They are potentially a dark horse but at the same time could easily crash out of the groups (Uruguay, Korea, Ghana) due to having a wasteman with negative influence as their captain. How will they fare?
Portugal Discussion | Roberto Martinez watch
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
If Ronaldo plays they can’t win. Like playing with 10 men.
If Ronaldo plays they win. Like playing with 12 men.
They’re in the same boat as United only from an even longer POV as it’s been apparent for a long time.
The games they’ve played without Ronaldo, they’ve been excellent in attack. When he plays all the fluidity and interchange goes and they’re stuck with him in rotten form at the minute on the back of the absolute state he’s made of himself this week.
Realistically I’d be amazed if they won the group despite having a quality squad. They’ll probably finish second and get knocked out in the last 16.
The games they’ve played without Ronaldo, they’ve been excellent in attack. When he plays all the fluidity and interchange goes and they’re stuck with him in rotten form at the minute on the back of the absolute state he’s made of himself this week.
Realistically I’d be amazed if they won the group despite having a quality squad. They’ll probably finish second and get knocked out in the last 16.
If Ronaldo plays/doesn't play, they win/don't win. Like playing with potentially 10/12 men.
How's Ronaldo acting the bollocks being reported in Portugal, does anyone know? Is he still a hero or has there been the same reaction as here - with people realising he's a bit of a bollocks, and is throwing their WC preparation under a bus with all his feck acting.
They've an excellent squad. Plenty of players in form, id lean slightly towards Ronaldo managing to up his game a bit and them making qf. They'll have a tough last 16 no matter what
Well said / not said.
12 angry men.
This is going to end up like France 2010.
The new England in they probably won't start their actual inform players if Santos last 5 years is anything to go by. Joao Pahlinha has been excellent for Fulham but I assume he's still below Moutinho in the pecking order. Were also still starting William Carvalho at home to Spain less than two months ago....
Was going to add Leao into the mix but I assume injuries to Jota and Neto mean he's got far a very likely chance of starting.
I think they'd have a serious shot of winning the tournament if they did something like playing Felix as false 9 and then Leao and Bernardo Silva and midfield trio of Pahlinha-Neves-Fernandes. Very balanced and high quality selection of attackers there.
Their defence is usually decent at major tournaments. Difficult to say as could easily get Brazil in last 16 and that would probably be match of the tournament.
Was going to add Leao into the mix but I assume injuries to Jota and Neto mean he's got far a very likely chance of starting.
I think they'd have a serious shot of winning the tournament if they did something like playing Felix as false 9 and then Leao and Bernardo Silva and midfield trio of Pahlinha-Neves-Fernandes. Very balanced and high quality selection of attackers there.
Their defence is usually decent at major tournaments. Difficult to say as could easily get Brazil in last 16 and that would probably be match of the tournament.
Some pundits have been saying he's finished for a couple of years now, but the vast majority still defend him no matter what. The fans are the same, although more and more are falling out of love with him, however most of the criticism is directed at Santos, majority of fans are absolutely fed up with his defensive tactics.
Is all this attention he has created going to make him want to prove himself and to have the team set up so that everything goes through him more than ever?
Bruno hugged Felix. He's ours, boys.
They have the manager who will do whatever he wants, so it might actually kill two birds with one stone.
Yes, 'Santos Sack Watch' should be added to the title. Next defeat could be his last for Portugal.
Will be interesting to see how he deals with Ronaldo. Swinging himself over their leader as life-prolonging measure, planning to stay in charge? Going south together and strong? Retiring anyway and so taking possible blame upon himself, protecting Ronaldos image?
My guess: He'll play him as starter in group and as a late sub in knockout stage.
My only quibble is for the knockouts I'd probably play Bernardo centrally with Palhina and Neves and a winger on the right with Bruno as a super-sub. No idea if that's Horta, Vitinha or Otavio.
No, you will see a few people criticizing him here and there but these will be a minority of fans that dig deeper into stuff etc. The average pub goer will be fully backing him.
