Talking to the Doll

Sidnei on the Way to Benfica

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:53:00 +0000

Sidnei is the next Benfica signing, according to "A Bola". A 19 year old center back ailing from Porto Alegre's Internacional. Sidnei is set to sign a 5 year contract contract valid until June 2013, the Portuguese Daily also reports.

I don't know much about Sidnei, but from what I have read, Sidnei is a young budding talent who was on the radar for many European giants.

What pleases me most about this acquisition, if it's confirmed, is the fact that up until now there wasn't much talk about Sidnei, and that is the way acquisitions should be done, despite sometimes no being that easy.
With Sidnei's arrival we can be certain that Zoro is on his way out, and barring a Katsouranis exit, Edcarlos might also be at risk.

As i posted yesterday, the squad was reduced by six players today, Andre Carvalhas(Rio Ave), Miguel Rosa(Estoril), Ruben Lima(D Aves), Romeu Ribeiro(D Aves)were all on their way to their new destinies, as well as the juniors Abel Pereira and Joao Pereira who will be with the Junior team.

New Look For Talking to the Doll

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:53:00 +0000

Just in time for the new season, Talking To The Doll takes on a new look.
I wanted to give the blog a distinct look, with its own feel and personality.
I struggled a bit with my background image today, but it seems to be all good now.

Expect the content to be along the same lines, with game previews and reviews as the one thing you can expect, along with current events presentation and analysis in between.

I tested solely on Firefox browsers in a wide screen resolution format.

If you notice, on your address bar, the blog's address has also changed to its own domain - www.talkingtothedoll.com. Visitors are being directed from the old address.

I hope you enjoy the new look, and know that i appreciate everyone of you coming by and checking it out.

Hopefully this season will be filled with success, so that we can have a joyful voyage until May.

Enjoy and once again Thanks.

Alfredo Fumacas aka Fumas
-END-

Pre-Season Math

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:56:00 +0000

With all the players having returned from their vacations it's time to start taking a look at the squad and Quique's desired number - 25.
Despite the squad being far from being closed, we can already start seeing a nucleus group and a "bubble" group.

The Squad is currently 36 players deep, Quique is working with 35 players(Dimaria is away), but 2 of them seem to already have "marching" orders, Andre Carvalhas and Miguel Rosa, both players have already been announced to be going on loan to Rio Ave and Estoril respectively, but up until Sunday, were still with the squad. Here are the other 33:

GOALIES
Quim, Moreira, Bruno Costa

DEFENDERS
(Right)Nelson, Luis Felipe.
(Center)EdCarlos, Luisao, Miguel Victor, David Luiz, Zoro.
(Left)Leo, Sepsi, Jorge Ribeiro.

MIDFIELDERS
(Right)Maxi, Nuno Assis, Balboa.
(Center)Binya, Petit, Fellipe Bastos, Amorim, Carlos Martins, Aimar, Yebda, Katsouranis.
(Left) (DiMaria)

FORWARDS
Makukula, Cardozo, Dabao, Nuno Gomes, Urreta, Mantorras

Also working with the squad are Juniors Joao Pereira, Abel Pereira and U-16 player Nelson Oliveira

These players make up the 33 players that have not been "cut" from the team.
Assuming, that all 3 Junior players are going back to the formation teams, we are left with 30 + DiMaria = 31.
Taking into consideration that Benfica wants at least 3 more players, the number is back up to 34, 9 more than the number established by Quique.

The 3 players yet to come will most likely be a left midfielder and an immediate impact forward. As far as the third one, it'll depend a lot on what goes on and who figures in Quique's expendable list.
For example, Katsouranis has expressed the desire to leave, if Katsouranis leaves, Benfica will most likely be going after a center back, which is most likely the position in which Katsouranis would be playing this coming year.
I think out of all the sectors that position could really use a bit more of depth, and with Katsouranis leaving that would be the most obvious "hole" to close. One other possibility, and this has been talked about by the media, is another goalie, which makes absolutely no sense to me. Codina was the name talked about, but Benfica has taken a couple steps back as the Real Madrid keeper is too expensive for what Benfica wants to spend. Besides, with Quim and Moreira both healthy, we would have similar situation to last season's. Let's keep the youngster Buno Costa in as the 3rd keeper, and if that isn't an option, Moretto, who is a Benfica player should be taken into consideration. It makes no sense to spend a mill on a keeper, give him a high salary, only to see him sit disgruntled a la Hans Jorg Butt.

ON THE BUBBLE

Luis Felipe - Probably the most detested player by Benfica fans on the squad. With Balboa at right mid, Maxi would automatically be slotted for the right back position, hence pushing Luis Felipe out.

Zoro - Didn't impress last season, and even figured on the "to loan" list at the halfway point, it'll be hard to believe that Zoro can convince Quique, but you never know, and that's why he is on the bubble plus his high salary would make him a great candidate to go on loan.

Miguel Victor - After being on loan at Desportivo das Aves for the second half of the season, Portugal's U-20 captain is looking for a spot in this year's squad, his youth and top level inexperience would be the only thing that could see him go out on loan again, the talent is there, and his loan would greatly depend on whether Benfica brings in a center back or not.

Sepsi - With the arrival of Jorge Ribeiro and Leo as the best left back in the league, Sepsi will most likely be on the outs, unless Quique decides to use him to add depth to the left midfield, it's always an option.

Binya - Was an important part of last season's squad, filling in for Petit when he was injured, but this year the competition is much tougher. Ruben Amorim, Yebda, Petit, Fellipe Bastos, are all players that can play that position, and Binya will most likely end up being very useful to whatever team he goes to, he is still young and can still learn a lot from a loan experience.

