FC Porto punish Sporting for bad start

Starting elevens

FC Porto and Sporting met in absolutely opposite sides of the spectrum. The Dragons were on the back of a good display and subsequent win against Paris Saint-Germain, whereas the Lions had been trounced by Videoton, with the subsequent dismissal of Ricardo Sá Pinto. Therefore, it was only natural that Vítor Pereira chose not to make any changes on his eleven. Sporting caretaker coach Oceano Cruz kept the same basic structure, going with Schaars and Elias in the centre and Pranjic in front of Insúa on the left, supposedly to keep Danilo in check and exploit James Rodríguez's back, since the latter often tends to drift into the middle.

Oceano's plan seemed to rely on tying Porto down and avoid a goal during the game's initial stage, instructing Schaars to stick tight to Lucho almost all over the place. With Elias occupied by João Moutinho, Fernando was often free, since Izmailov was acting as some sort of no. 10 and letting FC Porto holding midfielder free, which meant the Portuguese champions kept enjoying numbers-up situations.

Despite all the flak he's been getting from the stands, Vítor Pereira has to be credited for getting FC Porto to play more fluid football in the early stages of the season, with an accompanying higher defensive line. By winning many balls back during Sporting's build-up or transition phase, FC Porto were able to exploit Schaars' absence, since Lucho would drag him around. This move would in turn open up space for James, who tried to hit the target from that very area (in front of the centre-backs, were Schaars should be) moments before Danilo provided the assist for Jackson Martínez's cheeky back heel.

Sporting seemed a bit stunned for a few minutes, while FC Porto remained compact, but dropped back up front. With Mangala coming on for the injured Maicon, the Dragons were bound to run into trouble, since the French centre-back does not react as quickly and is more prone to misplacing passes. Furthermore, Vítor Pereira's men started to decompress after the goal, apparently reliant on the fact that they would be able to create danger as soon as they hit the throttle.

On the half-hour mark, Sporting started loosening their chains, realising that FC Porto's high line was now vulnerable without Maicon. Izmailov got closer to his midfield and started providing a few key passes that a more clinical finish would have turned into assists. Maybe Pereira's intention was just that all along, because Sporting kept making a mistake they have been making for quite some time now, regardless on who the manager is: pushing forward with both full-backs when trailing, opening up huge holes and consequently numerical inferiority situations.

Sporting dictated the first 15 minutes of the second half. With Izmailov ever more present (his substitution's timing was unfortunate, because he was starting to be the linchpin that Sporting needed), FC Porto midfield was at times marooned, namely after Varela's poor decisions in the final third, breaking up the team in some critical situations. However, if Sporting want to fight for a position more suited to their history, Elias has to become more involved and offer passing options, instead of hiding himself from the match, and there has to be better organised attacking moves. As things stand, everyone just seems to expect Carrillo to come up with something.

Rojo's sending off was a natural consequence of Sporting venturing forward (and should have laid the match to rest even before the second penalty). Even though the Argentinean centre-back's approach in not exactly beyond reproach, Sporting's next coach has to make it priority number one to review the full-backs' positioning when attacking, since it often leaves the Lions totally and unnecessarily exposed.

All in all, it was a somewhat scrappy match. Sporting maintain their all too clear lack of attacking options and the next manager will have his work cut out for him. As for FC Porto, even though their victory was not unfair, there were times of poor control and decision making (namely in their transitions into attack) that could have proven disastrous. Nevertheless, Vítor Pereira will be ecstatic after two important victories and no goals conceded.

FC Porto grab an emphatic win

In their first home match for the Champions League, FC Porto put in a dominant display against the group's other top dogs. Vítor Pereira went with Danilo, Fernando and Varela ahead of Miguel Lopes, Defour and Atsu, respectively. Paris Saint-Germain manager Carlo Ancelotti kept most of his team intact, with Ménez alongisde Ibrahimovic and Nenê behind the two forwards.

It's not every day that we see a Portuguese team looking the favourite part, especially in the Champions League and against a team filled with stars, such as Paris Saint-Germain. Apparently unimpressed with the financial numbers that flew around the media over the past few days, Pereira's men set out to give the French team a run for their money and showed how much they have improved from last year (and last match against Rio Ave).

