The TT Football Club

Poisoned Slice said:
It's probably all scheduled for Wirtz to score his first goal vs Man Utd. Liverpool's crisis will end, at least for one match.

Looks like a good day overall for you in terms of football, back on top of FPL and the Chelsea win. Grealish out, so at least Prat FC get those Calafiori clean sheet points.

The highlight of the day and the biggest cheer was Lammens collecting 2 consecutive crosses. I'm glad he got out of there with a clean sheet on his debut. United was terrorising the right-hand side early on. Mbeumo and Amad connected well. Nice cross for the classy Mount finish.
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I thought I was being clever with bringing in Timber to make it triple Arsenal defence. And they were never really tested, so it paid off. But yeah, I think I might have over committed there. One flukey goal and my team is ruined :-D high risk, high reward I suppose.

How were Man Utd? I watched Arsenal, but it sounds like it was pretty comfortable.

Yes, great day all round. To think Palmer was out. Enzo, JP and Caicedo taking injections to play, 4th string CB’s (who then both go off injured). To win it like that at the end is pretty crazy!
 
Feña14 said:
IMG-7160.jpg
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That guy being unhappy is generally one of the few good things about Liverpool losing.
 
Feña14 said:
I thought I was being clever with bringing in Timber to make it triple Arsenal defence. And they were never really tested, so it paid off. But yeah, I think I might have over committed there. One flukey goal and my team is ruined :-D high risk, high reward I suppose.

How were Man Utd? I watched Arsenal, but it sounds like it was pretty comfortable.

Yes, great day all round. To think Palmer was out. Enzo, JP and Caicedo taking injections to play, 4th string CB’s (who then both go off injured). To win it like that at the end is pretty crazy!
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No risk, no reward, son...
risk.jpg


I can only go off highlights because I was in no mood to go stream searching this afternoon. It felt like maybe it was a bit of a reality check for Sunderland. Lammens wasn't exactly tested much, but still, that's the first clean sheet we've kept, and he was in nets for it.

Again, it might be a reality check for us vs Liverpool, but a good win today. I'm still in reality, Casemiro is our best midfielder, so I'm prepared for whatever. :happydevil:
 
Poisoned Slice said:
Maresca's celebration was epic. That was a well-earned red card.
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Obviously you don’t want it happening all the time, but to be penalised for celebrating an injury time winner in a massive game is a bit silly.

The rules have backfired in a way. The red has meant he didn’t get to do post game press conference stuff. I’m not sure Sky are too happy about that, the newspapers wanting sound bites for their story tomorrow? Sorry fellas. The fans wanting to hear the managers thoughts? They’ve been punished too.

Ahh well. In other news, after Szoboszlai’s thinly veiled dig at Florian “Cheeks” Wirtz. VVD is getting in on the act now. Sending messages to the board?

IMG-7163.jpg
 
optic yellow said:
Should I transfer him in before he gets hot? Asking on the basis of how he's looked to someone watching him.
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Afraid not! I don’t think he will start every game. I’m surprised at how quickly he’s adapted to the pace, style and intensity.. but he still has some work to do physically to be able to play 90 minutes consistently.
 
Savinho not getting much joy from the Brentford right back, he’s playing it smart.

Guess you could say he’s Wily Kayode :)
 
I sense those Glasner whispers already making their way through into the very heart, fabric and soul of the great Crystal Palace. And that is why they lost against Everton.

Or the other simpler theory is, they have been overachieving and they got got. Grealish style.

Yeah, that sounds more believable. Thank you, and we'll have more at 10. Maybe.
 
Poisoned Slice said:
It had the injury label beside his name, so I thought he was out today. Then I find out he has scored the winner. lol
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Turns out he threw a temper tantrum because his barber was on holiday and he refuses to play without getting his usual pregame undercut/split ends sorted for his ponytail.

Fortunately they flew him back from the Maldives this morning, so he was good to go (y)
 
optic yellow said:
I am not complaining <3
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He did us proud. If I had the choice before the game, I probably surely would have gone for Calafiori and his 6 points. Sorry for underestimating you, Mr Grealish.

