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| http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/ur1-m19uStk/SL+Benfica+v+Chelsea+UEFA+Champions+League/qhXK2PkJUYw/Jorge+Jesus |
For some, the 2012-13 Benfica campaign
was something special to behold. The team’s progress in various
competitions was incredible considering certain factors, not least of which was
the departure of two of the side’s key midfielders in Javi Garcia and Axel
Witsel. Yes, all the trophies eventually escaped Benfica’s clutches, but
to reach two of three possible finals and lose the league by one point is
hardly the sign of a bad team.
Football,
however, like most things, takes on a very different spin in certain
context. After winning the league in his first season as manager, Jorge
Jesus has flattered to deceive as Benfiquistas have become painfully accustomed
to being envious onlookers as Porto celebrate
a third title in a row. Admittedly, the last one was only lost by one
point – a far cry from the 21 point gap in 2010-11 – but that’s little
comfort. The nature of the loss of the title in such dramatic
circumstances didn’t exactly help boost the morale of a group of players
either, many of whom have performed exceptionally well.
All the
psychologists, interested onlookers and nauseatingly optimistic fans will no
doubt emphasise, philosophically, that the team will be stronger for all these
challenges that were faced. Some were conquered, and some brought
tears. Either way, whatever side of the fence you sit on in how you
assess Benfica’s season, a few things are clear. As much as the margins
for error were unkind to Benfica, there is room for improvement. Lessons
can be learned – and it’s evident some lessons have needed learning for more
than one season.Some existing strategies are excellent and should be maintained
– but Benfiquistas will hope that the obvious weaknesses in the team get some
proper attention before next season kicks off.
So while it may
be considerably early to already start talking about next season, Benfica have
some time to analyze and understand their mistakes from this campaign.
Here’s my wishlist of items that I hope, come August, the Eagles will have
addressed in some form or another.
1. Address
the mentality – Respect opponents, implement a hunger to succeed and play
without fear
Look at all the
teams in recent years who’ve sustained extended periods of success, and a few
common threads emerge. One of the most common is the notion of
mentality. Respecting an opponent regardless of their quality.
Hunger to win that overrides all other possible emotions, especially the fear
of losing. It’s a cliché, but the size in the fight of the dog really
matters sometimes, because it’s the ingredient that gets certain teams to
perform beyond the limitations of their squad or their own apprehension.
Mentally, Benfica are capable of being incredibly composed one game and
impossibly paranoid the next. As an example, against Fenerbache in the
second leg of the Europa League semi-final, the team’s mental approach was
undeniably superb and they rightly got the plaudits for it. But after
Benfica’s draw with Estoril put the league in the reach of Porto ,
the team looked incredibly nervous, and each subsequent game against Chelsea,
Moreirense, and finally Guimarães, Benfica almost looked like they expected
something to go wrong.
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| http://au.eurosport.com/football/european-football/2013/guimaraes-upset-benfica-to-clinch-portuguese-cup_sto3774075/story.shtml |
I for one
believe that when the paranoia of such results is the dominant mental state
facing the team, the team’s focus is already lost on the objective. Porto never play Benfica with the fear of losing – they
play with the hunger to catch their record. Hunger is what characterizes
those dangerous, energetic and difficult teams in Europe .
In the Champions League final, Bayern Munich were far and away the superior
side on paper against Borussia Dortmund, but the men in yellow and black played
with no fear, and were carried by the hunger to win, hence their impressive
showing.
Benfica need to
learn to play the same way. And they also need to learn that
disrespecting opponents will also not go far. I agree completely with the
sentiment raised in the excellent recent “Talking to The Doll” Benfica podcast,
where it was suggested that Benfica didn’t approach the Estoril and Taça de
Portugal final with the right levels of respect. After the victory over
Maritimo in the league, Benfica celebrated prematurely over possible Liga
success – and the suggestion is that they didn’t take their next Liga fixture
as seriously as they should have. In the second half of the Taça de
Portugal final against Guimarães, complacency was clearly evident. Jorge
Jesus’ argument that the team was trying to defend their one goal lead was by
no means a convincing explanation to the Eagles’ poor levels of concentration
that ultimately led to their defeat.