You have to understand that in this forum you will have more critical United fans, who know the club and the player a bit better. On a worldwide perception scale, the average fan will probably be somewhat fooled by the show he's putting. In Portugal, given the bias, it certainly goes far above the average fan. In my facebook the most commented thing here was United removing a large picture of him on the front of the stadium or whatever... Something that on the cafe it was seen as natural given the context, here in Portugal most people are reading it as an extremely petty move by United.
My impression is that he's not putting the show to United fans, but to the average football fan worldwide, and average means clueless. €€€
The only way the Portuguese will turn on him is if he embarrasses himself completely during the WC.
Diogo Costa
Cancelo
Pepe
Ruben dias
Nuno Mendes
Palhinha
Bruno
Nunes
Bernardo
Ronaldo
Leao
To me this is our strongest team.
However I can see this happening instead
Costa
Cancelo
Danilo
Dias
Nuno Mendes
Palhinha
Bruno
Bernardo
Otavio
Ronaldo
Leao
I expect us to get rocked in the R16.
Cancelo
Pepe
Ruben dias
Nuno Mendes
Palhinha
Bruno
Nunes
Bernardo
Ronaldo
Leao
To me this is our strongest team.
However I can see this happening instead
Costa
Cancelo
Danilo
Dias
Nuno Mendes
Palhinha
Bruno
Bernardo
Otavio
Ronaldo
Leao
I expect us to get rocked in the R16.
They have the players to do well in many areas of the pitch (not perfect, but what squad is?) but will probably be hamstrung by Ronaldo.
Felix for Ronaldo obviously.
And their dinosaur coach.
Ronaldo at 37 years old isn't the best option to have upfront in a WC, he has no legs anymore, and doesn't offer anything aside from tap-ins.
You can't give that much advantage in a WC, it's fine to put 37 years old Ronaldo as starter against Lithuania,Latvia, Liechtenstein,Malta,Armenia, Azerbaijan, etc in the qualifiers...but that isn't work against Ghana,South Korea, and Uruguay, which are much better teams than what Ronaldo faced in the last qualifiers to the WC, with the exception of Serbia.
Ronaldo should be an impact sub for the last 30 minutes, him being a starter is giving way too much advantage to the opposition.
The problem is that i can see Ronaldo asking Santos to play 90 minutes in every match, cause this is probably his last WC.
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Who should they play as no.9 though?
- Jota is injured and out of WC
- Felix is in poor form, he can’t play lone striker role, offers no ariel threats
- Andres Silva is the only other option, but he only has 2 goals in 15 BL games this season, not exactly convincing
He is by far our best striker, I’ll go with the guy who has the most goals ever personally.
Not obviously at all. I am a believer in Felix but he is a non factor at the moment for the national team. Ronaldo is our guy.
crash and burn.. because of ronaldo
Do Portugese people consider this their best ever squad? It looks a very strong one to me, to the extent they should be seen as among the top five favourites, but it's hard to disagree with the sentiments above that they absolutely could go out in the group stages, too.
Sometimes successful national teams just hang on too long to winning managers or players, and that seems to be the case here (mainly with regards to the manager).
Sometimes successful national teams just hang on too long to winning managers or players, and that seems to be the case here (mainly with regards to the manager).
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Some really great in form players if they can go with the younger group as you said. Vitinha has to play, I think he's one of the best MFers in the world, time will tell.
Ronaldo not in the squad today. Still ill apparently.
he's going to stink up the world cup too isn't he.Living in the past is what will be your downfall.
He’s realised he won’t win it but he can at least dominate the media about it.
Assuming Spain finish top of their group and unless i've got this horribly wrong, I think they might have a nice route to the semi finals. Lot of ifs and buts though.
Ronaldo has been great so far. Proved the doubters wrong once again
In what sense ?
They look so much stronger than last two tournaments. Not quite 2016 vibes but I think they're going to have a very nice run in this competition. So much quality at the back and in midfield and got some excellent subs so feels one of those moments for them again where they can get to last 4.
Most people thought he'd be below average, but he's been almost average so far.