The Dragons presented a quite high defensive line, most likely to prevent Ibrahimovic from playing too close to FC Porto's box, relying that neither Ménez nor Nenê would present any real danger coming from behind. As for Paris Saint-Germain, the order was to sit back and wait for FC Porto's initial pressure to wear down and take it from there.

Facing their opponents' 4x3x1x2 (with Nenê behind Ibrahimovic and Ménez), the Portuguese champions emphasised all the more their usual attacking traits, exploiting and overloading the wings - namely (and almost exclusively) the left one. With James somewhere between the centre and the right and Varela on the left, FC Porto kept ramming down their left side with Alex Sandro, Moutinho and Varela. With the latter's natural width, Ancelotti's diamond-shaped midfield was too open to contain the threat.

The schematics were very simple and lasted throughout the whole match. Alex Sandro would start the move high up the field, immediately occupying Chantôme (who, truth be told, rarely played tucked in, as he should have). Varela was picked up by Van der Wiel and Verratti would then come up to meet Moutinho, afraid to let him in through the centre - effectively opening up the middle to James or Lucho. With the same play and a few triangle-shaped passes, the Portuguese team created a barrage of scoring chances.

Typical FC Porto movement down the left.
Verratti was dragged too easily out of position.

With Ibrahimovic and Ménez offering very little defensively and Nenê switching on and off, FC Porto were often allowed to play at will down the left or the middle, since help would often come (very) late from Matuidi or the centre-backs. Therefore, it would not pose too big a risk that the 20-odd attempts on Sirigu's goal frequently constituted clear-cut chances. As for Paris Saint-Germain's attacking plan, there often seemed to be none, apart from waiting for the Swedish maverick to get his bag of tricks out (which almost panned out after a lovely flick-on on the 11th minute).

The only stage at which the Parisians seemed to offer a real threat was the first 10 minutes of the second half, where the FC Porto midfielders lost their coordinates a bit and were too greedily pushing for the goal, almost getting punished for it. However, Lucho's coolness and Moutinho's stamina brought back the order and the Dragons quickly picked off where they had left off.

Despite all their profligacy, FC Porto deserved the win - so much so that they can might come to regret not scoring some more. James Rodríguez's goal may have come a bit late for FC Porto fans, but it meant that the three points would remain at the Dragão. After the latest wins in succession, Paris Saint-Germain were disappointing and can only blame themselves for such a poor match. In fact, they will probably find themselves lucky to only concede a goal. Also, it's hard to understand why Ancelotti, usually a gifted reader of the game, didn't offer any solution to oppose his adversary's natural advantage down the wings.

Tottenham goals under the microscope

Last Saturday André Villas-Boas' Tottenham defeated Manchester United in their own turf, something Hotspurs hadn't done in 23 years - which may well be just what the doctor ordered for AVB's team. Every single goal from the Lilywhites came from United worryingly tendency to be overrun against stronger sides, over the past couple of years (namely after Carlos Queiroz left).

With Carrick and Scholes in the centre, and Nani and Giggs on the wings, pockets of space were bound to appear on United's defensive midfield, but the appalling display from his midfield and defence must have Sir Alex Ferguson quite worried. For that matter, Tottenham's goals will be dissected, in order to shed some light over the Red Devils' frailties.

• Tottenham goal #1

There were some repetitive patterns throughout the match as far as defensive positioning is concerned. In this particular case, you can see that both Carrick (green) and Scholes (blue) are away from the ball and not offering good defensive coverage. The yellow dotted lines represent the one-two played by Vertonghen (the eventual goalscorer).

Jermaine Defoe (yellow) read the game very well and immediately drifted toward the flank, dragging Rio Ferdinand out of position. With the one-two, Vertonghen has already overcome Nani's feeble opposition.

Defoe's movement opened up a huge hole in the centre of Manchester United's defence (shaded area). Carrick (green) and Scholes (blue) are already late and out of position.

Even after a few seconds, Carrick (green) and Scholes (blue) are still behind Tottenham's player, who had to control the ball and resist his markers' attempts. Ferdinand also hesitates and the critical area of the field (shaded area) from which Vertonghen will score is left unprotected.

• Tottenham goal #2

Manchester United have lost the ball just a couple of seconds earlier. Scholes (blue) neither pressures the Dembélé (the player with the ball) nor provides coverage. The shaded area represents the huge gap in the middle into which Tottenham were often allowed to break. Gareth Bale (red) started out near his area and would eventually score the goal.