2. Make
the changes to the squad that MUST be made
After the title
winning side of 2009-10 was significantly diminished through the departures of
Ramires, Di Maria, Luiz and Ceontrão in subsequent years, the team has been
able to recover well in constantly developing reasonably strong sides, while
leveraging savvy scouting that has identified solid talent like Gaitàn, Garay,
Matic (granted, he was part of a swap deal, but Benfica still needed to be
happy with what they were getting) and Pèrez. The club’s loan strategy
has also been interesting, often allowing fringe, but talented players to play
elsewhere to keep up match fitness and skill development (especially the
youngsters).
But the squad’s
composition and use is a major issue that affects their success (or lack
thereof). The squad isn’t correctly configured for the tactics favoured by
Jorge Jesus, and ironically, some deficiencies from 2011-12 weren’t addressed
last season. In transfer terms, Benfica already look set to focus too much on
attacking acquisitions for next season, instead of taking special care with the
defence. One hopes Benfica can learn from their mistakes and optimize their
squad better, especially as their main rivals have already lost two hugely
critical players – Moutinho and Rodriguez – to Monaco in the summer.
In my last article, I explained how Benfica’s tactical approach changed with the
adjustments made in midfield due to the use of Enzo Pérez in a more central
midfield role (as opposed to a central attacking midfield role) created more
emphasis for the fullbacks Maxi and Melgarejo to push up to offer width in
attack. Benfica fans will recall in the 2011-12 season having major
concerns with the mobility and pace of former left back Emerson, who was
largely blamed as the exploited weak link in some big matches that season.
It stands to reason that while Melgarejo has played well under the
circumstances, some of his performances this season have been very indicative
of the makeshift left back that he is. Benfica’s expectations don’t
exactly give much room for a situation like that.
At right back,
Maxi Pereira started displaying uncharacteristic displays of poor decision
making and deficiencies in pace, something which Porto
eventually leveraged for the crucial winner in the penultimate Liga game of the
season. Benfica are too big a club to afford complacency in players “that
pick themselves”. Almeida may already offer a viable solution to creating
more competition for Maxi at RB, or becoming first choice LB (although the
latter isn’t preferable due to him being right footed).
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| http://www.3news.co.nz/VIDEO-All-goals-2-1-Chelsea-Vs-Benfica-Lisbon-Europa-League-final-2013/tabid/415/articleID/297988/Default.aspx |
The risks of
Benfica’s high defensive line combined with their preferred attacking approach
means that central defenders, in particular, need to be able to recover ground
quickly should opponents catch them on the counter attack. With Garay
largely expected to leave, and Luisão lacking pace, it’s clear that a major
shakeup may be required in the core of Benfica’s backline. Benfica have
been linked with the Serbian Mitrovic, who certainly doesn’t seem to lack the
height and muscle, but the issue is pace, and hopefully that’s something that’s
prioritized. Luisão isn’t going to get faster, making him a more
vulnerable spot to exploit with each game that passes. The easier and
weaker teams in the Liga aren’t likely to break through the Benfica backline,
and last season illustrated that. But the more tactically savvy,
adventurous “smaller” teams and the bigger teams (especially in the Champions
League) will know only too well that it’s an obvious weakness to exploit.
Gaitan and Aimar
are largely expected to leave as well – and Benfica seem to have found
replacements, albeit very young ones in Serbians Filip Djuricic and Lazar
Markovic, but neither player will produce the performances of the players they
are replacing, so Benfica ideally need to recruit some experience, especially
in Aimar’s position. Another key issue is the management of
fatigue. Jesus would do well to bring in cover for Matic and Pèrez, and
actually use it consistently. Creating a situation of over-reliance on
two key players and lacking options on the bench that are match fit, or match
ready isn’t a good plan, and it also makes your team predictable after a while.
So assuming that
the departures of Garay and Gaitàn are concrete, Benfica certainly have much to
do in the transfer market to strengthen the team. That’s why a few more player
sales wouldn’t go amiss in financing transfers in the positions of left back,
centre back, attacking midfield and cover for right back, defensive midfield
and central midfield.
