Why the best player of this season's Portuguese championship won't start at the Euro

Lately there have been numerous opinion-makers about how ludicrous it is that Hugo Viana won't start at next summer's Euro (or at least be called up to the Selecção).Indeed, the Braga midfielder has most likely been the best player in the whole league and it only makes sense that the question of his absence is posed.

In football, as in so many other areas in life, context is everything. Whether (s)he's a club manager or the coach of a national team, it's absolutely critical that the players hired/called up are chosen according to the manager's ideas, and not just because they excelled at their (previous) club. Otherwise, (s)he would be left with a bunch of players with little or nothing in common, creating chaotic scenarios that we see in football far too often (Gian Piero Gasperini's case at Inter immediately springs to mind*), in which the manager has the ungrateful task of being forced to try to concoct some game plan that accommodates everyone. In case you're wondering, that's the ideal way to ruin a team and their manager - just look at how Real Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester City ended up spending so much money in unsuccessful newcomers (from Wayne Bridge to Shevchenko or Torres, from Robinho to Sahin, from Carroll to Charlie Adam), most of which they couldn't get rid of. As for national teams, just think of why the performances from Messi, Ronaldo, Lampard or Gerrard (to name but a few) draw so much criticism from their own fans.

As decisive as Viana has been in Braga's exhilarating season, it's important to analyse if his traits, tendencies and overall game are suitable to Paulo Bento's ideas. Regardless of how much you may or may not agree with Bento's ideas, it's still up to him to make the decision in the team's best interest and, therefore, there will be no discussion of his perspectives.

1. Braga's tactics. Leonardo Jardim's Braga usually play a 4x2x3x1, with Custódio as the holding midfielder and Viana alongside him. Additionally, Lima is a fast, mobile forward and Mossoró provides the link-up between midfield and attack. Viana's precise passing offers an alternate route to Mossoró, allowing Braga to quickly break away by bypassing Mossoró with long passes to Lima or Alan. Defensively, Braga tend to be quite conservative, dropping back and usually creating two banks of four. There are numerous players around Viana to cover for him when he strays for an attack, for instance.

2. Portugal's tactics. Again, this issue does not revolve around whether this is the best option for Portugal, rather if Hugo Viana is a suitable pick. The Portuguese eleven has traditionally lined up in a 4x3x3 for quite some time now. Paulo Bento has kept João Moutinho and Raúl Meireles, with Miguel Veloso lately getting the nod ahead of Carlos Martins. It seems clear that Bento favours a team that is capable of exerting pressure higher up when necessary, a job for which Hugo Viana does not seem fit. Unlike Braga, Portugal does not have a typical regista, which means both midfielders (ahead of Veloso) must defend and attack - if we take a closer look, Bento has been calling up players capable of doing just that, such as Meireles, Moutinho, Ruben Micael or Ruben Amorim. Even Castro or André Santos have been called up precisely because they fit the bill. With so many offensive-minded players at the back (João Pereira and Fábio Coentrão, for instance) and wingers who rarely help out defensively (Nani, Ronaldo, Quaresma), it's up to the midfielders to provide coverage, and not the other way around.

3. Portugal's approach. It only seems logical to infer from Bento's stint so far that he will be going for a different approach from Carlos Queiroz. Instead of sitting and waiting for opponents, the Selecção will be looking to stifle opponents and play with a high(er) defensive line. Again, unfortunately this does not bode well for Hugo Viana, who is particularly prone to tiring out mid-game and does not usually do well in such sides. Besides, Viana is vulnerable to being muscled out of the park (the Besiktas tie is proof enough), a threat he will face on most matches of the European Championship.

Conclusion. All in all, I don't believe that this is a case where a stubborn coach does not want to admit he got it wrong at first, rather a case where the player does not go well with the team's tactics and approach. To put things in perspective, even though they are very important at their current clubs, it would be nonsensical for Barcelona to hire Luisão, Milan to hire James Rodríguez or Manchester City to hire Matías Fernández - the teams' principles and the players' features simply do not add up. Personally, I do believe that Hugo Viana could be a valuable asset (particularly for matches where Portugal may not be the clearly superior side), but I also think that his playing time would be limited.

*Gian Piero Gasperini was hired by Inter at the start of the current season, only to be fired after five (winless) matches. The oddness of it all was that he was dismissed precisely for implementing his game plan (known to everyone for being a high-pressure and very intense one), one that didn't fit the players he had at his disposal - mostly players on the wrong side of thirty.