Nuno Assis - Assis seems like a man out of place on the right wing, he was not able to put a consistent 90 minutes together last season, and seems to be going to waste on the outside of the midfield. With Aimar and Martins entering the squad, he finds himself, once again, Blocked from his natural position. There are talks about him going back to Guimaraes on a loan.

Yu Dabao - With the forward line being over populated, Dabao sees himself running out of room again. Just like Miguel Victor, he was on loan at Desportivo das Aves, and it seems like he will be going on loan again, especially if Benfica signs the forward they have been hunting for.

Urreta - Unless Quique feels he can add depth to the attacking line, the Uruguayan U-20 will most likely be going on loan for the season.

Mantorras - In my opinion Mantorras should go out on loan. He claims he can play the 90 minutes, yet Benfica rarely starts him, choosing to have him come off the bench. He is the eternal substitute. I know that he has some kind of a pact with LFV, which almost makes him untouchable, but at this point, Benfica really needs to evaluate whether Mantorras can be useful to the team and to what extent. A loan period could serve as that evaluation.

Makukula - Came in last season by the hand of Camacho, and quickly dug himself into a hole, he went from being called to the national team to riding the pine at Benfica, which ultimately cost him the call up to the Euro, off course this isn't anyone's fault but his own, when he failed to impress Camacho then Chalana. He has been working hard, and Benfica's 4m and change investment in him, might be the deciding factor on him staying.

So here are the 10 players who, in my opinion, are on the fence. Their chances of making the squad are dependent on the players yet to come, and the possible exit by Katsouranis, who at this point, is far from having every club in Europe knocking at his door, not to mention Benfica will not let him out for a supposed 10m.
Both Quique and Rui Costa have stated that they only want players that want to be at Benfica which would make a Katsouranis loan move a more viable option.

Benfica will play BlackBurn Rovers this Friday for the Guadiana tournament, in a game where Quique will start "tightening" up the squad to his liking. Benfica will teh play Sporting 2 days later, so expect to see 2 distinct but balanced 11s with the starters going more minutes then they went against Estoril.

I'm also pretty sure the squad will go down in numbers by the time the team travels to Algarve for this weekends games.

Joao Vieira Pinto

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:05:00 +0000

Joao Vieira Pinto put an end to his professional carreer by announcing his retirement today. He wore the Benfica jersey for 8 years until he was forced out of the club by Vale Azevedo and Jupp Heynkes. The latter part of those 8 years are considered by many to be the Benfica's darkest hour, but through it all, Joao Pinto always seemed to carry the team and prevent it from falling deep into the abyss.

Perhaps his most memorable moment was the game in which he scored a hat-trick against Sporting, the famous 6-3, in a game that gave Benfica the title that year. On a national team level, Joao Pinto was the flag bearer for the golden generation, the only Portuguese player to win 2 consecutive U-20 World Cups. Who can forget his diving header against England in Euro 2000. There were lows too, the time he punched Argentinean referee in the Korea WC. Five Lows like that could never overshadow Joao Pinto's career and what he gave Portuguese futebol and Benfica.
Thank You Joao Pinto, it was a pleasure.

-END-

Adu to AS Monaco

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:19:00 +0000

Benfica has just confirmed on their website that Freddy Adu will be going on loan to AS Monaco. At the end of his loan period, Monaco will have the option to buy Freddy, for an undisclosed amount.

If you read this blog on a reg, you know how much i am against this move. I strongly believe Freddy has a spot in Quique's squad, and it's a shame that Benfica does not think so.
I much rather have liked seeing Adu playing for a middle of the table team in the Liga Sagres, to get experience, but we can't forget that this is Nike's American Soccer poster boy. What exposure would he have playing for a middle of the table team? Monaco finished 12th last year, but is a club with a decent European reputation.
In my opinion, the French Ligue 1 is a little below the Portuguese Liga Sagres, but the exposure for Freddy will be there in the form of playing time, despite Monaco not competing in any European competitions this year.
The other thing i have written about, was the fact that Monaco would be able to handle Freddy's wages, something that a team in the Liga Sagres would not, hence lifting that obligation from Benfica, who at this point is still looking to acquire 2 more players. From what i understand Freddy was making around 500Gs a year, that payroll room will come in handy.

I have to say it's a sad day for me to see Freddy go this way, his brief stint at Benfica, and his sudden disappearance from the call up sheet, continues to be a big mystery to many, myself included. As a Portuguese living in the US, having Freddy at Benfica brought on a sense of pride, and i was pulling very hard for Freddy to be successful, just like many other Benfiquistas living in the US.

From this point on there's no turning back, I don't know exactly what the value of the buy out will be, but if a club puts a player out there with those conditions, the message that the club sends is very clear - We don't need you, go out there and whore yourself out, so that you can make us some money.
It's as clear as day, and regardless on whether Monaco will exercise their buyout option come next June, how many players have returned from such a period and the club took them back with open arms?
Diego Souza is the most recent example, he was one of the best players of the Brasileirao, Gremio could not come up with the money at the end of the option period, yet, Benfica kept him on the hook, until they got the money they wanted.

To conclude, I wish nothing but the best to Freddy, and hope he can continue to mature and grow as a player, so that he can achieve his potential and meets a lot of what's expected from him.
I have very little hope that we can see Freddy in a Benfica jersey again.

The Season's First Look

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:55:00 +0000

Benfica played their first game of their 08/09 season tonight against Estoril. A game that served more as an observation on how the players have evolved since the start of the preseason. The 1-1 result means nothing this early, especially when there are important players that will be making their 08/09 pre season debut on Monday.

Quique's first 11 was the following:
Moreira in goal, Luis Felipe, Miguel Victor, Edcarlos and Leo in the back. Yebda, Carlos martins, Balboa and Assis as the middle 4. Dabao and Makukula up front. Amorim, came in the middle of the first half for Yebda who had physical problems.

