MCdread
Couldn't she get drowned?
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2001
- Messages
- 5,348
Now that the domestic season is over, there are still almost 2 weeks until the Euro 2004 starts, and these will be two weeks of being fed by media crap about summer transfers and trying to measure how sh*tty our teams are gonna be in their last preparation games next week.
So, and since we have here fans from most of the top european teams, I guess we can occupy a bit of our time showing our team to the rest of the CFC fans.
Portugal:
Portugal hasn't played a single official match in 2 years, so it is hard to know if we're as crap as the friendlies showed or if those were just... friendlies. Our coach is Scolari and so far he has been very disappointing, creating wars with clubs and players for no good reason, and insisting in trying ridiculous players and combinations. Fortunately he has seen some light in the last weeks, but there are still some weird things in his players selection. But then again, what team doesn't have these problems?...
International media has saidd this is the last chance of the so-called golden generation
but the truth is that such thing doesn't exist anymore. Of the famous players of the 90s, only Couto, Rui Costa and Figo remain. They were supposed to be replaced by the youngsters of the U21 team that 1 or 2 years ago was considered by many as the best in the world. But when the Euro comes, one can see that most of those kids have sucked this season... The only ones that made it to the squad were: Moreira, who won't play anyway, although he should be the goalie; Tiago who is carrying an injuree and probably won't play much; Postiga, who sucke big time this season, was selected because there was no one else, but won't play much either and Ronaldo, the one we can expect something from.
A closer look:
Goalies: The greatest controversy surrounding the team was the Baía case. While Baía is not the saviour, he was never called by Scolari, and he never gave a reason for it, refused to talk about him, and even insulted his club and journalists when asked about the new european champion goalie. Nobody knows what moves Scolari against Baía.
Ricardo is then the number 1, but he has been terrible the whole season and in the last couple of months he has averaged about 1.5 major blunders per game (no kidding, this stats are not exagerated). The more blunders he makes the more the press attacks him, and the more he gets nervous. Las week he came out shooting at all directions accusing everyone of not letting him concentrate on his job (read: I can't handle the pressure, so will you be so kind of not mentioning that I suck in the first place?...).
Defence: The probable right back is Paulo Ferreira, but in on of those Scolari things, Miguel has played more minuets in the preparation games. Still, I don't think Scolari will be so dumb to neglect Ferreira, who is certainly a world class right back.
In the center, half justice was done a few months ago, when Scolari finally dumped Meira from Stuttgart and played Jorge Andrade, who is the 2nd best defender in the spanish league behind Ayala. However, there is still an injustice here: Couto will play over Ricardo Carvalho, the best portuguese defender by far and one of the best in the world. This a such great crime that it almost makes me turning off the TV...
Both left backs suck (Rui Jorge and Nuno Valente). I don't know which one is gonna play, but probably Rui Jorge.
Midfield: Portugal will start the Euro playing with 2 DMs. Costinha will be there, no question about it. The other one will probably be Petit, a 1.70 m bulldog that adds nothing offensively and will probably get sent off at some point of the Euro. The other chances are Tiago and Maniche. It should be the latter, but he had a problem with Scolari (another one that we don't know the reason) and it was a surprise that we was selected after a 6 months absence.
In the creative area, Figo will play on the right, and it is good news that he seems to be in his best shape of the last 2 years. The playmaker is a Rui Costa vs. Deco issue, but it is almost certain that Rui Costa will be the starter. Howver, as he is in the end of his career, and can't resist the full 90 minutes, Deco will probably get a lot of playing time too. Hopefully, as the Euro progresses, the roles will be reversed. Playing Deco would also have the advantadge that he also defends and tackles and that would release one of the DMs, and we could have a more offensive line-up.
In the left, Simão will get the edge over Ronaldo. Ronaldo has been disappointing every time he wears the NT shirt, and Simão is a well-established sar in the portuguese league, although this wasn't close to his best season. The Manchester Utd player will be a sort of secret weapon then.
Attack: The striker role will go to Pauleta, no questions about it. Nuno Gomes,who never played to the potential he showed in the Euro 2000), is a decent substitute. Postiga is a distant 3rd option.
With 4-2-3-1, the line-up will be very close to this on Uune 12 (and I expect to it the nail):
--------------------Ricardo------------------
P. Ferreira--Couto (c)---J. Andrade---Rui Jorge
-------------Costinha---Petit---------------
Figo-------------Rui Costa-------------Simão
------------------Pauleta-------------------
Final rant: Scolari has tried to form his own team from the scratch, but I think he'd do better if he used something that is already done and tested, which is to use the FC Porto line: Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Costinha, Maniche, Deco. If he played the key players of Porto, who are already used to play together and have a great team work, and are after all european champions, and fill the rest of the squad with the Figos and Pauletas to add an extra-class, we could have a strong and reliable team from the beggining. This way, we don't know what will come out of there.