In a wide open contest, Benfica win it very, very late

Starting line-ups

Last Saturday, Benfica and Braga played one of three crucial matches to decide the next Portuguese champions. Aware that FC Porto had won their match a few minutes earlier, both teams knew a win here was crucial. Therefore, we were presented not with a cagey match, rather with an unbelievably open match that either side could have won.

Last night was the ultimate example of what either team did best. On one hand, Benfica kept their proverbial foot on the throttle (perhaps overcompensating last Tuesday's blander performance against Chelsea) and played relentless attacking football from the get-go. On the other hand, Braga were their usual composed selves and defended bravely and were masters at taking advantage of breakaways.

As usual, Braga's defensive approach was an almost perfect 4x4x2

The Eagles tried to smother their opponent right from the start, with Rodrigo taking the place of the suspended Aimar. The Spaniard was actually one of the reasons why Benfica had such a good start to the match. Indeed, not only did he drop off Cardozo, but he kept drifting to the left, overloading the wing with Gaitán and Capdevila (who, playing in the position of Emerson, offered different options at left-back). Braga, in turn, clearly knew what they were doing and didn't think twice about counter-attacking mainly through their left side, exploiting the space that both Maxi Pereira and Witsel (playing higher up than usual, in a similar position to the home Zenit match) left behind.

Witsel (red circle) played higher than usual

Benfica were quite good at getting the ball back high up and managed to do it often, particularly during the first half. However, when Braga got past the first pressure area and the ball got to Hugo Viana, they were extremely dangerous and often found acres of space and few opponents in front of them. Oddly enough, such an open contest didn't produce many scoring chances during the first half.

After getting past Benfica's initial pressure, Braga often found huge pockets of space to exploit.
Notice how much space and how many opponents Mossoró has in front of him.

The second half was more of the same, only crazier. Neither team could afford to drop points (especially the hosts) and, therefore, it was not surprising to see more scoring chances in the second half's first 10 minutes than in the entire first half. Benfica were even more inclined to attack in numbers, opening up spaces behind them. With Alan less defensively cautious (he was not a winger, rather a right-midfielder for the first 45 minutes), it was very hard to tell who would get the first goal.

60 minutes into the match, Jorge Jesus' men started tiring out, encouraging the away team to try their luck and get something more than just a point from the game, turning it into a free-for-all scoring-chance galore. Ironically, the first goal would come from the penalty spot, after a reckless header from Elderson - hitting Bruno César rather than the ball. Four minutes later, Braga's left-back would redeem himself tapping in a ball that bounced off Artur, after he saved Hugo Viana's free kick. The last goal came in dramatic fashion on the 92nd minute, at a time when Braga were defensively unbalanced after replacing Mossoró, Alan and Hélder Barbosa.

In short, it was strange to see such an open match from two teams that have played so well in Europe (Benfica in this year's Champions League quarter-finals and Braga as last year's Europa League runners-up), which is usually an indicator of the ability to control a game.  In tactical terms, it was interesting to realise how much last night reflected a whole season for both teams - for better and for worse - and it didn't look like a typical title decider at all. If anything, it resembled the high-scoring matches between the top 5 of the Premier League.

The (rather unlikely) goal of the season?

Weekend highlights

As we enter crunch time on most leagues in Europe, the upcoming football weekend will be packed with exciting matches and unpredictable outcomes. Let's take a quick look at some of the most promising match-ups.

In Portugal, Braga leads the championship, one point ahead of FC Porto and two from Benfica. Benfica and Braga will meet on Saturday at Estádio da Luz, while FC Porto entertain Olhanense at home in a must-win match, a couple of hours earlier. Will Benfica be able to get ahead of Braga, who haven't defeated Benfica away in a few decades? Next week: Braga vs FC Porto and Sporting vs Benfica.

In Italy, there will be a classic match that's decisive for both teams playing it - Juventus vs Napoli. The bianconeri are four points off Milan and can't afford to waste any more points, if they're to win the league. Napoli, in turn, sit fourth (level with Udinese), three points behind Lazio, in a fight for the last Champions League place. This means that neither team will be able to do their usual thing of sitting and waiting.