In the second half:
Moreira, Luis Felipe, Joao Pereira, Edcarlos, Sepsi in the back. Binya, Assis, Ruben Amorim, Andre Carvalhas composed the midfield. Urreta and the 16 year old Nelson Oliveira were up front.

Also getting minutes were Miguel Rosa

It's difficult and unfair to formulate any type of an appreciation of the team's performance in their first outing. For one, not all the players are available yet, and it's the first time the team plays a competitive game this season. The most important thing, from a fans perspective, was to get a first look at the new players, and Quique’s first formation and desired style of play.

The new players:

Yebda, showed some promise with his style of play and his intimidating stature. A player of his stature and strength is very important in the defensive midfield sector, not only because of the amount of physicality the position requires, but also because, having an aerial presence is an added bonus, and Yebda has both. He scored Benfica's goal, meeting a Carlos Martins free kick.

Balboa - 45 interesting minutes, where his speed seemed to be the most impressive of his traits. He is a classic winger, who stretches the field with his positioning and his deep incursions, something that Benfica lacked last season.

Martins - Martin's playing style is no mystery to Benfica fans, he is a transition player who gets a large amount of touches on the ball, especially when the team tries to build up. Not a bad outing for Martins who, like everyone else, still needs more time to find the competitive rhythm.

Ruben Amorim - Came in for the Yebda, who had some physical limitations, and showed some a good touches this early in the season. Like Martins, Amorim deserves no introduction on his playing style and what he brings to the team. He will be deep in the thick of the fight, trying to get a starting spot in Quique's 11. It will not be easy, but having a player like Amorim on the bench is a clear plus, as he is capable of offering the same type of level off the bench.

UrretaVizcaya - As with all South American players, he will need time to adapt to the European game, but you can tell that there is talent there. He will need to go through the adaptation period first. That alone will be the big test for the 19 year old Uruguayan, whether that period will be at Benfica or somewhere else this season, remains to be seen.

Another player that stood out was Carvalhas, who despite being on his way to Rio Ave, showed that he has enough arguments to fight for a spot in the squad until the very last cut.

To finish, still a lot of work to be done for Quique, both on the tactical aspect and the physical aspect, as expected this early in the season.
With the return of the remainder of the players on Monday, the squad will start taking shape, and will be trimmed down to a more manageable number. Benfica has yet to close their squad, and Quique has stated that the players yet to be acquired are as relevant as Pablo Aimar, key word “relevant”.
Benfica’s next game will be on the 25th of July against Blackburn Rovers, for the Guadiana Tournament. We will certainly see a much different Benfica team then the one we saw tonight.

Another Young Talent

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:46:00 +0000

Ivan Santos, former Boavista winger, has agreed to a deal with Benfica for 3 years. Santos, 19, rescinded his contract with Boavista and was lured to Estadio da Luz by Benfica.
Ivan Santos has been a fixture in the Portuguese "U" national teams. He had 9 appearances for Boavista last year in the Bwin, and clocked in another 10 in the Liga Intercalar.
Considering the amount of players Benfica has between the ages of 18 and 20, i'd say a nice foundation is being set, and the future looks bright.

DiMaria, Adu, Carvalhas, Fellipe Bastos, Urreta, Romeu Ribeiro, Miguel Rosa, Miguel Vitor are all players that fall in between the ages of 18 and 20.

Santos should be going on loan to another Liga Sagres team, in order to log the minutes he requires to progress and mature.
Santos will put black on white after the prerequisite physical on Monday.

Welcome and Best of Luck

-END-

Benfica News 7/18/08

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:06:00 +0000

On the first day of work for Pablo Aimar, there were also a few other returns. Luisao, Katsouranis and Maxi all made their 08/09 pre-season training debut, one day before Benfica's first game of the pre-season against Estoril.

According to news reports, Katsouranis arrived with an offer from an European club, but Benfica will be very reluctant in letting Katsouranis go for anything less than the price they are asking, somewhere around 10m.
Rui Costa as mentioned that Benfica only wants players that want to be at Benfica, and Quique Flores reinforced the same statement this morning when he was asked about Katsouranis, stating that Benfica will not try to convince any player to stay at Benfica. Players should feel drawn to the club’s projects and ambitions, and should have the desire to defend the sacred mantle.

The remaining missing players, with the exception of Freddy Adu will report to work on July 21st.
A time where Quique will get the finally observe them. More “cuts” are expected to come by the end of next week.

Freddy Adu was officially named to the US Olympic squad, and won’t be available for a return until mid August. As I had written on the post before this one, the USMOT will be entering camp this coming week in California, then flying out to Hong Kong on Friday(7/25) where they will play 2 tuners(Cameroon and Ivory Coast Olympic squads) before they open the tournament against Japan August 7th.

In a 30 minute interview conceded to RTP, Luis Felipe Vieira stated that there are still 1-2 more important players to close, before the squad is closed, but was not specific in positions.
In this interview, which the main topic was the “golden whistle “case, Luis Felipe Vieira also admitted that there were 3 candidates for the coaching job, Quique, Queiroz and Eriksson.

From the practice field……

All four new faces warmed up with the squad, but did their own pre-season workout, which involved endurance and flexibility training.

Nelson, Quim, Fellipe Bastos and David Luiz also did specific work, part of their recuperation process from their respective injuries.

Despite their loan announcement, Carvalhas, Romeu Ribeiro, Ruben Lima and Miguel Rosas, continue to work under Quique. There’s also talk of Carvalhas possibly staying, as the winger position is a bit light, with both DiMaria and Adu away on Olympic duty, and Coentrao now out of the picture.

Don’t look now but 16 year old forward Nelson Oliveira, is still with the squad, and has been impressing Quique.

In today’s short scrimmage Quique used the following 11s :

Bruno Costa; Luís Filipe, Miguel Vítor, Edcarlos and Léo; Nuno Assis, Binya, Carlos Martins and André Carvalhas; Makukula e Nélson Oliveira.