So, and since we have here fans from most of the top european teams, I guess we can occupy a bit of our time showing our team to the rest of the CFC fans.
Portugal:
Portugal hasn't played a single official match in 2 years, so it is hard to know if we're as crap as the friendlies showed or if those were just... friendlies. Our coach is Scolari and so far he has been very disappointing, creating wars with clubs and players for no good reason, and insisting in trying ridiculous players and combinations. Fortunately he has seen some light in the last weeks, but there are still some weird things in his players selection. But then again, what team doesn't have these problems?...
International media has saidd this is the last chance of the so-called golden generation
but the truth is that such thing doesn't exist anymore. Of the famous players of the 90s, only Couto, Rui Costa and Figo remain. They were supposed to be replaced by the youngsters of the U21 team that 1 or 2 years ago was considered by many as the best in the world. But when the Euro comes, one can see that most of those kids have sucked this season... The only ones that made it to the squad were: Moreira, who won't play anyway, although he should be the goalie; Tiago who is carrying an injuree and probably won't play much; Postiga, who sucke big time this season, was selected because there was no one else, but won't play much either and Ronaldo, the one we can expect something from. A closer look:
Goalies: The greatest controversy surrounding the team was the Baía case. While Baía is not the saviour, he was never called by Scolari, and he never gave a reason for it, refused to talk about him, and even insulted his club and journalists when asked about the new european champion goalie. Nobody knows what moves Scolari against Baía.
Ricardo is then the number 1, but he has been terrible the whole season and in the last couple of months he has averaged about 1.5 major blunders per game (no kidding, this stats are not exagerated). The more blunders he makes the more the press attacks him, and the more he gets nervous. Las week he came out shooting at all directions accusing everyone of not letting him concentrate on his job (read: I can't handle the pressure, so will you be so kind of not mentioning that I suck in the first place?...).
Defence: The probable right back is Paulo Ferreira, but in on of those Scolari things, Miguel has played more minuets in the preparation games. Still, I don't think Scolari will be so dumb to neglect Ferreira, who is certainly a world class right back.
In the center, half justice was done a few months ago, when Scolari finally dumped Meira from Stuttgart and played Jorge Andrade, who is the 2nd best defender in the spanish league behind Ayala. However, there is still an injustice here: Couto will play over Ricardo Carvalho, the best portuguese defender by far and one of the best in the world. This a such great crime that it almost makes me turning off the TV...
Both left backs suck (Rui Jorge and Nuno Valente). I don't know which one is gonna play, but probably Rui Jorge.
Midfield: Portugal will start the Euro playing with 2 DMs. Costinha will be there, no question about it. The other one will probably be Petit, a 1.70 m bulldog that adds nothing offensively and will probably get sent off at some point of the Euro.
The other chances are Tiago and Maniche. It should be the latter, but he had a problem with Scolari (another one that we don't know the reason) and it was a surprise that we was selected after a 6 months absence. In the creative area, Figo will play on the right, and it is good news that he seems to be in his best shape of the last 2 years. The playmaker is a Rui Costa vs. Deco issue, but it is almost certain that Rui Costa will be the starter. Howver, as he is in the end of his career, and can't resist the full 90 minutes, Deco will probably get a lot of playing time too. Hopefully, as the Euro progresses, the roles will be reversed. Playing Deco would also have the advantadge that he also defends and tackles and that would release one of the DMs, and we could have a more offensive line-up.
In the left, Simão will get the edge over Ronaldo. Ronaldo has been disappointing every time he wears the NT shirt, and Simão is a well-established sar in the portuguese league, although this wasn't close to his best season. The Manchester Utd player will be a sort of secret weapon then.
Attack: The striker role will go to Pauleta, no questions about it. Nuno Gomes,who never played to the potential he showed in the Euro 2000), is a decent substitute. Postiga is a distant 3rd option.
With 4-2-3-1, the line-up will be very close to this on Uune 12 (and I expect to it the nail):
--------------------Ricardo------------------
P. Ferreira--Couto (c)---J. Andrade---Rui Jorge
-------------Costinha---Petit---------------
Figo-------------Rui Costa-------------Simão
------------------Pauleta-------------------
Final rant: Scolari has tried to form his own team from the scratch, but I think he'd do better if he used something that is already done and tested, which is to use the FC Porto line: Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Costinha, Maniche, Deco. If he played the key players of Porto, who are already used to play together and have a great team work, and are after all european champions, and fill the rest of the squad with the Figos and Pauletas to add an extra-class, we could have a strong and reliable team from the beggining. This way, we don't know what will come out of there.