In Spain, the most interesting match pits Barcelona against Bilbao, not least because only 48 will have elapsed since the Basques' amazing win (2-3) in Schalke's own turf. Since neither team can afford to drop points and both base their game on pressing the opponent, what will it mean? Will Bilbao change half the team and maintain their pressing? Will Barça?

Finally, in England, there's some expectation as to what Roberto Di Matteo will do in the match against Aston Villa. Will he change half the team that won in Lisbon last Tuesday or will he stick to his guns and leave his winning eleven untouched? On Sunday, Newcastle will face Liverpool, hoping Chelsea have dropped points the day before, so that they can keep dreaming about Champions League football for next year. As for Liverpool, having ensured the return to European competition via their League Cup win, they are clearly waiting for the season to finish.

Vintage Champions League

Starting line-ups

Benfica and Chelsea met yesterday at the Luz to see which team would go through to the next stage of this season's Champions League. What we saw was a typical display of this competition, with the underdogs playing better football and the powerhouse withstanding one attack after another (and almost conceding a goal), only to score in the last minutes of the match in a quick breakaway.

Benfica manager Jorge Jesus chose his expected eleven, with Gaitán and Bruno César on the wings, and Aimar behind Cardozo. On the contrary, Chelsea interim coach Roberto Di Matteo changed half his team and left Bosingwa, Cahill, Essien, Lampard, Sturridge and Drogba on the bench (with even Paulo Ferreira getting a highly unlikely nod), clearly stating his mission for this leg - and showing that every player in the Chelsea roster will have his moment.

Chelsea's game plan was clear: sit back, soak pressure, lots of time on the ball (even if it didn't necessarily mean progressing up the field with it) and a breakaway, where possible. With Benfica wary of exerting their usual full-on pressure on the opponent's defensive line, Chelsea defenders and midfielders had numerous moments where they could slow the tempo of the game, annoying the Eagles' fans. Di Matteo had clearly done his homework and played the more industrious and defensively aware Kalou on the left wing, in order to try to check Benfica's preferential attacking route - the right wing. Additionally, Torres was told to drift toward that space in order to take advantage of Maxi Pereira's bold positioning - and dragging his direct marker with him.

Torres connects to the long ball behind Maxi Pereira, dragging Luisão with him.
Kalou runs into the space his team-mate opened up.

Here, Luisão tries to get back to his position and Javi García compensates his team-mate.

This simple movement gives Meireles space to shoot (because he is already late, Maxi tries to take Javi García's place)

As usual, Benfica attacked down the right, with Gaitán, Witsel and Aimar all taking turns to push up, trying to drag both Meireles and Mikel out of position - which they did at times, even though not as frequently as expected. The problem was the infamous weakest link: the left wing. Even though Emerson has taken a lot of flack throughout the season, it hasn't always been his fault, and last night was just another example. Ramires, playing to the right, but narrower than Kalou, helped creating numerical superiority in midfield and often tried to take on Emerson, since Bruno César (and then Gaitán, after his permanent move to the left) rarely tracked back, leaving acres of space for the Blue Kenyan to exploit (see the yellow area in the top diagram). As it turned out, that would be Benfica's fatal mistake.

Ramires (nr. 7), a nominal right-winger, played narrow

Even though this seems a counter-attack, it is just normal play - and already Ramires has lots of space to run into

With both teams in similar formations, it would all come down to speed and creativity. Chelsea, as stated elsewhere, are much more calm and collected, and better organised, which meant they would be less vulnerable to breaking runs and counter-attacks. Paulo Ferreira was essential for the Londoners' newfound stability on the right, since he is much more reliable defensively and has a deeper understanding of a fullback's duties. The Eagles would have to step up for the second half.

And that's exactly what they did. As it so often happens in the latter stages of this competition, the favourites were constantly subject to attacks during the second half's first 15 minutes, a period in which Benfica could (and should) have scored. Cech made great saves, Luiz bravely saved Cardozo's effort off the line and it seemed Chelsea's fortress was about to collapse. It was plain to see that the increase in speed from Witsel (showing that he is just the man Benfica needed for this sort of matches), Aimar and Gaitán (much better on the left) was making Meireles and - particularly - Mikel uncomfortable, especially because Torres was back to his old self, unable to hold on to a single ball. With Mata off his game (it's clear that he shouldn't start his moves from the middle), Ramires was the only out-ball the Blues had.