Dembélé easily avoids Scholes and no Manchester United player comes up to either keep the team compact or try to force Tottenham out wide. Gareth Bale has already gone past his "marker" and has a whole lot of field to run into (shaded area).

Once again Defoe (yellow) shows an intuitive understanding of the game and starts running contrary to the run of play, dragging Jonny Evans out of position. Bale (red) gets the ball in space and there is no one remotely close to him. Scholes (blue) is already 5 metres behind him. Tottenham have an all too easy 2v2 situation in a matter of seconds.

Even after all this time, Evra remains way out on the wing, where he is not of any help whatsoever. Defoe (yellow) continues his movement and Bale (red) attacks the space his team-mate has just vacated - a textbook counterattack play. Notice the distance between the Welsh winger and Ferdinand (orange). Bale would score the goal ahead of the English centre-back.

With Evans out of the picture, thanks to Defoe's hard work, Bale (red) has an open road toward the goal. Again, neither Carrick, Scholes, Evra or Rafael are the least bit near to help out. Bale's goal was definitely much easier than it should have been and teams in the Champions League will be looking to pounce on this evident weak link in United's defensive approach.

• Tottenham goal #3

Once again United had just lost the ball a could of seconds earlier. Dembélé easily goes around Scholes (blue) and finds himself totally unmarked.

With Scholes already behind, Dembélé can pick his pass. The shaded area represents the huge gap that United have once again opened up between their lines and how a simple long ball could bypass all of United's midfield.

In all honesty, this play was just utter nonsense. Ferdinand (orange) is once again dragged out of position following Dembélé's long ball towards Defoe. Carrick (green) and Scholes (blue) are neither pressuring or providing coverage. To make matters worse, Rafael (red) seems to keep lacking a basic understanding of his duties and stays in line with Ferdinand and Evans, instead of taking a couple of steps back. Notice how Bale immediately picks up on it and asks for the ball in space with his arm. Clint Dempsey (yellow) remains absolutely unchecked in the critical area of the field.

Defoe played the ball into Bale's path for him to shoot at goal. Carrick (green) and Scholes (blue) allow their opponents to breeze past them. In the most important area of the pitch, Evans is alone (shaded area) against three Tottenham players. Logically enough, Dempsey found it extremely easy to pick up the rebound after Lindegaard's save and score Tottenham's third goal of the day.

• Conclusion

If Manchester United are serious about taking the title back from City and/or improve on their shambolic performance in Europe, they will be well advised to drill their defensive positioning extensively. If not, they will certainly be made to suffer at the hands of any team capable of breaking quickly through the middle. As time goes by, it remains harder and harder to understand why exactly Sir Alex Ferguson insists on leaving his midfield area that bare.

As for Tottenham, even though he didn't score or even provide an assist, Jermaine Defoe was instrumental for the win, as Michael Cox so eloquently put it. His clever movement was critical to drag his team-mates' opponents out of position and should go to show that a forward's job revolves around much more than just putting the ball in the net.

A victory for the mature team

Starting elevens

In the past Minho derbies have often been much more than simple football matches - often resembling pitched battles. Thanks in part to the non-incendiary nature of both managers (thanks, Tom), last night's match was no such thing and rather offered an entertaining spectacle, even if it wasn't exactly ridden with scoring opportunities.

Guimarães came out strong of the blocks, relying on their 4x3x3 to pressure Braga high up and prevent their usual patient build-up play. Beto, for instance, was almost always forced to play the ball long, which is not how Braga manager José Peseiro likes his teams to launch their attacks. (In contrast, Doulgas, Guimarães' goal keeper, always looked upfield when he gathered the ball, trying to exploit the defensive spaces vacated by Braga players.) Furthermore, Leonel Olímpio and André André's positioning was designed to keep Hugo Viana from dictating the tempo and spraying his traditional diagonal passes.

For the first 15 minutes, Guimarães were successful in their strategy, but Braga started settling down and gradually took over the midfield, softening their pressure on Viana and Custódio. With Olímpio and André higher up, there were pockets of space behind them that had to be covered almost exclusively by El Adoua. Mossoró was his usual self and was amazing with his lateral movement, drifting away from the Moroccan holding midfielder, too wary of leaving his area exposed.