Meanwhile, Ange set for ''crunch talks'' with the Forest chief. It might end up being safe to keep Willaims and Anderson in for the next game.
 
Poisoned Slice said:
He did us proud. If I had the choice before the game, I probably surely would have gone for Calafiori and his 6 points. Sorry for underestimating you, Mr Grealish.

Meanwhile, Ange set for ''crunch talks'' with the Forest chief. It might end up being safe to keep Willaims and Anderson in for the next game.
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Ange IN!

We play Forest in the first game after the international break, 12.30 Saturday kickoff.

I’ll be very disappointed if he’s replaced by a stinky low block demon.
 
Poisoned Slice said:
He did us proud. If I had the choice before the game, I probably surely would have gone for Calafiori and his 6 points. Sorry for underestimating you, Mr Grealish.
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He is of the same spirit as Bowen in my eyes.

Meanwhile, Ange set for ''crunch talks'' with the Forest chief. It might end up being safe to keep Willaims and Anderson in for the next game.
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I still can't believe they hired him.
 
Our plight is depressing. We got a draw yesterday, but this is season is a tough watch.

I don’t see a way forward until we have new owners (the Venky’s have been in charge for 15 years now). There is so much negativity at the club, so much helf-hating, and Ewood Park is not a good place to be on match-days with the anti-Venky chants and banners. They banned the main local newspaper the Lancashire Evening Telegraph from the stadium, further fueling the toxicity.

I do think that many of our fans are completely unreasonable re expectations about what we can achieve and what we should spend on transfers and more importantly wages. Many Championship clubs gamble on promotion by spending recklessly, with absurdly high wage bill / revenue ratios. I don’t want us to do that. But the owners have made a series of decisions that have cost us money.

On a more positive note, I saw that I had a much better FPL performance this weekend. I finally bit the bullet and picked Haaland.

Speaking of Haaland and Man City, I'd hate a scenario in which everyone is talking about a Liverpool vs. Arsenal title race, and they slip through the middle and strike gold. I found their recent run of 6 titles in 7 years to be so tedious and joyless (even their celebrations were lame), that I personally don't want them winning another title anytime soon, at least under this Pep regime.
 
I hope everyone is as thrilled as I am about the upcoming international break. I'll be on the edge of my seat throughout it - I bet we all mark these international windows in our calendars at the start of every season.

Seriously though, I hope Mexico's friendly games vs. Colombia and Ecuador will be interesting. I still don't think that this is an especially talented group fo Mexican players at all, but at least there is a competent manager at the helm in Aguirre.
 
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I can't really find the words to describe the excitement I'm feeling heading into the latest international break.

Also, I concur with the City striking gold scenario. I believe they are the favourites in my mind, mainly due to history, and Arsenal still can't be relied upon, yet. Of course, Liverpool could change the narrative for a week after they play us.
 
Feña14 said:
Ange IN!

We play Forest in the first game after the international break, 12.30 Saturday kickoff.

I’ll be very disappointed if he’s replaced by a stinky low block demon.
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Poisoned Slice said:
He did us proud. If I had the choice before the game, I probably surely would have gone for Calafiori and his 6 points. Sorry for underestimating you, Mr Grealish.

Meanwhile, Ange set for ''crunch talks'' with the Forest chief. It might end up being safe to keep Willaims and Anderson in for the next game.
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Angelos sleeps with the fishes tonight I’m told. You don’t recover from this.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1974852798748725395
 
Gizo said:
I hope everyone is as thrilled as I am about the upcoming international break. I'll be on the edge of my seat throughout it - I bet we all mark these windows in on calendars at the start of every season.

Seriously though, I hope Mexico's friendly games vs. Colombia and Ecuador will be interesting. I still don't think that this is an especially talented group fo Mexican players at all, but at least there is a competent manager at the helm in Aguirre.
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The crazy thing is domestic football returns 18th of October for a few weeks.. then they’re off again for 2 weeks on the 9th of November :-D

I heard Bruno G saying how the break had come at a bad time for Newcastle, they’re in good form, but he was now off to South Korea and Japan to play some friendlies.