Moreira; Romeu Ribeiro, Abel Pereira, João Pereira e Sepsi; Balboa, Ruben Amorim, Yebda and Ruben Lima; Yu Dabao and Urreta.

Looking at these 11s, and assuming that Quique will not risk using Nelson, Quim, Fellipe Bastos and David Luiz, we can see a starting XI very close to the first one mentioned above, with the exception of Moreira being in goal instead of Bruno Costa and a few other tweaks. Expect a whole new 11 for the second half, or variations of the first 11, for Quique to observe certain players together.
Don’t expect to see any of the players that started training today in tomorrow’s match.

As far as I know the game will be televised by RTP, and you can probably catch it on your usual P2P portals, if you do not have access to RTPi.

At Last.... Aimar

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:21:00 +0000

#PHOTOs -Francisco Leong AFP/Getty

Benfica officially introduced Pablo Aimar today.

According to the values reported to the CMVM (Portuguese Stock Exchange Authority) Aimar cost Benfica 6.5million euros and has signed a contract valid for 4 years with a rescission clause of 20 million.

Also involved in the deal was Fabio Coentrao, who didn’t even have time to smell the tulips.
As you may recall, Benfica had sent Coentrao to Feyenoord on loan for this upcoming season just a few days ago, but the young winger got a different set of orders last night, as he was about to sign the loan contract with Feyenoord.
There’s no word yet, on whether he will be going on loan to Zaragoza, or if he will be a Zaragoza player, but I have to believe he will be a Zaragoza player, being that the values first talked about for Aimar were in the high 7s. In the post right below this one, I alerted to the possibility that a player(s) might be thrown into the Aimar deal, to make the deal stronger, and I guess that is what happened.

After completing the customary, medical exams today(his second one this week) Aimar will join his new teammates on the practice field on Friday.

Pablo Aimar has the qualities to become the best Benfica acquisition (with the exception of Rui Costa) of the past 10 years. Let’s hope he can remain injury free and can be consistent. I wish him nothing but the best, Welcome.

I can't help but to give praise to Rui Costa, who, despite still being a rookie at his new functions, was instrumental in Aimar's signing. He will make mistakes, and he will learn from them, but one thing is for sure, Rui Costa wants the best for Benfica. In a list of the biggest Benfiquistas of all time, Rui Costa would figure in the top 10. Let's give him time, the benefit of the doubt and the same support we have given him over the years.

From the practice field…

Both Fellipe Bastos and Nelson, who had been absent from the practice field yesterday, returned today at full strength. Nelson complained of muscular pain in his thigh, while Fellipe Bastos stayed in the gym to nurse a sprained ankle. Most of the “internationals” should be reporting to camp as early as Friday, with the last arrival being Cardozo, who has been authorized by the club to report on Monday.

Returning should be, Luisao, Marc Zoro, Katsouranis, Petit, Nuno Gomes, Maxi(arrived in Lisbon today), Mantorras, Freddy Adu and Jorge Ribeiro, who will most likely be introduced as a Benfica player between today and Monday.

That is the list of returning players, the biggest question mark falls on Freddy Adu, who is part of the USMNT Olympic team, I haven’t seen an official training camp schedule issued by the USSF yet, but from what I understand, the team will be entering camp this coming week in California,(Stanford U), then flying out to Hong Kong on Friday(7/25) where they will play 2 tuners(Cameroon and Ivory Coast Olympic squads) before they open the tornament agains Japan August 7th.

Little is known as to where Freddy will end up this season, with the transfer window closing up on August 31st, Benfica will have plenty of time to make a decision based on their needs. As it stands right now, the front line is loaded, the middle of the park is loaded, but the left wing needs depth.

Aimar in Red

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:57:00 +0000

According to all 3 major Portuguese futebol dailies, Aimar, Benfica and Zaragoza, have reached an agreement for the Argentine to wear the sacred mantle next season.
Details are not yet available, but there were reports that Newcastle had made an offer for Aimar, that was around the 8.8mm, little is known about what Benfica did to lock up the deal.

As I write this, there's no official announcements by both clubs on their official sites. But according to media reports, Aimar will be introduced tomorrow.
Benfica will need to comunicate Aimar's acquisition to the Portuguese stock market authorities, only then will we have more precise information about the deal, which wouldn't surprise me if it involved player(s). According to reports, Rui Costa was authorized to up Benfica's offer to 8.5mm by the SAD, in order to lock up the deal.

-END-

4 More Dropped

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:14:00 +0000

Benfica has announced that they will be loaning out 4 more players out of the group that has been part of pre-season training.
Andre Carvalhas who was last season's best junior player, and had a realistic chance of making the senior squad, will be going on loan to Rio Ave, coincidentally, Benfica's first opponent of the season.

Also going on loan are Ruben Lima, Romeu Ribeiro and Miguel Rosa, all to Desportivo das Aves. Lima and Ribeiro had already spent the second half of last season at Desportivo das Aves.

Still on the dropping theme, Paulo Jorge, Manú and João Coimbra, were let go by Benfica and have signed with Maritimo. Details are a bit sketchy, but the media claims that these players were involved in a settlement for both Manduca and Makukula, who transferred to Benfica from Maritimo, despite the last one being a Sevilla player.
All 3 had contracts with Benfica, and were on loan last season.

Binya made his return to Benfica yesterday, and was the new face at camp. Binya certainly has his work cut out, as he faces stiff competition for the defensive midfielder position. He will ultimately be fighting for a spot in the squad, and then work from there. Will his work ethic and his longthrows be enough to keep him?

Cardozo, whose daughter was born prematurely, has been authorized to return on July 21st. His orders were to return on the 18th, but he requested to remain in Paraguay to be with his wife and newborn.

