Quinta-Feira Question Time: Who’s In Your 23?

Albeit the boring response…i agree with almost all of the above.

J.Moutinho in for Raul Meireles is something i think has to happen. I’m not sure how much Scolari cares about as quinas do futuro, since it wont be his problem come July, but Moutinho is a player we have to develop at this level, although the same goes fo Raul, to a lesser degree. Also, I’ve been on the Yannick badwagon for a while now, but the unfortunate truth is…no no golos will get the nod.

God knows I hope ur right about Petit, I hate him like the VD i was convinced i had last week.

Posted from  United States

Greg,

Always read your articles, so I figured I’d comment for once so now you have 6 readers! Heyoo

Goalies: I agree with your thoughts on the Goalies. I mean, I loved Ricardo in WC. He was HUGE. But that was the only period of time in the past 4 years that I can remember being confident he was our goalie. Then he got owned against Germany and the wheels sort of came off.

Defenders: I was wondering what the hell happened to Nuno Valente. He’s disappeared. I must ask, why not Meira and/or Miguel in the starting XI? I love Bosingwa so I know why you have him in there, same for Carvalho. But I haven’t seen Pepe play much and the same goes for Caneira. I’m also surprised you’d say you’d sub out Paulo Ferreira. He’s played pretty well for Chelsea this year.

Mids: I agree with your Midfield. I am a Benfica fan but I have never understood people’s love for Petit. I think he’s terrible. As for Raul Meireles, haven’t seen him play enough either. I love Manny Fernandes but he doesn’t play enough in club to justify him being on the roster just yet. I think Joao Moutinho should be included, though. Deco’s health is always a question and I think Moutinho would be a solid replacement if need be.

Forwards: Is Nuno really that bad? I must be completely clueless to what’s been happening in Portugal lately. As for the three you included, I like them. I’m totally for Hugo starting. I like Makukula and Yannick, but they both could use more national team experience.

Overall, I would probably pick the same XI. Keep up the good work

Posted from  United States

Greetings,
Your choices are mostly sensible. I only disagree with the inclusion of Makukula who I think does not have what it takes to be in this team and is not playing anyway. I think the inclusion of Eduardo instead of Patricio would make sense and the nods to Pele and Djaló are justified, though I fear that none of them will make in the list of 23. This in my opinion will be the following:
GK: Ricardo, Quim, Rui Patrício
LD: Miguel, Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Caneira
CD: Ricardo Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Fernando Meira, Pepe
MC: Petit, Maniche, Deco, Miguel Veloso, Raúl Meireles, João Moutinho
WF: Cristiano Ronaldo, Simão, Nani, Quaresma
CF: Nuno Gomes, Hugo Almeida
Only doubts concern the left back position (possibly J. Ribeiro instead of Caneira) and the possibility of a third striker (probably Postiga, but possibly Djaló) but I think Scolari will stick with the 23 above. If he does, let’s hope:
1. He doesn$t stubbornly stick with Ricardo if it’s obvious he’s not in form.
2. He finds a convenient solution for left defender – why not try to adapt Miguel do that position, since he clearly gives another attacking dimension to the team (as Bosingwa does in the right).
3. He finds the best pairing of central defenders: who will be the best complement to Carvalho?
4. Petit is in good enough condition to play and be effective, otherwise have somebody else play in that role (probably Veloso).
5. Hugo Almeida – or whoever is playing centre forward – can score goals.
These are just a few loose ideas.
Feel free to comment.
All the best,

Pedro

Posted from  Luxembourg

Ronaldo is slowing going back to his old ways.

Posted from  Canada

Do you mind elaborating on that Deco / Hank?

Posted from  United States

Yeah, I’m going to have to agree with pretty much everything you said too. I don’t have much to say but here were some thoughts I had:

I’m most frustrated with the striker situation. If we had somebody really solid I think that could save us a lot of grief and possibly help prevent all those draws we saw on the road to Euro2008. None of those options really thrill me, and while I’d like to take a chance with Yannick I don’t know if his recent league form would necessarily translate to success at a big tournament like this…but who knows.

Deco has been inconsistent at best this season but lately he has been doing a bit better for Barca. If something happens and he needs to be replaced (I agree he should start though) then it’s all about João Moutinho. Experience would be good for him and I think he can handle it. I also vote no for Petit and think Maniche, Quaresma, Cronaldo, and Veloso are all good choices for starters too. Simão and Nani are legit as well. I like Maniche he usually steps up for big games like these. I think the defense you listed is good too.

I don’t care whether it’s Ricardo or Quim, just as long as it isn’t Rui Patricio.