Pointless stuff.

As for FPL, I noticed you’re sneaking up on the rails! I was doubly disappointed when Gakpo equalised yesterday :-D
 
Feña14 said:
The crazy thing is domestic football returns 18th of October for a few weeks.. then they’re off again for 2 weeks on the 9th of November :-D

I heard Bruno G saying how the break had come at a bad time for Newcastle, they’re in good form, but he was now off to South Korea and Japan to play some friendlies.

Pointless stuff.

As for FPL, I noticed you’re sneaking up on the rails! I was doubly disappointed when Gakpo equalised yesterday :-D
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Yes it feels like the season only really properly gets underway, after the November international break is done and dusted.

Apparently there's a revamp of the international breaks from next season, with a longer one in September and but no break in October. A long break in September, when the season has only just started, could be frustrating, but on balance I think it's probably better than the current situation.

A situtation with Gakpo scoring, Salah not making a goal contribution, but Chelsea still winning was almost ideal for me yesterday, though Joao Pedro scoring as well would have been even better ! Hopefully, international break permitting, that win properly launches Chelsea's season now.
 
I also found this hilarious. Prat FC, always striving to be different. I didn't edit anything; this is exactly what it says. And I do find it quite fascinating.

''We found exactly 0 clones of your team in the top 9 million! You're literally one in a (nine) million!''

Did Joao Pedro get a shot yesterday?
 
Martin was an incredibly unpopular managerial appointment during the summer, and just never seemed like a good fit. It would have been incredibly surprising had he still been on post by Christmas, but he didn't even come close to lasting that ling.

1 win from 7 league games was disastrous, and angry fans tried to stop the team bus from leaving the stadium today.

On the other side of the Old Firm, I wonder how much joy there is for Celtic fans seeing their team winning yet another league title year after year - I think they've won 13 out of the last 14 now. There must be a point well it all feels 'meh' - the same goes for fans of Bayern as well with their Bundesliga domination. Then again this season Celtic have the opportunity to win a record breaking 56th title.
 
You have to have a degree of respect for Russell Martin's grifting game. How someone so obviously and transparently inept has been able to blag his way into constantly bigger jobs is unbelievable - his interview Powerpoint presentations must have boardrooms gushing. I don't blame him or any other manager who goes all in on the philosophy/process/vision schtick, though: managers who set up to play to their team's strengths and get results as a priority are often cast aside at the first sign of trouble anyway, so you might as well kid on that you've discovered the one tactic that leads to footballing success and stick to it in the hope of drawing in impressionable chairmen for the next bumper payout. Of course it's utterly infuriating when your club is the one saddled with the Russell Martin, but these guys are just acting in their own interests and have no real reason to have any loyalty when the fans and board can and will turn on them in an instant.
 
Gizo said:
Yes it feels like the season only really properly gets underway, after the November international break is done and dusted.

Apparently there's a revamp of the international breaks from next season, with a longer one in September and but no break in October. A long break in September, when the season has only just started, could be frustrating, but on balance I think it's probably better than the current situation.

A situtation with Gakpo scoring, Salah not making a goal contribution, but Chelsea still winning was almost ideal for me yesterday, though Joao Pedro scoring as well would have been even better ! Hopefully, international break permitting, that win properly launches Chelsea's season now.
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Here’s hoping! Although after 3 months, I’d be putting money on Newcastle and Spurs completing the top 5. But you never know.

As for Joao Pedro, he’s taking injections to play. I’d be surprised if he’s even 50%. You notice it when you watch him for a couple of passages of play. He barely moves. He just saves his energy for when he gets the ball and tries to do something.

Fortunately Brazil know this and are letting him rest, plus the UCL suspension means he’s only got a couple of games in the next 3-4 weeks. I’m not totally sure what the injury is, or if that will be long enough for it to heal, but he should definitely be better off after a break.

The centre backs, I dunno. I think it’s going to be a patchwork quilt for the season.

