun us with KDB, Hazard, Lukaku and Doku.Bruno
Silva Ronaldo Jota
The problem is that Bruno is dangerous playing in the typical 10 role but with the setup that Santos plays he is forced to play in a deeper position (and in the last game in the right wing) and he doesn't provide as much in a deeper position and he pretty much doesn't provide anything at all in the right-wing.
To play with that setup that Santos likes, Moutinho is a better choice.
For Bruno to thrive the right setup for him would be something like:
Ronaldo - André Silva - Bernardo Silva
--------------Bruno Fernandes
------Renato Sanches - Palhinha
With Ronaldo shifting from left to centre it could give 2 references for Bruno to provide those killers pass's he likes or he could shift the play to Bernardo to cross to the opponent area with Ronaldo moving to the opposition box and everyone knows that in the air Ronaldo is king.
Bruno can drop deeper if it's needed to get extra pressure in the midfield but having 2 workhorses like Renato and Palhinha could be enough. It's a risky move though since this Belgium side is quick on the counter and having Bruno in a number 10 position will open space for quick counters. The safer bet is to go with Moutinho since we already know he can play deeper.
The problem in having Ronaldo as the focal point is that it usually doesn't work, that's why having André Silva instead of Jota takes a bit of the focus on him and opens up the game upfront. Ronaldo always worked way better by having a second striker with him that opens space and links well in what I call the "Benzema role".
Last edited:
I highly doubt Bruno will start in the next match given the success of Renato and Moutinho in the last game. There is no time for experiment anymore.
I agree 99% with your points, problem is, if you know Santos pattern during tournaments he will repeat the same lineup, but for me it’s crystal clear Andre Silva has to play instead Jota.
Problem with Santos is that during 7 years he never gets the right lineup for tournaments, keeps playing 2 or 3 players on miserable conditions then suddenly discovers at the third or fourth game he has to change something to save his ass.
He is a serious person but my God, he is way predictable. The only luck we had this time was that shitshow against Germany forced him to understand William and Fernandes’s are out of form to start, problem is he will ignore players like Andre Silva or Pote.
If Danilo is ok I would play him for 60 minutes and introduce Palhinha coming with fresh legs against tired players. So far I am very worried with Dias performances, he needs to raise a lot his level against Belgium, and I am starting to think Martinez will use De Bruyne or Hazard as a false 9 and Lukaku on the right.
Yeah, I was expecting a bit more from him as well especially after the season he had. It's obvious his fitness levels aren't great and sometimes it feels like he isn't focused but I'm guessing that the CL final loss took a hit on his morale too.
Don't really know what's the issue but he's not the same player that played for City this season. I wouldn't be completely against a Pepe and Fonte pairing tbh.
My guess is that they go with a 3-4-2-1 since it seems to be the tactic they are more comfortable with (from what I saw).
If that's the case we will have a lot of space to work with since their front 3 usually don't spend much time or energy tracking back or pressing and their midfield usually falls back to help the defenders instead of trying to press and deny lines of passing in the midfield.
On one hand, it gives us a lot of space to progress to their area, on the other hand, it could make us somewhat vulnerable to counter-attacks.
It's a hard matchup for Portugal, but since 2000 in 5 games against them, we had 3 wins and 2 draws. Portugal just needs to keep that positive trend
Last edited:
Whats the isolation period for covid ? 10 days. Cancelo couldn't be called back later ?
Knocked out again by a worldie. Much better with Felix and Bruno on. Jota and Bernardo just didn't turn up this tournament. But this is probably the most nonplussed I've been over a Portugal exit. The World Cup is the big one now.
Will Ronaldo stay on for it? I presume he would since it's only 18 months away
This Portugal side is better than the likes of Italy and Belgium in my opinion, just hamstrung by poor decisions from Santos.
Not playing Renato, starting with Bernado in 4 matches, only playing Felix for 40 minutes the whole tournament.. he's like the Portuguese version of all the England managers, playing players based off of name and form rather than what they can actually bring to the team.
Their best first XI has been obvious to me from the start
Felix - Ronaldo - Jota
Renato - Bruno - one of the others
A mix of finishing, running, ball flair, passing, a dynamic team. And yet it never got a chance except for like 20 minutes. Not the end of the world though as they can still play the same team in future tournaments, just subbing out Ronaldo for Andre Silva or one of the other strikers.
Not playing Renato, starting with Bernado in 4 matches, only playing Felix for 40 minutes the whole tournament.. he's like the Portuguese version of all the England managers, playing players based off of name and form rather than what they can actually bring to the team.
Their best first XI has been obvious to me from the start
Felix - Ronaldo - Jota
Renato - Bruno - one of the others
A mix of finishing, running, ball flair, passing, a dynamic team. And yet it never got a chance except for like 20 minutes. Not the end of the world though as they can still play the same team in future tournaments, just subbing out Ronaldo for Andre Silva or one of the other strikers.
Bruno benched but Jota gets to plod along and feck everything up for 4 games now.
Can anyone tell me if it’s true Santos has contract until 2024?