Fish and House Guests.....

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:40:00 +0000

............Stink after 3 days!
This is the way i feel about this whole Aimar soap opera.
Putting aside what we have read in the media, who have been scripting the story for a good 2 weeks, why hasn't Benfica been able to close this player?
Regardless whether i am privy, or know, all that goes into acquiring a player, I think this story has dragged out long enough, and is beginning to smell.
Word today is that Rui Costa traveled to Spain because he feels something has gotten in the middle of the negotiation process.
Come on already.

I really hate to make comparisons, but our rivals close on players way before the media has a chance to find out all of the details. How do they do it? No one really knows, the truth is that the names connected to Benfica, have by far dwarfed any names connected with porto or Sporting, despite the latter one not being in the best conditions to acquire many players. I understand that speculation and "buckshot" is all part of the silly season, and even that Benfica news sells papers, but how do we leak so much information? And if we're not leaking, how do we allow the media to place 4-5 players a week in our "interested" list? Refuting some while maintaining silence about others. This silence, taking into consideration that we deny some, can, and is construed has a type of admission.

I don't quite understand how Benfica's media relations department works, and what their M.O. is in regards to the media, but i think it's time for Benfica to regain control of what is being put out there.

Let's close Aimar, and close the squad. The squad should be completely closed by August 1st.

Feeling Froggy

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:45:00 +0000

According to several media sources, a representative of AS Monaco, will be in Lisbon with the purpose of convincing Benfica to loan Freddy Adu. Not too long ago, Monaco's coach, Ricardo Gomes, publicly claimed that Adu was too expensive for the club, which leads me to conclude that the move would involve a loan period and not a sale.

I've written it here once before, and i'll write it again, if Benfica is to loan Adu, it'll be an incredible dumb move.
If in fact the whole purpose of Freddy going on loan is to give him an opportunity to play more, then why send him to another country, where he will have to go through the whole adaptation process again?

Logically, it makes no sense to me, but if you think dollars and cents, Monaco is very capable of paying Adu's wages for the year, and that would be the only way Benfica would let him go.
Loaning Adu to another Portuguese club, and have that club pay for his wages for the year, is something that would be very rare in Portugal, as most clubs, can not afford that type of an expense.
With Adu going on loan, and subsequently having his wages paid by another club, Benfica would free up some of their payroll.

We can't forget that, at this time it's all about Aimar, every effort is being made to bring the Argentine to Benfica.
We'll wait and see how the process plays out, but if you ask me, if in fact a Monaco representative is in Lisbon, conversations are already underway, and may very well reach a conclusion soon.

Word of advice to Benfica - see if you can include Marc Zoro in the deal, i heard he is one of Benfica's top earners, and he already speaks French.

"A Bola"(Portuguese)
"Tutto Mercato"(Italian)
"ASM Foot"(French)
L'Equipe

Fabio Coentrao on the way to Eredivise

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:27:00 +0000

Fabio Coentrao is this season's first cut. Having started the week with Benfica, Fabio Coentrao was not in Saturday's training session, an absence Benfica justified as "taking care of personal business". This morning Fabio Coentrao was once again absent, but the story was way different. Despite no official confirmation from Benfica, today's "A Bola" reports that Coentrao is on his way to Feyenoord to play in the Eredivise. Feyenoord will have the option of buying Coentrao for 5mm Euros at the end of the loan period(end of this season), this was the value stipulated by Benfica, who will also be free of the winger's wages for the year.

Coentrao was never able to impress Camacho last year and went on loan to Nacional mid-season last season. His high point of the season was when he scored 2 goals against porto at the dragao, wearing the stripes of Nacional. The 20 year old had high hopes for this year, hoping to make the Benfica squad, as a result of his good outings at Nacional, but apparently could not convince Quique.

Today's training session already counted with Urreta, who made his Benfica debut, and showed interesting qualities, according to the club's site.
DiMaria did not participate in today's training session, as he will be joining Argentina's Olympic squad this coming week.

The squad will enjoy the customary day off tomorrow. On Tuesday, we should see Aissa, as well of a lot of the internationals coming back.
No word on whether Adu will be one of the returning internationals. Being that DiMaria has already left to join Argentina, I'm thinking that the US's olympic camp should be starting up soon.

2 for Fighting

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:59:00 +0000

Arriving in Lisbon on Saturday and headed for Seixal were 2 players, Urretavizcaya and Hadja-Aissa.
Urreta who ails from Uruguay, has apparently signed a contract with Benfica for the next 5 seasons. Hadja-Aissa, has not yet signed a contract, and will enter Benfica's training camp in hopes of convincing Quique and ultimately Benfica, to sign him.

Jonathan UrretaVizcaya is an 18 year old forward, who scored 9 goals in 15 matches played of the Uruguayan Clausura. He is a young player that was called up to the senior team and made an impact, he is also a member of the Uruguayan U-20 squad. Not much else is known about this player, with the exception that at one point or another both porto and Braga had some kind of a contact with his representatives.
He comes into a sector of the field where there's already a lot of players competing for 2 spots. Certainly Quique will be looking closely at Urreta and see if he complements the 2 forwards he will start up front, or brings a certain dynamic that will provide depth balance to the forward sector. If he does not impress Quique, it's very probable that he will end up playing somewhere else in the Liga Sagres(new sponsor and league namer).

As for Hadj Aissa, he comes from Algeria and is a 24 year old offensive midfielder, who is the owner of the number 10 jersey, of Argelian club Es Setif. He is part of the Argelian national squad and has been nicknamed "Baggio", for similar styles of hair and playing. He was named the 2007 Arab Champions League MVP, and was considered the best young player of the Algerian league in 06. He has been linked to moves to Europe before, but this will be his first experience outside of Algeria. Certainly recommended by Eurico Gomes, who had previously pointed out Binya to Benfica.
Es Setife reports on their website that Benfica has bought Hadj Aissa for 400k euros, but word from the Portuguese media, is that he came on a trial period. Certainly that would be the amount Benfica would pay for the Arab Baggio, if he shows enough talent.

