Catching Up

Happy New Year! My apologies for not having updated the blog in sometime, but for personal reasons, namely a relocation, i was limited to internet access.

Since last time i posted, Benfica played two games, losing their lead in the Liga Sagres, as a result of their first loss of the season against last place Trofense, and getting a tough win in Guimaraes to start their League Cup campaign.

There's no doubt in my mind that the loss against Trofense is the lowest point of the season so far. But if you have been following the team, there's a certain predictability factor in all of this.
There has been a steady decline in quality of play by the team in the past month and a half. Ever since Benfica was humiliated by Olympiakos in Greece, the team hasn't been the same. There was a large outcry by Benfica fans because of the error that prevented us from beating Nacional. But that outcry, in my opinion, despite agreeing fully with the error, was a denial from the part of the fans in relation to the team's performances, in this case poor performances. Here's what the team did after the Olympiakos game:

2-2 vs Setubal - suffered the tying goal in the end on a Quim fluke.

6-0 vs Maritimo - Played v-10 for 70 minutes, in a game where everything went Benfica's way.

0-0 vs Leixoes - Lost on pks and was eliminated from the Portuguese Cup

0-1 vs Metalist - The last game of the UEFA Cup, a campaign in which Benfica couldn't even get a win in the last game, letting in a goal in the last 10 minutes of the game.

0-0 vs Nacional - The infamous highway robbery by referee Pedro Henriques. I agree that it was a very bad call that cost Benfica the game, but what else did the team do in the 90 minutes that preceded this call?

The Trofense debacle was just an inevitable result to what the team has been doing. Off course, losing against the last team place who made their first flight debut this year, adds to the seriousness of the defeat. The "cage rattling" done by Rui Costa and Luis Felipe Vieira, following the defeat in Trofa was needed to shake up the locker room and to remind the players who they play for, what playing for this club means, and the duty they have towards the fan base, who up have remained behind the team.

The game against Guimaraes was a chance for the team to react. In a typical tough away game to start the league cup, Benfica was able to come out with a win by the score of 2-0.
Quique made several changes to the starting 11, as it is customary in competitions outside the primary Liga Sagres competition. Moretto was in goal, while in defense it was Miguel Vitor in the center along with Luisao, and David Luiz on the left. In the middle Katsouranis and Yebda paired up, while DiMaria and Balboa were on the flanks. Up front, it was Aimar supporting Suazo. Without going into an in depth analysis of the game, i felt that Benfica didn't play a particularly impressive game, although defensively the team was solid, and the team was able to control the game when they needed. In the end, Martins, who came in the second half and got his name on the score sheet, publicly apologized to the fan base on behalf of the team, and stated that the win against Guimaraes was the team's response to the doubts that are being put on the team by their fan base. He asked that the fan base continue to believe the team, and remain behind the team.

After losing first place, the team will now have their work cut out for them, needing to come out of this whole and put together a consistent run if they are to go into the second half with hopes of getting first place back.
The game against Guimaraes was a good response, but until the team shows consistency and puts together 2-3 solid games, the fans will remain doubtful on what this team can do, regardless of the talent on the squad.

In other news,

Benfica renewed Miguel Vitor's contract until 2013. the signing of Miguel Vitor, who comes from Benfica's "cantera", shows the clear intentions of Benfica about developing talent for their main team.

Makukula seems destined for West Bromwich Albion in England, while Marc Zoro will get a trial period at Blackburn Rovers.


Benfica - Braga preview coming soon.