Guimarães' good game was in part due to their proactive wingers, who showed auspicious signs with their clever movement. Ricardo is a trickier player who favours one-on-one situations, while João Ribeiro reads the game better and is not afraid to occupy other areas of the field, in order to create harder situations for his opponent. While it's true they were busy helping out by going up and down the wing, it's only fair to point out that they progressively let go of their defensive duties.

On one hand, Guimarães,encouraged by their fans, seemed to have an emotional grip on the match. On the other hand, Braga were apparently better equipped for the different stages of the match, even though they looked a bit disjointed at times, especially the ineffective Alan and Hélder Barbosa. The first cagey half had showed little between the two teams.

The second half was basically a one-way street. With a better idea of what to do offensively, Braga ended up scoring the first goal, in a quick transition into attack after a free kick in Guimarães' attacking half. The emotional upper hand Guimarães were benefiting quickly deflated after the goal, despite their immediate attempt to push forward. As so often is the case with Portuguese teams, Rui Vitória's men seemed unsure of where to go after finding themselves trailing - truth be told, the lack of depth of Guimarães' team was clearly on display here, with not many alternative attacking routes.

To make matters worse, Peseiro chose to rest Mossóro and replace him with Ruben Micael. The former FC Porto player was instrumental for Braga to seize control of the match and disturb a possible comeback from their opponents. Furthermore, Éder is out to prove he may well be the future striker the Selecção and Braga need by proving to be a reliable attacking focal point, able to hold up the ball and linking up play. Braga's second goal was just a final fait-divers and a bonus for Hugo Viana.

A tale of two forwards

Starting elevens

Despite the final result, tonight's match had plenty of reasons to keep us interested. In fact, seldom has a match provided such a clear contrast between two opposing styles of approaching football.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew remained true to himself and rotated most of his team, even including his third-choice goalkeeper, but keeping his back four intact. The English eleven was significantly different from the one that played Everton last Monday. As for Marítimo, Pedro Martins played the same men with the exception of Luís Olim instead of Ruben Ferreira.

This was in fact a match that provided a perfect example of two very different football philosophies. On one hand, the Magpies played their usual 4x4x2, with Vuckic playing just off Shola Ameobi, and went for what could be described as typical British style: long balls toward the big man, who tried to flick it down to a smaller, quicker forward. The team from Madeira, on the other hand, favoured a typically Portuguese 4x3x3, more dynamic and with greater movement.

Nevertheless, the central forwards of the two teams (since Danilo Dias can hardly be described as a striker) constitute the most paradigmatic examples of each team, summarised their approach to perfection.

• Newcastle

As mentioned earlier, Newcastle chose long, direct balls towards Ameobi as their favourite route. Without Demba Ba, Papis Cissé, but most importantly Yohann Cabayé and Hatem Ben Arfa, Pardew's men were not eager to keep the ball on the ground and did not hesitate to hoof the ball forward and wait for the outcome. With Vuckic far from his best form, Ameobi's flick-ons were not particularly useful, especially because both Obertan and Amalfitano were static and miles away from the right place to pick up second balls.

As for Gosling and Bigirimana, they often found themselves trying to pick up the slack and provide an outlet to follow up Ameobi's efforts, which in turn gave Marítimo all the more room to maneuver. With both wingers out of the game and both central-midfielderes trying to shorten the distance up front, Newcastle's back four was often left exposed, allowing Marítimo forwards to run riot for most of the first half.

Bigirimana, in particular, often seemed unsure about what to do defensively during the first half. As he became apparently more and more frustrated by the Portuguese team's patient build-up play, he tried to pressure one of the centre-backs, only to realise moments later that Gosling was surrounded by opposing midfielders. The situation was made worse because there was no definitive response about who should be marking Marítimo's restless forward Danilo.

Bigirimana and Gosling often left the Newcastle defence exposed.

The second half was clearly better for the Magpies, who took control of the match, namely after Sammy Ameobi replaced Vuckic and Marítimo centre-backs started tiring out. In fact, while Newcastle found it hard to take the match up to their rival's penalty box in the first half, it was much easier for them, since both Roberge and João Guilherme started losing the right positioning more and more often. Newcastle went decidedly for route one and may count themselves unlucky for not scoring in the second half.

In conclusion, their defence was shaky and far too vulnerable to quick play behind their back, but they countered with a sort of football that Marítimo are just not used to. Ameobi proved that he can still be useful, either for less important matches (to take the strain off Papis Cissé and Demba Ba) or as a plan B.