Sounds pretty decent. Nuno Gomes shouldn’t be there, BUT you can’t ignore the big goals he has scored for the national team in international tournaments:
-Winner vs England, Euro 2000, 3rd goal to complete the 3-2 come from 2-0 down to win victory…classic match
-Goal against France, also Euro 2000
-Some other goals at Euro 2000, can’t recall them at the moment

WC 2002: Okay he totally blew it. Absolutely blew it vs Korea. What a joke
Euro 2004: Goal against Spain to send us through…the nation breathes a sigh of relief, Pauleta blows the rest of the tournament
WC 2006: Got a few minutes vs Germany, put in a header, additional blowing for Pauleta for the selecao when hes needed the most
All in all though, I hope Scolari passes on him. And I think Deco needs to step it up…a lot

Posted from  United States

Just one more thought relating to Scolari’s recent interview: shouldn’t his declarations be read as meaning his dropping Miguel (probably to the benefit of J. Ribeiro). I really wonder…What other surprises can be in store (eventually Meireles also dropped to the benefit of Pele). Any thoughts?
Pedro

Posted from  Luxembourg

Hey,
i think you pretty much capture alot of what people want to see, an attacking squad with lots of youth. But i think Scolari (and commentators in Portugal) have missed a trick by completely ignoring a 4-4-2 formation. The problem is whenver we play it, we do a diamond midfield. But we can do a flat four, because Veloso is an excellent passer who can bust forward if required, and Deco is quite apt at holding back too if needs be (so they could alternate). and we don’t have any striker that’s good enough to play on their own, and i actually thought that in the last match when Almeida played alongside Nuno Gomes (which lead to the only goal) they were much more than the sum of their parts. and needless to say, Ronaldo is best as a wide player in a 4-4-2 system (his best games for united) since the defence is under pressure coping with two strikers, and so can’t allocate as many men on to him.
Goalies: QUIM, Ricardo, Eduardo; Defence: BOSINGWA,CARVALHO,PEPE,CANEIRA Miguel, Meira, Alves, Ferreira; Midfield: RONALDO, VELOSO, DECO, SIMAO, Nani, Meireles, Moutinho, Maniche, Quaresma; Forwards: ALMEIDA, GOMES, Makukula

Posted from  United Kingdom

OK, here are the guys I´m convinced Scolari will call this monday:
Nuno Gomes, CR, Simão, Nani, Quaresma, Deco, Maniche, Petit, M Veloso, R Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Pepe, F Meira, P Ferreira, Bosingwa, Miguel, Ricardo, Quim and Rui Patrício.

This leaves 4 spots to be filled. Now, last WC06 and EC04, Scolari took 3 strikers. I believe he´ll do so again, meaning there´ll be two guys to choose from Hugo Almeida, Makukula, Hélder Postiga and just maybe Yannick Djaló.

This means there´s now only two open spots, for 3 extra needed positions: P Ferreira sub, Maniche sub and Deco sub.
Assuming Moutinho will be Deco´s sub, now we need either a midfielder that can also play left back or a left back that can play in the midfield OR he takes only 3 centre defenders and gains one extra variable. I also don´t believe in this.
So all this is boiling down to chosing from either Raúl Meireles or Jorge Ribeiro.

If on one hand Meireles seems the obvious choice to sub Maniche, on the other we´d be stuck with no sub for left back. In view of all this, I´d say that the choice will fall on Jorge Ribeiro, because he was a left back who has gradually played as left midfielder this season, maybe better even than in defense.
If this is the case, the big implication is that Caneira stays home. Caneira has been chosen in the past cos he´s very versatile. He can play left and right back as well as centre defender.

All in all I´m very curious to see how it turns out. I also don´t have a suggestion or priviliged choice. It´s the “small blanket” thing… If you cover the shoulders, you´ll get your feet cold.

The striker issue… Nuno Gomes is not in top form and we all know his limitations. But the team has a leadership crisis and he´s one of the leaders (Petit, Gomes, Carvalho and CR are the leaders “council” Scolari has tried to implement). Postiga makes one good match for every 3 or 4 shit matches. Hugo Almeida is probably the more complete but he plays better with another striker and doesn´t score all that much. Makukula is for me the obvious striker sub – he´s bloody strong, he goes for goal but he´s a bit clumsy and not mobile at all. I don´t think Scolari will call Djaló just yet…

The best duo in defense for me is Carvalho + Bruno Alves. I also don´t think this wll be a problem cos all four are luxury centre backs.

Anyway, monday our doubts will be cleared…

Posted from  Netherlands

BTW Greg, the 4-2-2-2 you propose, seems to me the classic 4-4-2: 2 holding mids with one more mobile, 2 wingers, 2 strikers again with one more mobile and one in the box.

Posted from  Netherlands

What I would´t mind seeing is a shift towards a more 4-2-2 style. Why? Because nowadays we don´t have another JV Pinto + Rui Costa as #8 and #10, that can provide a stronger attacking option to the sole striker, in our usual formation.
We had a bit of that with Maniche and Deco but we also had a good anchor (Costinha) with an excellent understanding between the 3 of them, dating back to the FC Porto days.
Deco is a good #10 but he has the advantage of recovering a lot plus he also bulds a lot, so I think a duo of him and Veloso would certainly be worth the try. We´re always strong on the wings, so with 2 strikers we could have a bit more grunt in attack. The problem would be a gap in midfield + 4 players that don´t defend – nowadays this is deadly, I think.
Anyway, we have the players for this and it could always switch back to the ever versatile 4-5-1, which is adjustable back to 4-3-3 or 3-4-3.

Posted from  Netherlands