So, two for fighting for a spot on the 25 Quique has announced he will carry.
On the 18th of July Benfica will have all of the players at camp.
Let's hope that these two players can both be good enough to make the squad, on one side, the 18 year old still has a natural margin of progression,making him a prospect. On the other side, if Aissa's acquisition is dependent on his talent, then there's no loss, if he in fact does not impress Quique.

Wish them both the best.

You Tube

Simao switching Stripes?

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:15:00 +0000

I just read on a few Blogs that Simao is on the way to porto..
In a deal that will involve Lucho.

We'll wait and see.

-END-

And the Joke of the Week goes to......

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:16:00 +0000

Correio da Manha's first page today.

Inside they explain how Quique threatened to quit, if the team's administration didn't follow his requests to maintain both Diamantino and Chalana as auxiliary coaches, whose main functions are to work away from the practice field, specifically, observing future adversaries, and other player related issues.

I knew it wouldn't be too long before the media took the story and ran with it, after noticing that both Chalana and Diamantino weren't part of the training sessions.
It took them only a few days to cook up a destabilizing story, as they have many times before. Even after Quique's assistant, Pako Ayestaran,(questioned about Diamantino and Chalana) explained that there is a lot of work around a professional team these days, and that the games are not always won with the work that's done on the practice field but also off of it.

There's absolutely no merit to this story in my opinion, and i don't even care to discuss it any further.

I've said it once before, and i will say it again, Benfica, and everything Benfica sells papers.

As an example (regardless of what the covers are meant to imply)

A Bola
Had Benfica related covers on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Record
Out of their last 14 covers
Benfica was the central point of the 10 of them
Check it out for yourself here

Off course many of these covers are sensationalistic news, meant to make you buy the paper. These news also serve to condition the public's mind in relation to Benfica, targets and more targets, which are often followed by failures to sign, when in fact they are very far from the truth.
As a Benfica fan, you have to always think twice about what you are reading, and how much truth exists in these news. With so many names being thrown up in the air, and subsequent "failures" to sign, what conclusions can the average fan have? Certainly one of incompetence by Benfica, which is very far from the truth.

Think before you read, and think after you read, is the advice i offer.

DiMaria Speaks

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:19:00 +0000

In an interview conceded to Argentine Daily, La Capital, DiMaria makes a brief balance of the past year and his call up to the olympic team, so far so good. In this interview, DiMaria also states clearly that he plans on spending one more year at Benfica and then "jump" to either Spain or England - "Mi deseo es estar un año más en Portugal y después pegar el salto a Inglaterra o España" were his exact words.
Now hold up, while i have no problem with ambitious speeches and setting high goals for yourself, I think DiMaria is getting a little ahead of himself.

Last season it was an up and down season for DiMaria, making 43 appearances out of 50 possible, 1 goal and 5 assists were his tallies(Freddy Adu did a lot more with 18% of DiMaria's minutes(2107 vs 393). If i had to rate his season, I'd give him a 7 out of 10, factoring in his young age, his first year in a different culture away from his family and a different style of futebol.
It's exactly these two things that DiMaria blames for his inconsistent season,along with the fact that he did not go through preseason(he was away at the U-20 World Cup, in the interview.
He also states in the interview, that his family joined him in Portugal in January and that helped him finish off the season on a high note, and that he did.

Bought by Benfica in one of those 2 for 1 deals, DiMaria was labeled as the next Simao, but came up very short in his first year. There's no doubt in my mind that the kid is talented, as soon as i laid eyes on him, and i could tell right away that he had considerable talent for his age, BUT, he still needs a lot of growing up to do.
At 20 years old, I think it's a bit premature to be thinking about playing in Spain or England in a years time, but then again, if he does in fact make the jump, it could only mean that he had a great year and that he helped Benfica in the process.

He is banking on having a great Olympic tournament and a good year with Benfica to make the jump, and while realistically at Benfica he will have plenty of chances to do that, I can't say the same thing about the Argentine Olympic squad, where he will most likely be blocked by much bigger household names such as Messi, Aguero, Mascherano, Sosa, Acosta, Banega, Riquelme and Lavezzi, only to name a few.

Word of advice - Come back with the gold medal, and some minutes. Get your head on straight, focus on improving your game from last season, help Benfica and be what the fans expect you to be - an instrumental player in a title contender team.
I'm not even asking that you surpass Simao, as he is a hard act to follow, just be Angel DiMaria, and help Benfica win the league title, once you have achieved that, then you can think about making the jump.
Until then my friend, you still have to run a lot of miles, make a lot of nets move and raise the stadium with your futebol. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot, your fair share of humble pie will also get you far.

It's sad that most foreign players, young and old, know nothing about the mystic of Benfica, and that is one of the reasons why Benfica has gone down over the years. I can bet that DiMaria knew very little about Benfica, except for what he might have read on wikipedia (I'm reaching here).
The truth is that, South American players see Portugal as a stepping stone, a gateway to the big leagues in Europe, it's not the club's prestige, it's not the famed sacred mantle, or even the money - even though the money is a little better than what they were making in South America - it's all about the trampoline. Off course, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, who hasn't worked at a shitty place, in order to get where they want to go? I certainly have.

