Question of the Week: Who is Portugal's revelation player for 2011?

[Mandieta6]

Remember, if you have an idea for a question you would like to see, PM it to me, and each week one question will be selected based on the quality of the question and it's subject. I will not choose the questions on my own, but this is the best way to ensure that we don't keep discussing the same things.

Send a goddamn question you idiots.

This week's comes courtesy of Mandieta6:

Who is the Portuguese League's revelation player of 2011 and what can we expect from him in the future?

Past Questions:
13/9 - What will football be like in 50 years?
19/9 - What are some rule changes that would improve the game?
3/10 - The European Super-League Discussion
11/10 - How would you spend 50m?
19/10 - Why does ____ underperform?
26/10 - How to stop Barcelona?
13/12 - What players have you come to respect/dislike?
20/12 - Who will win the Euros?
2/1 - Should the Prem introduce a winter break?
9/1 - Who is the most two-footed player?
15/1 - What is the toughest position?

 

[Mandieta6]

This week we've gone a bit more specific. The idea behind QotW is for lively debate and learning, and this is a great way for the minority here who follow the Portuguese league to tell us about some players to watch in Portugal.

There'll be some obvious names like Hulk, Falcao, etc, but I'd still love to hear what the people who actually watch them every week have to say about Moutinho, etc.

Also would love to hear some stuff about guys like James Rodriguez and van Wolfswinkel who are touted as being followed by big clubs.

So, anyone want to teach me about the best players and the best rising stars in Portugal? Are there new C.Ronaldo or Carvalho's impressing there?

 

[Filipower]

Indeed there are.

If your talking Portuguese, there's no way you can avoid Moutinho. Although he's not a "revelation player", unless you haven't cared about football for the last 5/6 years. Perhaps I'd still choose him for 2011 because last year he had his best season yet despite moving from Sporting.

Porto and Benfica players are obviously the ones to watch, with the likes of Hulk, James, Gaitán, Rodrigo, Nolito on the forefront. Hulk doesn't need to prove himself anymore in the Portuguese League (albeit he's still the player I insult the most when watching the games). James had a great season last year as well, started off good this one, went a bit down but seems to be regaining his form, and will be a serious matter for years to come.

Nolito and Rodrigo have been great this season, perhaps still a bit early on both counts to know what they'll really be, although almost definitely they'll both be great. Gaitan has his ups and downs, apparently he's in a more "ups" season this year.

You have Sporting, who are probably the most inconsistent team in Europe for the past decade, but who always have great youngsters (they have like one of the three best youth set-ups in Europe). Guys like Rui Patrício, André Santos, Carriço are ones to watch, although Domingos seems to be preferring a squad where every player is from a different country.

This is off the top of my head, will elaborate as other people also post.

 

[vitu]

Pepe

 

[Zlatan]

I would say Miguel Veloso or Moutinho, but then again I only know the Portuguese league from FM.

 

[Mandieta6]

Pepe

D'you mean Rafa Marquez?

 

[vitu]

D'you mean Rafa Marquez?

Oh yeah

 

[Back Door Skip]

D'you mean Rafa Marquez?

 

[Sir Calumn]

In order to make this question the slightest bit interesting for those of us who dont know a thing about Portuguese football, could you guys also tell us who our clubs should be looking at signing?

Start with Chelsea

We have been linked with Moutinho for a little while now, would he make a big impact on our squad? Is there a forward in Portugal that could step up and take the reigns from Didier Drogba? Can it be second time lucky in looking to Portugal to solve our defensive problems, the first time being the not so impressive David Luiz?

 

[Filipower]

So Carvalho wasn't solid?

 

[Sir Calumn]

Ha I meant our post-Mourinho defensive problems!

Not that I rated Carvalho THAT highly.

 

[Filipower]

Yeah I got it. Well, Portugal's striker problems are long-known, so there's no way a Portuguese would fill in Drogba's shoes. If you're talking in the whole league, than one might bring up Hulk, but he isn't a striker, no matter how much as our dumb manager wants him to be.

Moutinho would work if you keep Villas Boas, he could do that box-to-box role that Lampard has failed to since the Mourinho days.

Otamendí would be a great buy, he's bound to be a world class CB, and Garay is having a great season as well.

Benfica's Witsel would be one to watch as well, can't believe I forgot to mention him!


So yeah, when it comes to Porto at least, I'd say Otamendí, Moutinho, James and Hulk are definitely ones to watch!

 

[ShiftyPowers]

The striker you're thinking about was Falcao, and you missed him.

 

[Arnau]

Is Defour any good?

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Always been good in FM, but I get suspicious of the guys who are supposed to be good, but never make a move to a big league.

 

[Sir Calumn]

Will investigate the ones you mentioned Fili. Garay always looked like another Carvalho to me. And I'm assuming Hulk is still grossly overprice? Only know Witsel from FM, others I hardly know at all!

Would you stay the Portuguese league still represents value or are the players there now just as overpriced as everywhere else?

The striker you're thinking about was Falcao, and you missed him.

Yeah I wasnt 100% sure about him, but in retrospect I guess we should gave gone for him, at least he knows how to score goals.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Would you stay the Portuguese league still represents value or are the players there now just as overpriced as everywhere else?

Just as an outsider's observation, the value is definitely there if you aren't buying from Benfica or Porto. Those top 2 clubs however, have continental aspirations and charge out the ass for players, and that's not going to change. If you think about it, those are two of the best ~12/15 clubs in Europe, so they are going to value their players commensurate with that ranking.

 

[Sir Calumn]

I guess, I always used to think of Porto and Benfica as being a bit like Ajax, clubs with great histories, great players coming through and still capable of decent European runs - but at the same time resigned to the fact they were just stepping stones on young players careers and not truly expecting to keep their stars. But, Porto especially, dont seem to think that way anymore.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Yeah that's how I saw them too, but like you say it doesn't seem like that anymore. I suppose the Champions League TV money might not make them competitive with the truly big clubs who have big domestic TV deals (or sponsorships out the ass like Bayern), but they can compete with any club who doesn't make the CL regularly.

 

[Tiago_10]

Objectively, the truth is both Benfica and Porto have quality players.. Just notice how many of them are internationals for their respective national teams, and not just any NT, the likes of Brazil and Argentina where there is a lot of quality to choose from.

The minimum expectations in Europe would be to reach the knockout phase, and go as further as possible. Porto got knocked out of the CL in the group phase this season (a bit unfairly tbh if you consider the last match against Zenit) and immediately there was lot of noise and jokes about it here..

Of course, there is no way anyone should expect us to compete against the likes of Real Madrid or Barcelona, we simply don't have the money to keep a Cristiano Ronaldo.. And like Shifty said, the biggest difference lays in the domestic revenues coming from TV deals. For instance Portugal has something like 10 M people, and 6 M are Benfica fans, but in truth we can only expect 3-4 million regular viewers willing to pay every month an extra to watch the matches (most of them are in Sporttv). This is our market and yes it is small. So there is a huge gap comparing with the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, etc..

Regarding the players to watch, Fili pretty much summed it.. I would only add Artur Moraes, Benfica's GK, yes he's 30 but he is seriously good. To me he's our best GK since Michel Preu'd Homme. Some of his performances have been no less than world class, actually saved us on several occasions this season.. Hopefully he will stay at the club until he retires.