• Marítimo

This was typical Portuguese football. Lots of clever movement, wingers drifting inside to allow the midfielders and the full-back to exploit the flanks, numerous opportunities during the first stages of the match and an almost certain defeat as the outcome, after suffering immensely at the hands of powerful forwards.

Despite hailing from Brazil, Danilo Dias epitomises the Portuguese forward. Adept at dropping off to open up spaces for his team-mates and (let's be honest) to avoid the physical confrontation with aggressive, intense centre-backs, he is the player that makes the whole team tick. By dropping back, he often serves as an extra player in midfield to provide the out-ball, misleading the opposing centre-backs into thinking they have no one to mark, only to find out seconds later they are being swarmed by Heldon or Sami.

Marítimo had an excellent first half, patiently bringing the ball out from the back and waiting for the right time to find the chink in Newcastle's armour - they had in fact 3 clear-cut scoring chances in the first 12 minutes, all of them from the left flank, thanks in part to Obertan's alienation from his defensive duties.

As for the defence, the team from the island of Madeira were almost irreproachable for the first 30 minutes, ensuring their distance from the rest of team was always adequate and providing excellent coverage for the aerial duels with Ameobi. Both wingers helped out defensively to form a 4x1x4x1 in the defensive phase, which contributed to a very good first 30 minutes. However, this game provided enough proof that a) players from the Portuguese league are not used to such physical battles, since there are no forwards in the mould of Ameobi, and b) by whistling at every residual contact in favour of defenders, the Portuguese refereeing is not helping Portuguese teams, who find it very hard to keep the same intensity level as English teams throughout the match. The best example is Roberge and João Guilherme's growing inability, as the game wore on, to contain Newcastle's forwards.

In conclusion, Marítimo showed they can hang up there with the big(ger) guns, but they will definitely need to work on keeping up their stamina throughout the entire match and capitalising on the chances they create. Otherwise, this will be an all too familiar tale for Portuguese teams.

Is 4x3x3 about to come back?

Football, like most (all?) things in life, has its trends. Not that many years ago, playing anything other than a plain 4x3x3 would be sacrilegious (let's leave England alone, for now). In fact, when 4x2x3x1 started rearing its head, with Quique Flores its main champion, it was a bit criticised (including here) for numerous reasons. On the other hand, just like the two-man midfield, a three-man defence looked all but dead, some reminiscence from the Beckenbauer times. As this text is getting to you, it seems impossible to get away from either 4x2x3x1 (or 4x4x1x1, which is basically the same thing) or some version of a three-man defence (especially in Italy), nowadays - and there is hardly any team playing a true version of a 4x3x3.

A typical 4x2x3x1 formation

It is often said (with good reason) that games are not won on paper, since there is no one given tactical system that is inherently better than the next - it's all about team dynamics. While this is obviously true, I keep finding some holes in the 4x2x3x1. 

First and foremost, it is my contention that teams playing with this tactical formation tend to break up in two, namely the six "defenders" and the four "forwards". Even though this is probably the easiest way to implement roles and instructions on a team (maybe one of the full-backs is allowed to push up), it tends to create two distinct sets of players in the team, since the forwards tend not to be too inclined to track back and perform their defensive duties, and the defenders are usually reluctant to leave their positions, afraid no one will compensate for them in the defensive stage.

4x2x3x1 in the defensive stage

In a 4x2x3x1, the defensive stage usually resembles a 4x4x1x1, since it's supposedly up to the wingers to mark the opposing full-backs. Although last season offered enough evidence that this system could be extremely effective while playing reactive football (such as Chelsea's victory in the Champions League final, the Europa League final, the FA Cup final, Braga playing against the top teams, among many others), it remains to be seen how well this formation can fare for a team who want to take control of the match. Whenever a coach is serious about getting his team to play pro-active football with this system, a few too many holes immediately start to appear, particularly because the four "forwards" have the task of creating danger by themselves, which means they won't be as willing or physically capable of dropping back and form the second bank of four, as requested by this system.

