RuiCosta_10
Starting XI
::shinji:: said:One of the players that impressed me most yesterday is Moretto. I thought it was the first time since coming over from Setubal that he actually looked like a worthwhile signing. Made some crucial saves, gathered crosses, always looked relaxed and confident..
'm still not convinced of Beto's performance yesterday, maybe I judge him too hard but I saw a player that loses possesion often, gains possesion then quickly gives the ball back, makes unnecessary hard tackles, etc.. Ok, he might not be the worst, but any ordinary DM in Portugal could do the same job as he does.
Laurent Robert was the worst for me though. He was a complete non-factor in the game and we produced nothing on the right wing which made our counters a bit predictable, especially in the first half.
Nuno Gomes, out next match. Does anyone even care at this point? He was very poor yesterday too.
Anderson, Leo, Luisao ---> rock solid.
I still didn't liked Moretto, he made a couple of decent saves, but there's a situation in a cross that looked like so many others where he isn't clearly safe... Still, not bad.
About the defense they were fine but like nikeportugal said Liverpool did win to much air game, yes, they have Crouch but i expected Luisão/Anderson wouldn't let him get to every ball, but they were fantastic in the rest, tatically they were great, especially Anderson, always in the way of the ball, great vision he has... I still prefer Ricardo Rocha over him (probably i'm being biased cause he's Portuguese), but Anderson is a very reliable CB, very good player... In the FB positions, Léo was the usual (great), and Alcides, heh, he was fine, it would be much better if Koeman put Nélson, not much worst defending, and miles better attacking, also if the idea is to gain aereal game, well, we can always remember the game against sporting where Alcides was just ... Anyway, good game of him.
In the midfield, Beto, what can i say, LEGEND , one of that players that will always be remembered in the future, not for the best reasons though, but we must admit he playes with everything there, and we must give him credit at least for that, as for the rest it's the usual, he's really bad , can't make a decent 1 mtr pass, can't control a ball, hardly can do a clean tackle, well... Manuel Fernandes is the beast! This kid is absolutely phenomenal, great passing, great positioning, great fighting spirit, and great thecnique, not to mention his cannon foot, just great. Robert was bad, unless he has a free kick or some opurtunities to have a good shot he will always be like this...
As for Simão, fantastic! :Bow: A goal "à Simão", very mobile and fast in the attack, and he also defended a lot, yep, this is the Simão we need. What a goal!!
In the attack, i actually think Nuno was pretty good, but he also has that kind of "paragens cerebrais" when he could shot from Simão's cross, or then, pass it to Léo(?) that was in the left, he loses way to much time thinking what to do in the area, Nuno you have a good shot, so... But played very well in general imo. Geovanni is a great striker, always pressuring the oponents defence waiting for the error (ex: Simão goal), and he's also very spontaneous wich makes him very unpredictable, like in his shot to the bar (Nuno would probably stop the ball, hold it for some more seconds, and play backwards, or lose it ).
Karagounis entered pretty well, but somehow i have the sensation he only playe well when he come in as a sub... Anyway, he entered with a lot of heart as usual and his passing, vision and capacity to hold the ball are great, good sub he was.
Mi-Mi-Mi-Miccoli-Miccoli!! He HAS to start.
Also, a word to Liverpool fans, that right after Benfica's second goal they all started to sing the "You'll Never Walk Alone" :Bow: that was just to me, a mentality only seen by most of the Ultras here in Portugal... I have tons of respect for Liverpool, and i wish you the best luck...
Edit -- Sorry for the long post
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