Don’t talk me about feckless Jota, if we had a Nani on his prime today we would roll over Belgium today. How on earth Jota started 4 games with us it’s a fecking mistery. Even Felix on a couple of minutes showed he is a much better player.
Didn't watch Portugal in the qualifiers but I watched all of their Euro 2020 games. Is Jota actually that bad for them? He should have scored 2-3 goals against Hungary, France & Belgium but he was absolute dog water. He must have been a worldie in qualifiers for the manager to find him this undroppable?
Poor coached team. They prefer to play direct football, but Belgium didn't need to stretch themselves a lot to keep Portugal quiet.
Plus they looked tired. I am glad Bruno is getting rest from now on.
Plus they looked tired. I am glad Bruno is getting rest from now on.
Probably the tournament exit I'm least bothered about. We've won it 5 years ago and Belgium are good. We were better even with 2 days less rest and having had the most awful of draws prior so it's okay. We got the worst out of every bad decision UEFA made regarding the organization of this.
Don't think we had chances of winning the whole thing even if we had won today, the team would have been beyond tired and Italy plus France next would be asking way too much just to get to the final.
The World Cup should be the big one for this team. Our record at the Euros has already been incredible since 1996.
Don't think we had chances of winning the whole thing even if we had won today, the team would have been beyond tired and Italy plus France next would be asking way too much just to get to the final.
The World Cup should be the big one for this team. Our record at the Euros has already been incredible since 1996.
true.
Ronaldo was better once Andre Silva came on, dropping just a little deeper, getting more involved in the play, defences are scared to touch him. When he's the main striker he's too isolated.
And I know Bruno is wasteful at times, but he asks questions of the defence and takes risks. No one else does that for us. If you support him with Sanches and then 1 holding it can work.
And I know Bruno is wasteful at times, but he asks questions of the defence and takes risks. No one else does that for us. If you support him with Sanches and then 1 holding it can work.
I said before the tournament that Ronaldo provides no focal point. In the second half he went wandering all over the place and there was no shape. Andre Silva should have featured far more.
Pepe was the best player of our team overall, which says a lot of how are we coached.
It’s probably been answered before, but how come Cancelo got replaced by Dalot? Surely his isolation would have ended within the group stages?
The only thing I can think of is that he wouldn't have been fit or training with the squad. Hard to get up to pace coming in cold.
I thought that you could replace someone with Covid, but if you do you can’t recall that player when they are out of isolation.
Did I watch a different game to everyone else?
This was a 50/50 tie coming in and Portugal absolutely dominated in terms of chances and possession. Very unlucky to go out, their finishing just wasn't up to it. I don't think Belgium had a single chance all game, just a long range worldie made the difference.
This was a 50/50 tie coming in and Portugal absolutely dominated in terms of chances and possession. Very unlucky to go out, their finishing just wasn't up to it. I don't think Belgium had a single chance all game, just a long range worldie made the difference.
Yeah I just thought would have been better to keep him in the squad and have him back.
Not sure 10 days after a full season of football makes too much difference, but obviously it depends on how bad his symptoms were.
When we win, we're lucky. When we lose we can't be unlucky.
When you play like Portugal do (and every national side nowadays, cautiously) you're asking for a worldie. Happened in back to back major tournaments now. Portugal still look good, no shame tonight. Just got to iron somethings out/get the attacking players in form.
Problem is Ronaldo is better wide but he cant track back so you either play him as a striker or have one full back on the other team get a free run forward.
Controversial but I think it's right to consider whether Ronaldo should play as a sub, he's never been great as a sole striker but he can't run for 90 minutes out wide like Jota or Felix can.
Jota, shadow striker of sorts
Felix, false nine, #10
Ronnie, goal machine given freedom on the left
Bruno, #10
B. Silva, inside forward most suited to possession style
Those forward options (apart from the midfield dilemma that was reworked during the tournament) don't mesh. For the World Cup, they really have to sacrifice three of those players for more efficient systems players. I know there's this dearth of strikers for Portugal, but can't help thinking how much a workhorse hold-up striker would do for their dynamic.
Felix, false nine, #10
Ronnie, goal machine given freedom on the left
Bruno, #10
B. Silva, inside forward most suited to possession style
Those forward options (apart from the midfield dilemma that was reworked during the tournament) don't mesh. For the World Cup, they really have to sacrifice three of those players for more efficient systems players. I know there's this dearth of strikers for Portugal, but can't help thinking how much a workhorse hold-up striker would do for their dynamic.
I am going to throw myself to the sea if this idiot remains there. (Kidding). If I was Fernandes’s if this clown remains there would tell him to feck off. This feckless idiot indirectly tried to suggest he was to blame for the Germany defeat. And started Jota 4 games. 4. Never started Andre Silva or Felix. Never.
Santos tried to blame his tactical feck up on Fernándes? Are you kidding me?
Moving the spotlight to Pepe, how long does he have ? Still performed well this Euros. But who knows by Winter 2022.
What are the rumours in Portugal? Is someone else linked with taking over?
His friends on the media tried to suggest he didn’t follow his tatical instructions. I live in Portugal, I know how things are done here. He should be ashamed of himself and if I was Bruno would retire from this team while he stays there. He started Jota 4 fecking games. Unbelievable.