3. Start
showing tactical versatility – and stop making big tactical “bungee jumps” in
big matches
For most games
in the Liga, Jorge Jesus didn’t change much by way of his side’s tactical
formation, shape and strategy. For someone who has favoured 4-1-3-2 for
some time, Jesus found ways to create meaningful variance to the tactical shape
this season, particularly by using Gaitàn in the hole behind the striker, or
applying the mobility of Lima
Under Jesus,
however, Benfica have displayed some obvious tactical vulnerabilities, which,
assuming the transfer suggestions above are NOT followed, will need to be
addressed in alternative ways. The first and most obvious one is the
tendency to suddenly make surprising team selections or tactical formations in
big matches. Sometimes the gambles can work, but Jesus’ Benfica do not
have a particularly good record in those big matches. A recent example is
the Europa League, where the use of Rodrigo in the hole behind Cardozo was an
unexpected and brave tactical move, which worked well in the first half until Chelsea Lima
We’re a far cry
from the days Carlos Martins was used as a right wing, so things have improved,
but the criticism here is simply that Jesus tends to try these (untested)
adjustments in matches where the stakes are high – and the room for error small
enough to mean the difference between success and failure.
Benfica also
needs to recruit defensive options correctly if they’re going to persist with a
high defensive line, especially against good sides capable of using this
weakness. None of the current Benfica centre backs give a sense of being
particularly quick – and Matic’s skills often get demanded up the pitch in
attack, leaving the last two defenders exposed to a counter. Either
Benfica prioritise speed ahead of height (which they don’t seem to have done with
Mitrovic) in a central defender or defensive midfielder, otherwise Jesus needs
to start using his taller centre backs properly. As an example, defending
with a deep lying defensive line but a high pressing attacking line would
typically encourage the long ball aerial ball for a tall Benfica defence to win
and control in the midfield.
Benfica also
would do well to prioritise the recruitment of a proper attacking midfielder in
the centre to become the “metronome” through which space can be created by pulling
centre backs out of position in their box, something Aimar was exceptional at
in his day. Benfica’s strength on the flanks is obvious, but it makes
them a very predictable team at times and often one gets the impression Jesus
is relying on the extensive skills of players like Salvio, Gaitàn and Ola John
to create penetration in attack rather than relying on tactical variations.
Jorge Jesus and
his side also both need to learn how to defend a lead against big sides.
Against Porto and Guimarães, the strategy of
“keeping the result” was allegedly attempted – and ultimately failed.
Notwithstanding bad luck, Benfica would do well to learn from other sides some
very basic ideas in defending such leads. For example – use two lines of
four, the deepest line staying around the edge of the 18 yard area to deal with
high balls and crosses into the box. The other line sits slightly in
front, picking up long range shots, through balls and runs into the box.
When the ball is won – keep it. Don’t resort to pointless counter
attacks. Players who hold up the ball well and retain, or cycle the ball
well are critical to such strategies. There’s nothing more frustrating
than chasing a side towards the end of the game, when you’re desperate for the
ball to recover a goal to get back in the game.
Benfica’s
approach instead makes it quite easy for opponents, committing too much in
attack and paying very little attention to retaining the ball. It’s not
attractive football – but something tells me Benfiquistas won’t care too much
if the results are earned because of it. If they can’t do such things –
they shouldn’t be trying to defend leads in the manner that they currently do,
because it clearly doesn’t work.
4. Have
a clear strategy to win the Liga… and learn from the last 3 seasons |
| http://www.goal.com/en-ng/match/85403/porto-vs-benfica/preview |
If there is one
element Benfica could certainly improve dramatically, it is their strategic
approach to a league campaign, which almost worked this season, save for the
team’s possible complacency in ensuring 3 points against Estoril. Benfica
shouldn’t have created the situation where they relied on the result in the
Dragão to dictate their league campaign – because it’s clear the team wasn’t
convinced that they could beat their rivals. While the 2010-11 was a
campaign where Porto’s squad and coach clearly showed tactical superiority, the
last two seasons’ failures can be argued more by Benfica’s inability to win key
games and manage their campaign combined with Porto’s opportunistic manner of
“smelling blood” and taking advantage at just the right time.