Jesus was desperate to win the match and replaced Aimar and Bruno César with Rodrigo and Matic, meaning that Witsel would go right, Matic would take his place beside Javi García and Rodrigo would play just off Cardozo - and that's when it all started to crumble. As it has often been the case, Benfica's attempt to win the match unbalanced the whole team. Witsel's influence on the right was diminished and the Portuguese team started losing control. While Chelsea's goal was a recap of their strengths (experience, resilience, a more compact midfield and breakaways), it was also something that we have see too often in Benfica: their will to win at any cost often means that the team lose their balance.

This would lead to Chelsea's goal. Notice how high up Emerson is, with no offensive coverage.

After Ramires' impressive run, it's up to Torres to proceed. Matic shows once again he still has a lot to learn.
The green arrow indicates where he should be providing coverage.

There is one last issue being mentioned. Managers keep telling us that there is always some strategy behind their decisions, but it's sometimes hard to understand what it is. What's the logic in shuffling Witsel to the right, only to bring him back to the middle ten minutes later? Mind you, Jesus is far from being the only manager to do that, and we can only hope that some day we will get a straight answer to this question from a manager.

Benfica-Chelsea tactical preview

Benfica and Chelsea meet up tomorrow for the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, in what could turn out to be a very interesting, unpredictable tie. Below we present a few reasons that might explain why one of the teams will go through.

3 reasons why Chelsea will defeat Benfica

1) Resilience. If the match against Napoli taught us anything, it was that this team are not as bad as most people seem to think and that there is still something left in their tanks. Chelsea core players are victors from other battles who can muster their fading strengths when necessary – and the matches against Valencia and Napoli should be a sound warning to Benfica.

2) A tendency to attack down the middle. Despite Roberto Di Matteo’s recent (slight) change of mind, Sturridge is usually stationed on the right and drifts inward (or on the left, where he is clearly less effective). Mata, usually starting on the left, is also prone to search central areas, and Drogba is a competitive monster who thrives on long balls – Chelsea’s preferential route of late. Given that Benfica tend to leave their centre almost exclusively to Javi García, this could be a good option for the Londoners.

3) A more compact midfield. If Chelsea attack down the centre, it’s also true that they defend better in that area, as well. While distant from his former self, Essien is increasingly closer to his physical levels of yesteryear. Lampard, in turn, sits further back than he used to, but he is still capable of providing long, diagonal balls over the top, to which Benfica are sometimes vulnerable.

3 reasons why Benfica will defeat Chelsea

1) Attacking movement. Benfica is all about going for the jugular, even when it might not prove the best for them. In that, Gaitán, Bruno César, Nolito and Maxi Pereira excel at overloading the wings and penetrate in one-two moves. Even though some at Chelsea still remember how to defend properly, Benfica’s fluidity might just be too much.

2) Chelsea’s man-marking. The blues’ preferential option for dealing with defensive set pieces is man-marking, which could play right into the Eagles’ hands. Jesus’ obsession with offensive set pieces may prove decisive to break the deadlock.

3) Quick transitions into offence. One of Benfica’s main attributes is their vertical speed, i.e. the pace at which they can turn a defensive situation into a clear scoring chance for themselves. Conversely, this is one of the Londoners' weakest spots, because Mata and Sturridge often turn off during their defensive duties, and only Ramires tracks back. With Maxi, Witsel and Gaitán, to name but a few, Benfica ‘s pace might just do the trick.

The best way not to mark Hulk

Last Sunday's match between Paços de Ferreira and FC Porto for the Portuguese championship gave us a perfect example of how not to defend - particularly a strong, fast player like Hulk.

Paços de Ferreira defend poorly and FC Porto end up scoring.
Notice the huge amount of space behind both Paços players (yellow area)

It is common knowledge that, if you have two players defending an opponent, one should go for the ball and the other one should provide coverage, in case the first defender gets beaten and/or to warn the opponent that the space behind the first defender is taken. However, it is one thing to say it or write it - and a very different thing to do it in an actual match, requiring hours of training and coordination.

In this particular play, Hulk goes up against two Paços players. The first one (red circle) is doing the right thing by protecting the middle (and simultaneously Hulk's strongest foot). However, the second defender should be providing coverage for the first one, with the arrow indicating where he should be, ideally. Because he wasn't, Hulk was able to speed up, get past both opponents and cross for another defender's interception into his own net.