It may sound ridiculous to say about a side who are reigning European Champions, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s finest days behind him, but Portugal are arguably the best they have been since hosting Euro 2004, where a star studded line-up featuring Deco, Pauleta, Rui Costa and LuÃs Figo fell at the last hurdle against Greece. The pain avenged in 2016, with the fundamental mission of Portuguese football seemed to have been accomplished, that being winning a major honour, but Portugal fans are right to feel that this is just the beginning of something special.
An extremely underwhelming World Cup campaign, where Portugal were very fortunate to make it out of their group after Ronaldo’s heroics against Spain in Sochi and being outplayed by both Morocco and Iran, greatly diminished manager Fernando Santos’ reputation at a time where his stock amongst Portugal’s 10 million citizens could hardly have been higher. Concerns over rigid tactics and an ageing squad, in particular the defence, were at the forefront of this, and rightfully so. However, a strong end to 2018, comfortably dispatching Italy without the help of their record scorer to top their Nations League group, buoyed an extremely successful 2019 for Portugal, where despite finishing behind Ukraine in Euro 2020 qualifying were crowned champions of the inaugural Nations League on home soil in June.
Fernando Santos has invigorated the side in three different manners. Regarding the back four, only 6 different defenders had been used until the final round of qualifying fixtures in November 2019. One of the experienced Pepe or José Fonte coupled young stalwart Rúben Dias, a player who seems to have solidified his starting berth and his somehow still on the books of Benfica despite numerous more financially stacked European clubs sniffing around him.
At full back, Santos has rotated Nélson Semedo and João Cancelo, two players with much attacking verve and aggression, with the former getting the nod for the Nations League semi-final and final against Switzerland and the Netherlands respectively. The only time either of them have not started was in Portugal’s last fixture in Luxembourg, where Ricardo Pereira’s electric form for Leicester was too obvious for Santos to ignore.
On the other flank, Raphaël Guerreiro has nailed down the starting spot, again with the only blip to this coming at home to Lithuania in November where Mário Rui was tested.This stability is a much welcome change to the chopping and changing of the 2018 qualifying campaign where Santos seemed to be in limbo between trusting his 2016 guard and blooding younger players.
In midfield, though Portugal have stuck with their 4-3-3, their adoption of folding into a 4-4-2 in defence and defensive transition has suited the abilities of their starting midfielders, whilst simultaneously offering protection of their attacking and occasionally positionally reckless full backs. Even though all of Danilo Pereira, William Carvalho, Rúben Neves, Pizzi, Bruno Fernandes, João Moutinho and João Mário have been used, Santos has often erred on the side of caution with the two more guile-and-grit-focused Pereira and progressive passer Carvalho in games where they could surely have deployed two more creative counterparts, such as Neves and Fernandes.
This ended up costing Portugal in their two March fixtures at home to Ukraine and Serbia, where a lack of deep creativity meant that the only goal scored by A Seleçãoin those two fixtures was from a Pereira long ranger, as well as away to Ukraine in October where the lack of an aggressive forward press allowed Ukraine to transfer the ball to their dangerous wide areas and expose Portugal’s attacking fullbacks too easily. However, it can prove extremely effective if the ball is allowed to be filtered through the shuttling midfielder often enough, such as Bruno Fernandes against the Netherlands, where his drifts to the right flank to combine with Bernardo Silva proved too much to handle for the Dutch defence. Carvalho also adds an aerial threat in the box, not just from set pieces, as his goal from a deep Semedo cross in Belgrade in November showed.
The front three is where Portugal are most exciting, however. Cristiano Ronaldo has been played (nominally) on the wide of the trident- the left if Bernardo Silva is fit, the right if not. The trident has nearly always been finished off by a workhorse partner for these two, one of Gonçalo Guedes, André Silva, Gonçalo Paciência or João Félix, the latter whose pressing and defensive capabilities have improved greatly under Diego Simeone.
Ronaldo can feed off the more poacher mould of striker in Silva or Paciência, or equally act as the poacher himself with a greater number of chances being created through the more elegant Guedes or Félix. Either way, a chemistry is starting to build between Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva which can provide inspiration and a goal from nowhere.
Yes, this is a fairly ad hoc system, but what isn’t in international football where managers don’t have the time to implement systematic attacking plays. As their second goal against Serbia showed in November, the front three and Fernandes showed they have the incision and agility to break down tight low blocks, this move rounded off by Guedes. Ronaldo also thrived as a number nine in the second half of the game, knitting attacking moves together and successfully playing on the last shoulder for Portugal’s third, supplied by who else but Bernardo Silva.
Overall, the main feeling for this heightened excitement for Portugal comes from the newfound depth of their options, especially at fullback, midfield and in attack (so essentially most areas of the pitch...). Diogo Jota, Francisco Trincão, Renato Sanches and Ricardo Pereira are a world away from squads papered out by the likes of Rúben Amorim, Hugo Almeida and Silvestre Varela earlier in the decade. With an exceptional new generation of youth coming through to bolster this further- 2016 Euro U17 Champions, 2017 and 2019 Euro U19 runners up, and Euro U19 champions in 2018 after an enthralling final against Italy, the optimism only grows.
Put a gun to my head, and Portugal would be my bet to retain their European crown in Wembley next July.
By Alfie Wilson.
Photos courtesy of UEFA.tv