Not too long ago, David Luiz spewed similar words to Terra, a Brazilian website, he then retracted them, claiming that it was a misunderstanding between him, his publicist and the aforementioned website.
It seems to me that maybe it's time for Benfica to start up a class on media relations for all the players, and while they're at it why not include Benfica Mystic 101 - a prerequisite for all young players, in the curriculum

Read the article here(Spanish Only)

The New Season Starts

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:41:00 +0000

Photos: via www.slbenfica.pt

The 08/09 season got underway this morning, with the customary pre-season physicals at the Caixa Futebol Campus in Seixal. 9 faces were absent from the first day of camp
Petit, Nuno Gomes, Katsouranis, Freddy Adu, Oscar Cardozo, Maxi Pereira, Luisao, Binya and Zoro. All of these players were involved in competition during the month of June, and are authorized to report to camp at a later date.

The players that were at Euro 08(Petit, Nuno Gomes, Katsouranis) have been allowed to report on July 18, as for the others, no formal date has been announced for their return, but their last competitive game was around the same time as Portugal's last game at the Euro (6/18). It wouldn't surprise me if that was also the date for the rest of them to report.
There hasn't been an official announcement made by Benfica on Jorge Ribeiro, but the media reports, that he has signed with Benfica. If that is the case, he will be at camp on the 18th of July.

On the injury front: Quim, Nelson and David Luiz are the first clinical cases of the new season. Quim fractured his hand during the Euro, Nelson has muscular problems, and Luiz is in the final stages of his recuperation from foot surgery, all should be ready to go by the time competitive games come around.

The Portuguese media reports that Quique will carry a squad of 25 players.

Here is the preliminary list of players that will be taking part of Benfica's training camp.

Keepers:
Quim (Portugal)
Moreira (Portugal)

Defenders:
Léo (Brasil)
David Luiz (Brasil)
Luisão (Brasil)
Edcarlos (Brasil)
Sepsi (Roménia)
Nelson (Portugal)
Luís Filipe (Portugal)
Miguel Vítor (Portugal), returns after being on loan at Desp. Aves
Zoro (Ivory Coast)
João Pereira (Portugal), júnior
Abel Pereira (Portugal), júnior

Midfielders:
Petit (Portugal)
Binya (Camaroon)
Katsouranis (Gréece)
Nuno Assis (Portugal)
Maxi Pereira (Uruguay)
Ruben Amorim (Portugal) ex-Belenenses
Di Maria (Argentina)
Romeu Ribeiro (Portugal), returns after being on loan at Desp. Aves
Hassan Yebda (France), ex-Le Mans
Carlos Martins (Portugal), ex-Recreativo Huelva
Javier Balboa (Spain), ex-Real Madrid
André Carvalhas (Portugal)
Fellype Bastos (Brasil)

Forwards:
Fábio Coentrão (Portugal), returns after being on loan at Nacional
Freddy Adu (US)
Makukula (Portugal)
Yu Dabao (China), returns after being on loan at Desp. Aves
Cardozo (Paraguay)
Nuno Gomes (Portugal)
Mantorras (Angola)
Nelson Oliveira (Portugal), first year Junior

34 in all. There's still a keeper missing from this list.

Meanwhile, the 08/09 league fixtures were drawn yesterday, and the luck of the draw
dictated that Benfica play both of their rivals by matchday 4.
i'll be doing a full analysis of the the league fixtures very soon.

Here They Are

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:58:00 +0000

Here are Benfica's 08/09 jerseys. They will be unveiled officially tomorrow afternoon.
Not too different from what i had posted here a few days ago. I really like the white ones. The black on the red one, gives it a more authoritative look.

-END-

First Week of Pre-Season Schedule unveiled

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:35:00 +0000

Benfica has unveiled the schedule for their first week of their 08/09 pre-season, as well as the friendly matches already confirmed.

7/8/08

9.30am - Pre-Season physicals – Caixa Futebol Campus

1.00pm - Press Conference: Coach Quique Sanches Flores
1.15pm - Press Conference: Player to be determined
5.45pm - Official unveiling of the 08/09 team uniforms,
Players chosen to demonstrate: Moreira, Di Maria, Fábio Coentrão, Makukula, Ruben Amorim.

7/9/08 – Estádio da Luz

9H00 – Continuation of pre-season medical exams

12.30pm – Press conference: Paco Ayesteran (Assistant Coach)
12.45pm – Press Conference: Player too be determined

7/10/08 Caixa Futebol Campus

10.00am - Training session open to the public and to the press

12.45pm – Press Conference: Player to be determined

7/11/08 Caixa Futebol Campus

10.00am - Training session. First 15 minutes open to the media.

12.45pm - Press Conference: Player to be determined

7/12/08 Caixa Futebol Campus

10.00am – Training session. Open to the press and general public.

12.45pm - Press Conference: Player to be determined

7/13/08 Caixa Futebol Campus

10.00am – Training session. Open to the press and general public.

12.45pm - Press Conference: Player to be defined.

Benfica training camp will take place during the last week of July and the first week of August.

Pre-Season Games

7/19/08: Estoril 9pm

Guadiana Tournament:
7/25: Blackburn 9.15pm
7/27: Sporting 9.15pm

Guimarães Tournament:
8/2/08: PSG 9.15pm
8/4/08: V. Guimaraes 7pm

8/9/08: 08/09 Squad Introduction game: Feyenoord 7.45pm

Eusébio Cup
8/15/08: Inter de Milão 7.45pm

** All times are local times **
** Source : www.slbenfica.pt **

Ruben Amorim Introduced

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:15:00 +0000

The first signing of the season, was finally introduced today.
23 year old midfielder Ruben Amorim, was acquired from Belenenses and returns to Benfica after leaving the club during his formation.
Amorim who represented Portugal's u-21 squad, had 30 appearances for Belenenses last season, and was one of their most consistent players. He can play right mid, right back or interior mid.

