Christmas Comes Early For RedEagle?

[Razor]

Dude! Vieira DOES read your posts!

Eliminação do "Flu" obriga a corte de despesas
Roger admite regresso em Janeiro
O "craque" do Fluminense admitiu poder regressar ao Benfica já em Janeiro, face ao afastamento do clube "carioca" do Brasileirão, que inevitavelmente vai ter de reduzir os salários dos seus jogadores, mediante as fracas receitas esperadas para 2002, segundo o jornal "A Bola".

Roger afirmou ontem que o seu desejo até era permanecer no Rio de Janeiro, mas compreende que será muito difícil manter-se no Fluminense, uma vez que é um dos jogadores mais bem pagos do plantel.

Apesar da evidente falta de um jogador com as características de Roger no meio campo benfiquista, a sua vinda pode vir a ser dificultada devido às recentes declarações proferidas pelo brasileiro, dando conta de algumas instabilidades no balneário da Luz.

Roger, que na época passada se tornou na transferência mais cara da história dos "encarnados", foi o principal responsável pela chegada do Fluminense às meias-finais do Brasileirão, durante a corrente temporada.

Even with his issues last season (which are rumored to be a thing of the past), he certainly has more creativity than either Drulovic, Porfiro, Miguel or Carlitos (remember him!? ).

What do you think, Red?

[RedEagle]

Thanks for the props Razor!

But Roger should have never been loaned out to begin with...just my opinion though..I think with a half season of Portuguese ball he would have been better adjusted.

However this way, they improve the team with the players they already had....brilliant PR...
Roger can feed Mantorras, plus you can use him on the left side for Drulo.

Just remember that his guy has played almost a full season on and off...with very little time to rest minus injuries....he might have problems adapting again.


btw all i want for Xmas is two wins in for this month. One over Sporting and the other over Boavista.

We'll discuss my new years wishes later...

[Pila]

Too bad Red's knowledge of American football falls slightly short of his futebol or he might actually win a NFL argument every once in a while

No doubt Roger will provide a key missing element that ails us currently. I'm confident that he can be heads and heels over what he showed us last year with the likes of our superior quality that will now surround him.

[Razor]

The win over Sporting could be tricky, but Boavista is definitely possible now that Duda's hurt and Pacheco is suspended for 20 days.

I'm usually very anti-conspiracy theory, but don't you think a 20 day suspension is unprecedented? I mean what did he say that PDC, Cuhna and Malheiro haven't all been saying every week for the past few years but with no fine and/or suspension? It just smells rotten to me. If someone wanted to float a theory that it's a ploy by the powers that be to squelch Boavista, I wouldn't call them crazy right away.

Back to Roger - another offensively skilled guy would be great, but I'd like to see the tactics change first.

Picture this:

GK: Enke
D: Cabral, Julio Cesar, Joao Manuel Pinto, Caneira
M: Simao, Ednilson, Zahovic, Roger
F: Mantorras, Sokota

Then you have a bench of Drulovic, Miguel, Aguiar, Mawete, Moreira, Argel, and Pesaresi. We could easily nail a title with that core group.

One other dream come true for Red tonight versus Maritimo: ABola claims that Jorge Ribeiro is starting! (along with Carlitos of all people??). Let's see what your boy can do!

PS - Just for kicks, how do you think Maniche would have fit into this midfield during Zahovic's absence?

[Pila]

Carlitos? That guy is still on the team?

[Razor]

Yeah, that's what I said!

Something happened between the ABola piece and the game though, the update at www.infordesporto.pt has the very interesting following starting lineup:

GK: Enke
D: Caneira, Julio Cesar, Joao Manuel Pinto, Jorge Ribeiro
DM: Andrade
M: Simao, Rui Baiao, Porfiro
F: Mantorras, Mawete

We all love seeing Jorge Ribeiro get a crack at playing with the first team, and I'm assuming that starting Andrade is to rest Ednilson and Meira for Saturday (bad sign). Rui Baiao played like ass versus Pacos, but I'm guessing that he's only there until Zahovic can get in and Porfiro is starting at long last in place of perpetually ineffective Drulovic.

Most suprisingly (pleasantly) is the two-striker formation. Let's hope this generates some goals and convinces Toni that it DOES work.

We'll see. The game starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrts NOW!

[Razor]

One other note...Maritimo's starting striker is a Brasilian youngster, goes by the handle of "Andre". Sound familiar?

What are the odds that Vieira cuts his loan short and reunites him at the Luz with his old pal Roger if he scores a goal against Benfica tonight

[Pila]

Note to self:

Buy beer.

Carlitos is still on the team.

That is all.

