The Carlos Queiroz Era

Portugal, under the guidance of Carlos Queiroz, is now number 17 in the world behind teams like the USA and Australia.

Click to follow link to FIFA rankings

Liedson

Well, after several months in a daze I decided to post again. Since beating Finland 1-0, Portugal lost to Denmark at home 3-2 in an abismal display of defense, tied Albania, yes you read it right, tied Albania at home 0-0, tied Sweden twice and, finally, got a win against powerhouse Albania 2-1, barely, in the last minutes of the game thanks to a Bruno Alves header.

Queiroz has again and again failed to understand the nuances of the squad. His game plan is reactive not proactive. His substitutions are out of desperation not strategy. His line ups are disastrous, and most of all it seems is incompetence rubs onto the players.

Portugal is now out of first place by 7 points, no way to recover that. Not that they could not win every single game that is left, but Denmark is not going to loose them all either.

The next game is with Denmark. Good luck. Queiroz already started by trowing more rookies into the mix. He’s now bringing in Liedson, the Brazilian turned Portuguese forward from Sporting. He never played a single game with any national team, and doesn’t have any rotation with any of his potential team mates on the national squad. So true to form he’s introducing another variable in the eve of the most important game of this qualification disaster.

The game with Denmark is on September 5. Let’s give Queiroz yet another chance. Either Portugal beats Denmark and keeps its dim hopes alive, or Queiroz is dust. By the looks of things it looks like our beloved Squad will be watching the world cup from the confines of  a living room. Just like us.

Well the Ronaldo show actually produced a goal on a penalty that was not. But we’ll take it. If this was a tune up game for the very important upcoming game with Sweden than lets have a couple more because our beloved Portuguese national team was out of tune. There is a lack of finish on our forwards that borders the infantile. For the past 3 or 4 games Portugal has given a clinic of how to miss goals. Of course it did not help that Queiroz decided to leave Nuno Gomes, the only forward that rises up to the ocasion in international games out of the line up, insisting on playing instead perenial goal misser Hugo Almeida. Nani needs to grow up, Ronaldo can’t score with the Portuguese jersey on and Simao was injured.

Portugal midfield is caotic, only because no-one seems to want to organize it. A leader is missing, a Figo or a Rui Costa were never replaced. Maniche is outdated, Deco is good but no leader and who are the other ones?

Let’s keep supporting Queiroz and let’s keep filling the hole is diging wiht positive thoughts.

Line ups:

PORTUGAL – Eduardo (Daniel Fernandes, 60m); Miguel (Paulo Ferreira, 60m), Bruno Alves, Rolando, Duda; Tiago (Maniche, 46m), Pepe (Raul Meireles, 46m) e Deco; Cristiano Ronaldo, Hugo Almeida (Orlando Sa, 46m) e Nani (Danny, 76m).

FINLAND – Jaskelainen (Maenpaa, 46m); Pasanen, Tihinen, Hyypia, Kallio; Johansson, Heikkinen, Kolkka (Pasoja, 80m); Litmanen (Sjolund, 46m), Eremenko, Forsell (Knogi, 46m).

Game time 20:45 GMT. Let’s go Portugal

Portugal FIFA rankings keep getting worse. They have not fallen from the top 10.

1. Spain, 1693 points
2. Germany, 1403
3. Holand, 1357
4. Italy, 1318
5. Brazil, 1248
6. Argentina, 1181
7. Croatia, 1175
8. England, 1136
9. Russia, 1119
10. Turkey, 1040
11. France 1026
12. Portugal 1020
12. Checz Republic, 1020

A few weeks away from the crucial and horrifyingly important game with Sweden, Queiroz is once again playing with the line up, introducing new faces, naming new players. Here’s Queiroz’s line up for the friendly on Wednesday against Finland:

Goalkeepers. Gone is the inefficient duo of Quim and Rui Patricio. In are: Daniel Fernandes (Bochum/Ale) e Eduardo (Sporting de Braga). Left out again is the best goalkeeper in the country; Beto from Leixoes.

Defenders. Still without Ricardo Carvalho, a major loss. In is Goncalo Brandao from Siena (Italy). Also: Bruno Alves (FC Porto), Pepe (Real Madrid), Miguel (Valencia), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea) and Rolando (FC Porto). Let’s hope Pepe does better than what he’s done the last couple games. Still no left full back. Paulo Ferreira a back up at Chelsea will once again improvise. Why?

Midfielders: In is Eliseu (Malaga). Also: Deco (Chelsea), Joao Moutinho (Sporting), Maniche (Atletico Madrid), Raul Meireles (FC Porto), Duda (Malaga), Tiago (Juventus) e Eliseu (Malaga). No real leader here, Portugal’s Achilles heel.

Forwards: In is Orlando Sa (Braga). Also: Danny (Zenit), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Nani (Manchester United), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United).

Nuno Gomes is out. I would have left Hugo Almeida behind before Nuno. Let’s hope Queiroz finds the magic formula with the tune up against Finland. Let’s pull for the man!

Portugal’s best goalkeeper is called Beto who defends Leixoes goal. If you never heard of Leixoes FC you’re not alone. While they have had many stints in the major league, they have never been so well fixtured. They actually led the league for 4 weeks, beating teams like Benfica and FC Porto in the process.

While Leixoes does have a solid team and a very good coach, the difference has been Beto. This guys is incredible. Leixoes has been in every major game because of Beto, and it is a shame that Queiroz continues to stick to the patetic duo of Quim (Benfica) and Rui Patricio (Sporting). Eduardo (Braga) and Beto (Leixoes) are the two best goalkeepers in Liga 1, period!

I’m looking for predictions and opinions on the Sweden - Portugal game coming up on March 28th. It is a critical match for Portugal. As much as I’d like to see Portugal win, it’s going to be tough to beat the Swedes in Sweden. My prediction is a 0-0 tie which wouldn’t be too bad considering the coaching stuff. What do you think? What do you think the line up will be?

Brazil 6 - Portugal 2 is the worst result since Portugal lost to Sweden in 1958 for the same score. This from a team that just this summer made the quarter finals of the European championships.

At the risk of being redundant this team looks completely lost. The defense is a disaster, the midfielders lack creativity, the forwards are ineffective and the goalkeeper is playing to a different tune. This is a boat with no skipper, no motivator, no innovator.

The line up looks good on paper, but these guys are just doing what they can on their own. They go on dribbling safaris to nowhere, try shots with no angle, can’t cross a ball worth a damn and have no idea what to do after getting passed the half field line. Substitutions are just as ineffective.

With Queiroz at the helm, Portugal can’t win against average teams, much less against a team of Brazil’s class. What a clinic these Brazilian guys put on today. The famous “duel” between Káka and Ronaldo was one sided; Káka was obviously the most valuable of the two.

By the way Danny and Simão scored for those who care to keep track of what doesn’t matter.

We’re in trouble Portugal. Let’s rally beind Queiroz and see if he can pull a rabit out of a hat.

Ok, Queiroz is making some changes against Brazil. Gone from the starting line up is Hugo Almeida, finally!

In, after a long absence is Tiago (Inter) in midfield. Danny will play up front with Ronaldo and Simão.

The starting line ups are as follows:

PORTUGAL – Quim; Bosingwa, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Paulo Ferreira; Maniche, Deco, Tiago; Danny, Cristiano Ronaldo, Simão.

BRAZIL – Júlio César; Maicon, Luisão, Thiago Silva , Cléber; Gilberto Silva, Elano, Anderson, Kaká; Robinho,  Luís Fabiano.

Let’s hope Queiroz has found the formula. In my opinion this is a strong team.