Palmer doesn’t look good. Hato jumped and tapped him on the shoulder to celebrate the win and he immediately grabbed his groin and started hobbling. Can’t imagine he’ll be playing anytime soon. Not ideal for Chelsea, but at least it’s one less expensive player for us to worry about fitting into our FPL teams :D
 
Gizo said:
Martin was an incredibly unpopular managerial appointment during the summer, and just never seemed like a good fit. It would have been incredibly surprising had he still been on post by Christmas, but he didn't even come close to lasting that ling.

1 win from 7 league games was disastrous, and angry fans tried to stop the team bus from leaving the stadium today.

On the other side of the Old Firm, I wonder how much joy there is for Celtic fans seeing their team winning yet another league title year after year - I think they've won 13 out of the last 14 now. There must be a point well it all feels 'meh' - the same goes for fans of Bayern as well with their Bundesliga domination. Then again this season Celtic have the opportunity to win a record breaking 56th title.
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I don't think Celtic fans take any joy from supporting their team: on the contrary, they seem to be permanently raging about their board's perceived lack of ambition and cautious transfer policy. It's understandable to an extent because they do have the best part of £100m sitting in the bank doing nothing while they consistently turn in abject European performances. Since reaching the UEFA Cup final in 2003 they've not won a European knockout tie, and they've gone out in qualifying in the Champions League something like five times in a row, always to ostensibly "smaller" clubs (this run sandwiching a period where they were automatically making the main tournament, ironically having piggybacked on Rangers' European form raising the league coefficient to pocket hundreds of millions in turning up fees). Their fans think that if more of the cash reserve was invested into proactive squad improvements they could improve this sorry (and I might add, very funny) record.

While I'm sure with more investment they could do a bit better, I'm not sure what's in it for a higher calibre of player moving to Celtic. You'll win trophies domestically, maybe a Europa League knockout tie if the stars align, but as far as a career move I don't think there's much in it for an aspiring young player. The attributes which are rewarded as a Celtic player aren't ones that teams a step up financially are likely to value. If you're a club like Fulham or Brighton, for instance, and you've got £30 million to spend on a midfielder, most of the evidence of a Celtic midfielder is going to be in a team with 70% of the ball looking to break down a packed defence. Is that going to indicate to you how that midfielder is going to do in a lot of very physical 50/50 games against similar level teams? Likely not, and it's the same case for all positions really. Consequently the record of Celtic players making a step up is extremely hit and miss, and it's not an advisable career move for the upwardly mobile higher level players who their fans want the club to chuck money at.
 
First time watching Match of the day in a while. I was half-expecting to be greeted with a different opening theme, but I was pleasantly surprised.
 
I'm quite interested in knowing if the rest of you are one in nine million. Or is my team so rubbish that I'm the only one in the talk tennis world that nobody dares to be the same as?

Can really feel Wayne Rooney's anger when he says ''Salah had no interest in tracking back there.'' Not to point out the obvious, but Sir Wayne was the ultimate team player.

Can hear Roy Keane getting insulted in my mind when Shearer talks about Caicedo covering every blade of grass.

That's his job, Alan.
 
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Poisoned Slice said:
I'm quite interested in knowing if the rest of you are one in nine million. Or is my team so rubbish that I'm the only one in the talk tennis world that nobody dares to be the same as?

Can really feel Wayne Rooney's anger when he says ''Salah had no interest in tracking back there.'' Not to point out the obvious, but Sir Wayne was the ultimate team player.

Can hear Roy Keane getting insulted in my mind when Shearer talks about Caicedo covering every blade of grass.

That's his job, Alan.
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I see you’re enjoying the website? :D

There are 2 people with my team. Which surprised me a bit, I think I’ve spent more in defence than most teams, and I can’t imagine too many are daft enough to have 3 defenders from one team. They’ve usually got a Saka or a Gyokeres in there.

But yes, I have a twin out there.
 
Feña14 said:
I see you’re enjoying the website? :D

There are 2 people with my team. Which surprised me a bit, I think I’ve spent more in defence than most teams, and I can’t imagine too many are daft enough to have 3 defenders from one team. They’ve usually got a Saka or a Gyokeres in there.