ZeroZero.pt Ruben Amorim Stats from 08/09

-END-

It's Adu time

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:56:00 +0000

There's been a lot of talk about the future of Freddy Adu at Benfica. It seems that almost every week there are articles in the Portuguese media placing Adu out of Benfica. From England to Italy, and now France, Freddy has been one of the favorite targets of speculation by the Portuguese media, perhaps rationalizing that there will be no room for Freddy in Quique's squad, and ass-u-me that Benfica will ship out Freddy to a club where he can further mature. Both England and Italy's interests have "died" down, today it was Monaco's turn to publicly claim that Freddy Adu is too expensive, and does not figure in their plans.

Benfica's season will start on Tuesday with the customary medical exams, and there is no doubt in my mind that Freddy Adu will be there, as excited as he was last summer when he first started his Benfica adventure, but a lot more maturer and much more versed on what it is to be part of a professional soccer team.

With a year under his belt, Freddy has grown as a player and as an individual. Living away from his family for the first time, in a foreign country no less, was a coming of age for Freddy, a step towards adulthood. On the field, his growth was visible to the naked eye, and if there were any doubts about that growth, both Freddy and USMNT coach, Bob Bradley, have been public about his growth and maturity on the field. Freddy has been a permanent fixture on the USMNT, and has earned call up, after call up, regardless of whether he got much playing time during the second half of the season or not.

There are no sure things in life, and realistically, despite my own beliefs, it's too early to tell whether Freddy will make the squad or not. If you ask me, i won't hesitate in saying that he will, but I'm not Quique.
With a new coach, new methods and new style of playing, there are a lot of variables that are thrown into the equation. If the only prerequisite was talent, Freddy would be in.

From what i understand, the squad will not go over 25 players,(it might even be around the 23), but it won't be until the 3rd week of training camp, that the final squad will start to take shape. Which brings us to another issue, with both Freddy and DiMaria being part of their Olympic squads, which would see them out on international duty, as early as the end of that 3rd week(end of July), for a good 4 weeks(depending how deep their teams go), how will this affect Freddy's chances? After all, his exclusions from Benfica's game call up sheets, came after his Olympic Qualifying national team duty. Sure there are many theories out there on why Freddy was excluded from the game rosters, but it all tracks back to that month long absence.
No one on the outside really knows what happened, and with the exception of Chalana claiming that Adu was being left out because of a technical option, there's nothing concrete that explains his omission.
Putting aside the theory that, in his first year, Freddy had a contract stipulation that would see him getting a hefty bonus if he hit the 20 game mark(he played 19), Freddy has a lot to prove to Quique, as he was clearly not part of Chalana's plans in the second half of the season.

One thing is for sure, you can count on Freddy working as hard as he's ever worked, to impress Quique and to win a spot on the team. Behind him, are the novelties of playing for a big club and living in a different country. Proving his worth, on a fresh clean slate, is all that should be on Freddy's mind.

The final roster deadline is August 31st, plenty of time for Freddy to impress Quique, have a good Olympic tournament and make the team. Although the time in which Freddy will be absent is a time when Quique will be fine tuning the team, so a crucial time, whether that will hurt his chances or not, remains to be seen.

Personally, i think he will make the squad and double both his appearances and goal output this year. He is only 19, and Benfica would be the dumbest club in the world to let a talent like Adu go. As far as the loan option, i believe that Freddy is too hot of a commodity to go on loan, but i wouldn't rule out a domestic loan. I think an international loan would not make any sense, as Benfica would be putting a youngster through another adaptation period in another country, which would be detrimental to his development. International loans usually happen when a team is trying to market their player to potential buyers, and this is not where Benfica is with Freddy Adu.

Freddy has publicly stated that he intends to remain at Benfica and his agent has told media inquiries, that Freddy is happy at Benfica and wants to remain with the club.
Come Tuesday, you can bet your ass he will be ready to go, 1 year under his belt and adaptation behind him, it's Adu time!

08/09 Benfica Jerseys

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:42:00 +0000

Via Magico SLB Blog

For those of you who do not know, the 3 stars above the emblem is something new. Each star represents 10 domestic championships won. Benfica has won the most domestic championships with 31.

The alternative white makes a return after a long absence, with the exception of the Centenary jersey. I really like the white one, i'm a little turned off by the black on the main jersey, but still a very nice jersey

Can't wait to get my hands on one.

-END-

Urretaviscaya - Mr Urreta to You!

noreply@blogger.com (Fumas) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Although it has yet to be confirmed by Benfica, every Portuguese sporting news medium is reporting that 18 year old Jonathan Urretaviscaya has reached an agreement with Benfica to wear the sacred mantle for the next 5 seasons. The Uruguayan forward stood out in the last Uruaguayan Clausura scoring 9 goals in 15 matches.

Also according to those reports Urreta was offered to porto and braga and both clubs declined. Last year the youngster was in England trying out for Tottenham, but a labor issue prevented him from staying.

Meanwhile, both Micolli's and Aimar's acquisitions seem to be taking step backwards.
Palermo's president, has stated that the "little bombardeer" is not going anywhere. The start of the negotiations for Micolli has already cost one of Palermo's sporting directors his job.

On the Aimar front, there are several clubs interested in his services, and willing to pay more than what Zaragoza and Benfica have been haggling about, namely Everton.

If you ask me, you can say goodbye to both of those players. We still need good reputable players for those 2 positions. In my opinion, Benfica could close up shop after those two acquisitions, a "10" and a forward, would bring a nice balance to the squad. In the event that Benfica can't close on those 2 needs, both Martins and Urreta can hopefully be solutions.

With Spanish clubs still on vacation, Benfica will have to wait a little longer to see what names will be on the transfer lists from La Liga. Soldado has been a target for a while, it wouldn't surprise me if he takes center stage after Aimar goes away. Lets also not forget the 2 player option we have from the Atletico Madrid ranks, which was part of the Simao deal. Is it possible that even with slim pickins, we can't get anyone better than Maxi?