Still a lot of work to do

Benfica finished off their Guadiana participation with a loss to Sporting by the score of 2-0. Sunday night's game served as another observation point for Quique, who at this point should have a good idea of who is staying and who is leaving and what else is needed to close up the squad.

For this game Quique fielded the following 11:

First Half
Quim, Maxi, Luisao, Katsouranis and Leo. Binya and Martins in the middle, Balboa and Assis on the flanks. Up front Urreta and Aimar.

This was a more distinct and closer to the projected starting 11 that will be used by Quique. In the defense Maxi confirmed that he will be an option for right back, and he will be fighting for a spot with Nelson. In the middle of the defense, Luisao and Katsouranis, which, with David Luiz being hurt and Sidnei unproven, is probably the strongest tandem Quique could field. On the left Leo, barring an unfortunate stroke of luck, is the owner of the left back position.
In the midfield, Quique opted for Binya, perhaps wanting to see the Cameroonian one more time, or maybe to put him on display for any team interested in the defensive midfielder. Martins played in his natural position and Assis was once again tested on the left side. On the right, Balboa has shown to be the front runner for the spot.
Up front, Urreta got another chance to prove himself along with Aimar, who can play the withdrawn forward position, but appeared useless due to the lack of connecting play from the midfield.
Edcarlos came in at the 20 minute mark, after Katsouranis went down to injury. Quique who had sent both Miguel Vitor and Edcarlos to warm up to replace the Greek, would eventually give the chance to Edcarlos, and if there were any doubts about Edcarlos' future, his terrible performance dissipated those doubts.

Benfica played in a classic 4-4-2 and showed periods of attractive futebol, but the machine is yet to be firing on half the cylinders.

In the Second Half:
Quim remained in goal, Maxi, Luisao, Edcarlos and Leo, also finished the game. In the midfield, Binya and Amorim, Jorge Ribeiro on the left, and Urreta dropped back to right mid, to replace Balboa. Makukula joined Aimar up front.
Also getting minutes in the second half were Fellipe bastos, who came in for Aimar, as Urreta returned to the front line and Yebda who replaced the injured Binya.

Sloppy second half, with defensive mistakes being the cause for the 2 goals allowed.

Observations from these two games:

The defensive sector continues to be our weakest sector, David Luiz is still sidelined, but the personnel that's available to Quique provides little or no solutions.
On the right Nelson and Maxi will be the right back options. Maxi might not have the same attacking characteristics as Nelson but he brings consistency, something Nelson often lacks. In the middle of the defense, Edcarlos and Zoro seem to be the men on their way out. Edcarlos for his performances, Zoro for not even deserving a chance to play, seem to have joined Sepsi and Luis Felipe on the list of "not needed". Luisao and Katsouranis make a strong tandem, but with Katsouranis' future uncertain and Luisao alluding to a possible exit, the middle of the defense exhibits a certain instability and lack of depth. I'm against Luisao's exit, and i think he deserves the support of all Benfiquistas as he can still lead our defense, with David Luiz and Sidnei being so young, having Luisao along with one of the youngsters would be a good move. Miguel Victor is still very young and taking into consideration that Katsouranis might be leaving acquiring an experienced center back should be a priority, too bad we missed out on the Meira train. On the left, Leo and Jorge Ribeiro are good options.

In the midfield, Fellipe Bastos impressed me the most,Amorim continues to be extremely discreet, and so far has disappointed me, let's hope he can turn that around with more time. Yebda has proven to be a great acquisition, Martins still needs time to find his groove, and Balboa has also proven to be the right man for the job.
I don't think Benfica has room in the squad for Binya. The left side is starting to look like our right side last year, orphan of decent player. I know that DiMaria is at the Olympics and all, but i think that we need a player that can do both wings, but primarily the left wing. Both Maxi and Ribeiro can do the flanks, but they are far from being your classic offensive minded wingers.
Still early for Aimar, let's not forget about Petit also, who has yet to put on a Benfica jersey this preseason. It's hard to get a read on Assis, Quique seems to be trying hard to find a niche for Assis, whether on the right or on the left. He can do both flanks, but with his natural position being an attacking center mid. He is far from being the classic winger, but provides for an interesting dynamic in flank play when he is on the field. He worked very hard these games to convince Quique, time will tell.

Up front, Nuno Gomes and Cardozo have yet to step on the field. Speculation grows around Mantorras' future and apparently there's a forward on the way. We saw 3 forwards over the 2 games, Makukula, Urreta and the youngster Nelson Oliveira. Makukula seems to be working hard to remain in the squad. Urreta impressed me with his fight and his work rate, but still seems a bit green. The 16 year old seems destined to return to the formation ranks.

Benfica will now enter a second phase of their preseason, where they will be in Obidos for all of next week, a week that will culminate with the Guimaraes tournament, where they will face PSG on Saturday(Aug 2) and Guimaraes on Monday(Aug 4).
Rui Costa has already announced that the squad will "shed" some weight before entering this stage, we will see who will be sent packing, my money is on Luis Felipe, Sepsi, Edcarlos for now.