But yes, I have a twin out there.
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Yeah, it's sweet. I like the information. Sesko was the biggest difference maker for Prat FC. I see 98.8% has a certain player in common; I'm guessing it has to be Haaland.

I'm surprised there is not one team in common. Perhaps Sesko will make more teams in the next game, or he might be out again because it's against Liverpool. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

I haven't thought about my plans yet. I guess missing out on the Friday deadline helped with keeping an extra free transfer, along with the money remaining in the budget. Feels like Prat FC could splash out on a difference maker, but choosing the correct player is where the fun begins.
 
Poisoned Slice said:
Yeah, it's sweet. I like the information. Sesko was the biggest difference maker for Prat FC. I see 98.8% has a certain player in common; I'm guessing it has to be Haaland.

I'm surprised there is not one team in common. Perhaps Sesko will make more teams in the next game, or he might be out again because it's against Liverpool. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

I haven't thought about my plans yet. I guess missing out on the Friday deadline helped with keeping an extra free transfer, along with the money remaining in the budget. Feels like Prat FC could splash out on a difference maker, but choosing the correct player is where the fun begins.
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It feels to me like there are a lot of midfield options. Maybe 10 or so.

With forwards it's Haaland and... I don't know. Watkins has been awful, Ekitike and Isak take it in turns to sit on the bench, Gyokeres has been as bad as I expected, Bowen plays for West Ham, JP is injured, Strand Larsen plays for Wolves, Woltemade is in and out of the team and Wissa will be back soon, Mateta can't play 3 games a week, i'm struggling to get Wood this season. Then you've got DCL, Thiago etc.. who are cheap, but meh.

At least we've got a few weeks to think about it.
 
Feña14 said:
It feels to me like there are a lot of midfield options. Maybe 10 or so.

With forwards it's Haaland and... I don't know. Watkins has been awful, Ekitike and Isak take it in turns to sit on the bench, Gyokeres has been as bad as I expected, Bowen plays for West Ham, JP is injured, Strand Larsen plays for Wolves, Woltemade is in and out of the team and Wissa will be back soon, Mateta can't play 3 games a week, i'm struggling to get Wood this season. Then you've got DCL, Thiago etc.. who are cheap, but meh.

At least we've got a few weeks to think about it.
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DCs have simply lowered striker value I think.
 
Mourinho was never going to receive a warm reception from the Porto fans, as he took his Benfica team there, and some Porto fans hurled various objects at him. And bizarrely, some visiting Benfica fans were fighting each other.

It was a Mourinho special, with Benfica showing zero attacking ambition, looking to stifle Porto, and surviving with a 0-0 draw. Porto had their chances including when Mora hit the woodwork in injury time. Mourinho admitted afterwards that he didn't want to take risks.

Benfica are my least favourite out of the Portuguese big 3 by far, so I don't want to Mourinho to lead them to a title win. I respect Mourinho's amazing career (he's still one of the greatest managers of all time), but it's also pretty funny when he fails to win these days.
 
Gizo said:
Mourinho was never going to receive a warm reception from the Porto fans, as he took his Benfica team there, and some Porto fans hurled various objects at him. And bizarrely, some visiting Benfica fans were fighting each other.

It was a Mourinho special, with Benfica showing zero attacking ambition, looking to stifle Porto, and surviving with a 0-0 draw. Porto had their chances including when Mora hit the woodwork in injury time. Mourinho admitted afterwards that he didn't want to take risks.

Benfica are my least favourite out of the Portuguese big 3 by far, so I don't want to Mourinho to lead them to a title win. I respect Mourinho's amazing career (he's still one of the greatest managers of all time), but it's also pretty funny when he fails to win these days.
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Disappointing that he didn’t show any real ambition.

They parked the bus early on against Chelsea last week, but they did have a bit of enterprise.

I suppose there’s still a long way to go in the league, whilst UCL is more precarious with fewer games (and losing the opener to Qarabag).
 