It stands to
reason – at the beginning of this campaign, surely the penultimate fixture of
the season away to Porto stood out as a
possible title decider? Yet, going into that game, Benfica would have had
28 games – including one at home to Porto –
where an unassailable lead could have been developed. If Porto wasn’t going to be beaten at their ground, then the
game against Estoril especially is where Benfica had to plan ahead and know
that victory was essential. Benfica shouldn’t have allowed this game to
become a title decider, and they had 28 games before it to ensure that was not
the case. Irony and history now combine to illustrate that a possibly
unassailable 4 point lead could have been taken into the Dragão – but after
Estoril preyed on Benfica’s tactical frailties, Porto
took full advantage of the timid approach shown by the Eagles.
That’s not to
say that it’s acceptable the Benfica aren’t capable of getting a result at the
Dragão – but Benfica, despite having an arguably better squad for two seasons,
don’t seem to believe – or know – how they can beat Porto.
To win the Liga,
it’s become quite a simple formula then – Benfica have to probably win 28
games, or figure out how to get results against Porto .
With Rodriguez and Moutinho leaving Porto, the opportunity for an arguably
superior Benfica to make up ground in season 2013-14 could be ripe, depending
on who Porto sign to replace their stars.
5. Prioritise
the Liga and European competition… and rotate intelligently
One of the
things that counted in Porto ’s favour this
season was that by the time Benfica visited the Dragão for that key fixture,
Benfica were still fighting on three fronts. Key players like Matic and
Pèrez were playing twice a week consistently in the business end of these
competitions, which is a risky strategy for the fatigue given their importance.
That’s not to
say the idea of a treble (or quadruple, briefly) wasn’t romantic to
Benfiquistas. But the club has to prioritise. The Liga will always
be the bread and butter of Benfica’s success – always. Domestic dominance
doesn’t come from the Taça de Liga or the Taça de Portugal. These are two
lovely trophies with history, but if Benfica are going to progress as a club,
there are only two competitions worth considering – the Liga, and the Champions
League.
Consider for
example, that the Eagles’ forage into the quarterfinals of the Champions League
in 2011-12 earned them €20,7m,
compared to €14.2m in 2010-11, when an exit in the
Champions League group stage was followed by a subsequent semi-final appearance
in the Europa League. As reference, Porto, who did not qualify for the
Champions League that year due to a 3rd place finish in the Liga in 2009-10,
earned a mere €7.9m from the Europa League in 2010-11 …
and they won the competition!
The Champions
League isn’t just about prestige – it’s about finances, and while Benfica’s
scouting and transfer business has produced some deals to rival those of Porto
in recent years (Luiz, Ramires, Di Maria, Ceontrão, Javi Garcia, Witsel in
particular), the club shouldn’t be relying on lucrative player sales to finance
its squad changes (especially since player sales often implies the sale of key
players that Benfica can’t really afford to lose, but often do).
Benfica need to
start prioritizing the Liga and the Champions League, and use the Taça de Liga
and / or the Taça de Portugal as the competition where fringe or younger
players are used to give them experience, or keep them match fit. That’s
not to disrespect the domestic cups, but ultimately, they matter little to the
vision of making Benfica strong on domestic and European shores, simply because
the Liga and Champions League have a far wider audience and financial profile. Porto may have been less successful in reaching the
latter stages of the Champions League or the Taça de Portugal, but they’ve
ended the season having benefitted from playing 9 matches less.
Considering that their squad was thinner than that of Benfica in certain
positions, the fact that they’ve walked away with the Liga title is also a function
of how they’ve prioritized and managed their squad over the season.
And so ends the
wishlist. There’s a simpler version for many Benfiquistas of course … do
whatever it takes to win the Liga and beat Porto
for once! And for some others, an even simpler version than that – change
the manager…! And sadly, much of the above is not likely to happen
unless Jorge Jesus’ challenges his own stubborn managerial ideals, or the
Benfica structures do not support him with the signing of the players he really
needs.
But either way,
assuming he stays, whatever changes are made by Jorge Jesus and/or Benfica for
season 2013-14, one thing is for certain – after the near-success of season
2012-13, expectations will be high to translate Benfica’s recent
underachievement into fortune and glory.
Here’s hoping.
This article also appeared on Outside of the Boot in June 2013.