A typical 4x3x3 formation

Last Friday's match pitted Chelsea against Atlético Madrid and offered us a pretty good match-up between these two systems. Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo is trying to prove to his boss not only that he is the right man for the job, but also that Chelsea can achieve the same results playing the sort of flamboyant football Roman Abramovich has been expecting since he bought the club ten years ago. Against Chelsea's typical 4x2x3x1, Atlético manager Diego Simeone went with a clear 4x3x3 and attacked Chelsea's wings with constant overloads down the flanks with great collaboration between the wingers, full-backs and midfielders. Aware that Hazard and Mata wouldn't work that much defensively and that Mikel and Lampard are not exactly the most mobile players, the Atlético players soon found huge pockets of space to run into, exposing the frailties of a system in which the (six and sometimes less) "defenders" often find themselves stranded and with little to no protection in front of them.

4x3x3 in the defensive stage

Furthermore, the 4x3x3 offers an additional line of defence. Instead of two banks of four (and two attackers up front), this system allows the holding midfielder to fulfill what's been aptly called "the Makelele role", ie named after the man that sat in front of the defence doing the dirty work and stopped the ball from being played in between the lines. Atlético Madrid populated the centre of the field and tried to win the midfield battle. Aware that the Chelsea wingers would offer no real threat out wide and would tend to drift inside, Simeone's midfield triangle kept winning balls back (and launching quick counter-attacks) simply because they had a higher number of lines of defence, unlike what's usually the case in the 4x2x3x1.

Again, this is not to say that one system is better than another. In fact, this text intends to question and stimulate a debate as for the reasons that lead most current coaches to choose the same formation, especially when many of them actually played in different systems - be it 4x3x3 or any other tactical system. While this blog is aware that many ideas we thought dead are starting to re-surface once again, it would be good to find out exactly why that happens - is it just the fashionable trend or did most coaches simultaneously started to feel the 4x2x3x1 was the (only) way to go?

FC Porto manage to get the win against tenacious Olhanense

Starting elevens

After last week's match against Académica, this was a good opportunity to see how well Olhanense would fare in their home turf against stronger opposition and, on the other hand, to analyse FC Porto in further detail. Even though this was not a match awash with scoring opportunities, it was highly entertaining and the Northerners were lucky to get away with the three points.

• The first 15 minutes

The Portuguese champions got off to a good start and seemed willing to pick up where they had left off, in the back of their comprehensive win versus Vitória de Guimarães. In fact, Vítor Pereira's men were much better at pressuring high up the field, with everyone on the same page about when and where to exert pressure. Offensively, they were clearly taking advantage of what had been easily perceivable as Olhanense's weak link: Babanco. Therefore, FC Porto insisted on the right wing for the first 15 minutes, with Lucho, Danilo and Hulk eager to capitalise on their opponent's weakness.

Sérgio Conceição's men, in turn, seemed a bit confused and lost until they were finally able to execute a well-thought counter-attack and pounce on Alex Sandro's ill-timed foray (a usual trait in South American full-backs). This play just served to further expose Defour's inadequacy for the holding midfielder position, showing Fernando's critical role in the team.

• 15-45 minutes

After the goal, the team from the Algarve looked more comfortable on the ball and FC Porto became both disjointed defensively and restless on the ball, turning too slow and predictable, apparently afraid to expose themselves to any more counter-attacks. Vítor Pereira decided he couldn't wait any longer and replaced the ineffective Atsu with James and the Colombian forward immediately shook things up by teeing up Moutinho for a good opportunity and placing a wonderful lob over Ricardo, misjudging once again his opportunity to punch the ball.

• Second half

The Dragons came on strong for the second half and Jackson hit the woodwork and scored his second league goal following James' delightful assist. From then on, it was hard to see how the home team would manage to get around FC Porto's defensive organisation, despite obvious leaks that it will be urgent to address. The game went on without much to report (besides Vítor Pereira moving James into Lucho's position and possibly hinting at his preferences as far as James' position is concerned), until Hulk unleashed a powerful shot into the roof of the net to top it off. The match seemed all but over, but Targino's goal following another excellent assist, this time by Rui Duarte, opened it up and the away team ended up suffering needlessly to get away with the win.

In short, FC Porto were a dominant force after James coming on, but they would be well advised to improve their defensive consistency as quickly as possible. As for Olhanense, they showed once again sound defensive positioning, but they still seem to lack out-balls and the ability to take control of the match. Besides, Rui Duarte seemed once again out of his depth by playing too high up the field. A simple tweak from Sérgio Conceição may mean a more balanced and dangerous team.