Match of the day will be off the air in the next phase of rebooting. My goodness, as much as I like old school punditry, Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer are just not it. ''Yeah, he's tremendous'' followed by a ''yeah, he's tremendous. '' OK, it might not go off the air just because, but it's hardly pulled me in to make me watch next time.

But whatever.
 
Gizo said:
Mourinho was never going to receive a warm reception from the Porto fans, as he took his Benfica team there, and some Porto fans hurled various objects at him. And bizarrely, some visiting Benfica fans were fighting each other.

It was a Mourinho special, with Benfica showing zero attacking ambition, looking to stifle Porto, and surviving with a 0-0 draw. Porto had their chances including when Mora hit the woodwork in injury time. Mourinho admitted afterwards that he didn't want to take risks.

Benfica are my least favourite out of the Portuguese big 3 by far, so I don't want to Mourinho to lead them to a title win. I respect Mourinho's amazing career (he's still one of the greatest managers of all time), but it's also pretty funny when he fails to win these days.
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His first head coaching job was Benfica. As if Porto fans have any sort of reason for abusing the man.
 
Feña14 said:
Disappointing that he didn’t show any real ambition.

They parked the bus early on against Chelsea last week, but they did have a bit of enterprise.

I suppose there’s still a long way to go in the league, whilst UCL is more precarious with fewer games (and losing the opener to Qarabag).
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Chelsea are pretty inconsistent this season. At this point it’s probably safe to say we won’t win the title. We should be in the running for top 4 at least with the rest of the chums. Not that I’m happy with that but we have to accept and move on. Maresca needs to keep winning trophies if he wants to continue to be backed. But obviously great win vs Liverpool and a much needed one.

Arsenal will win the league. I’ve conceded. The cone setter finally lucked out, City and Liverpool are both poor. Chelsea still isn’t ready to compete. United aren’t good enough yet. That just leaves Spurs, who are Spurs. Says it all.

All in all, I think it’s shaping up to be a boring PL season. I don’t think any of the big 6 are gonna have ridiculously bad years again. Even United, it looked like they were gonna be bad and they still might not be great but I see them in 6th-8th this year. City and probably Spurs are gonna be the teams who make up the top 4. Chelsea could mesh in somewhere in there. 3rd-6th which is where they’ve been since 2018 (outside of Potter’s season). Liverpool will be 2nd. And Arsenal will win the title.

If anyone is paying attention, Bayern have already pissed the German league. We will see their mettle in Europe but they’re shaping up to be the top dog in the CL this year. Along with PSG.
 
The only “good team” that’s going to have a bad season (bottom half) is Newcastle. And everyone expected that because of how poor they were in the summer market.
 
I was kind of hoping Yoro had a wee conversation with Giroud when he kicked off the match last night. Yes, Yoro was back supporting Lille in their match vs PSG. Ethan Mbappe scored the equaliser for Lille in a 1-1.

yeah.webp
 
Feña14 said:
Disappointing that he didn’t show any real ambition.

They parked the bus early on against Chelsea last week, but they did have a bit of enterprise.

I suppose there’s still a long way to go in the league, whilst UCL is more precarious with fewer games (and losing the opener to Qarabag).
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Porto do look to be the best team in the league, and should go on to win the title based on their players, manager, tactics etc. - that would be a good achievement after they were a very distant 3rd best last season. Farioli has made a good start overall- he came in with metnal scar tissue after overseeing Ajax's collapse in last season's Eredivise title race.

I guess that Benfica are very much a work in progress. They have talent there, but there were major arrivals and departures during the summer, so the team had no settled style of play, And seem they look to be lack when it comes to wingers especially on the left. I can see why he wants to steady the ship at this early stage. I think many Benfica fans will accept this pramagtism for now, but will expect more proactive football during the 2nd half of the season, especially given that many league games are against teams with English League One level budgets. Benfica fans are very demanding, regardless of the stature of their head coach. Bruno Lage was heavily criticised for pragmatic tactics away to Bayern Munich in the CL last season.

They did defend extremely well and looked comfortable for the most part, at least until the latter stages.
 
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