[Razor]

The score's still 0-0 with 5 minutes to go in the first half.

The bad news is that Julio Cesar left the pitch at 15' with an injury. Meira came in for him.

No Cesar means no win versus Sporting IMO. Let's hope it's not serious.

[RedEagle]

I didn't see yesterday's game...how did Jorge play? It's unfortunate that JC went down...our defense might suffer a bit against Sporting. How about we put Meira in that role and keep Caneira on the left to handle Quaresma. If Pesarezi plays the left Quaresma might swallow him hole on the first play.

Did Zahovic look good?

I need a game report....

[Pila]

I didn't see the game either, but according to some of the media tid-bits Ribeiro didn't play that well, ZZ was the best on the pitch relatively speaking.

I agree with you 100% on putting Meira in for JC.

[Razor]

Originally posted by Pila
I didn't see the game either, but according to some of the media tid-bits Ribeiro didn't play that well, ZZ was the best on the pitch relatively speaking.

I agree with you 100% on putting Meira in for JC.

Meira came in for JC when he left the game. Definitely a better choice than Argel.

What really hurts is no Cabral (again). In a weird way, this could be good. Toni swears he's playing for a win on Saturday (we'll see) and that ZZ will start. That would/could mean one trinco and two forwards again? One can hope...

Zahovic apparently looked great in the short time he was in there and was obviously Benfica's MOM with the game-tying (and maybe Toni-saving) goal.

BTW - what do you guys make of all the renewed Paulo Sousa talk. The prodigal son returns home after 16 years?!

[RedEagle]

I'm kind of torn as far as the line-up and strategy against Sporting. If Cabral is not playing that's a big blow. He's our only offensive force from the back. That means Tony willl probably put JMP back there again...Argel/Caneira and Pesarezi. If this is the defense we're in big trouble. I prefer JMP and Meira to man mark Jardel/Niculae. Leaving Caneira to deal with Quaresma, and possibly Argel as the sweeper for lapses. With Anderson hurt our options in the midfield defensively come down to Andrade and Ednilson. I prefer the one trinco option with Ednilson to man mark JVP.(THis will be highly unlikely as Razor pointed out) Simao to cover those Rui Jorge runs. Sporting will hopefully show up with their 3-5-2. If we start a 4-4-2 with Drulo(Miguel-Simao) on the left, Simao(Miguel on the right) ZZ in the middle supplying Mantorras and Mawette we should create some havoc for them. The key will be pressure on the ball from up front. Simao/Drulo, ZZ have to put pressure to make the dee's job easier.

Of course Toni can do the same thing he did against Porto...put everybody on the defense and leave Mantorras as the only attacking option and play for the draw..which in this case is not so bad considering Sportings offensive power.

As far as Paulo Sousa...he can help Benfica. He brings veteran leadership with him and is a great example to follow for the youngsters. Also he'll play well...he wants to be in the WC squad.

However Porto is looking to add him to their collection of 60 defensive midfielders...so who knows....but Benfica couldn't go wrong with someone like him.

[Razor]

Dude- that has got to be one of my Top 10 favorite RedEagle posts of all time. Insightful, thought-provoking and analytical (not that all your posts aren't) - excellent read!

I agree completely - it's funny. We sit around all Fall complaining about Toni's defensive tactics, but you're absolutely right. Playing defensively against Sporting isn't a bad idea these days, especially when we're missing two starters on defense (Cabral & Julio Cesar). Unfortunately, he picks this week to "play for the win". That's just super.

I couldn't agree more w/ Paulo Sousa. I would openly welcome a two-trinco set week after week if it was Ednilson & Paulo Sousa. Even a 33% Paulo Sousa is more effective then what Meira's been doing in that slot this season. Talk about passing the torch!

[RedEagle]

Aw man, stop it...my ego will go into overdrive and next thing you'll know is I'm in Lisbon clamoring for Toni's job...ala Mourinho.
Btw what did you think of his comments concerning Benfica...he stated something like if he just had 3 or 4 or his Leiria players on Benfica...he'd win the whole thing...or something like that.

Personally those comments are unnecessary..although probably true. He must have been caught with his pants down in some bar by some futebol reporter or something.


As far as Paulo Sousa...you couldn't be more dead on!I would take him in a heart beat over Meira in that spot...

Meira is catching a lot flack lately...and I don't really blame him. I blame Toni for not realizing that the guy is really a central defender trying to play midfielder. He should have been moved to defense a long time ago. But still central defender or not...you should at least be able to complete 75% of your passes.


Also what a match-up it would be to see Ednilson on JVP. I think JVP is probably the only guy who matches up with Ednilson height wise!