Sporting4ever

The problem, to me, was at half time. While we were indeed playing well, getting possession and creating a few chances, we hadn't scored. At half time, Moyes should have changed things. Everton needed more possession to dictate the tempo, and force Sporting to make mistakes, since clearly just waiting wasn't working. He was risking a goal, which eventually happened, and when he finally pushed them forward, it was too late.

Sorry, guys. Our lads knew this was the game of the season, we're out of every other competition, their confidence levels are shot, we were in a 7 game no-win streak, tied for worse in our history, and finally they delivered. I'd hope we didn't meet this soon out of groups, and I wouldn't begrudge a knockout, given our season, but in all fairness, we needed this result more than you, we're playing porto this sunday, and I doubt we'll even get a draw there.

We've been terrible with goals this season, 20 goals scored in the league so far, with 20 games played. We're playing decently, but the pressure us gonna start pilling on during the 2nd half. http://www.soccertvlive.net/soccertv/watch/12883/1/watch-sporting-cp-vs-everton-fc-live-stream.html

Well, the thing is, if you're behind an opponent and push him, it's a foul... Distin lost the position, he wasn't disputing side by side, and he didn't go for the ball, and that's that. Another thing to watch out for Liedson, he never gives up on these sort of plays, he fights for every possession, the whole match. And while he was well covered for most of the game, he did show a few glimpses of what he can do to a defense if they give him time and/or space. If, in 2 weeks time, we've bounced back, won a few games, and have a bit of restored confidence, you'll probably get a tough game. Nevertheless, I just want this season over as fast as possible. I never thought it could get worse than last year, but here we are.

Cahill was very imposing in the mid-field. And while our fullbacks aren't that great, true, your left side was terrible tonight. Izmailov pretty much did what he wanted there, which is something Moyes needs to look at for the return leg. Then again, Izmailov is possibly gonna leave to Russia soon...

Hey, guys. A nice game, that was. As you can see, we're keeping up our no-win streak, and, while I agree that the game here will be tough for you, it's not gonna be easy for us either. Home form has been terrible this season, we've played better away, and, if Everton play it smart and keep us tied up, time will definitely work in your favour, as the fans will start complaining fast, and this team isn't responding well to pressure. Nevertheless, I hope we go through, of course, I didn't like getting Everton just out of the group stage, I'd rather played you guys in the final It's a fair result, I think. Everton did play a tad better, but not enough for a 2 goal advantage. And benfica_suporter, good luck against Herta. It'll be good to see you guys contributing with some points for our European ranking, for a change...

Well, the petro-dollar squad spent a trillion dollars with the club, and they can't figure out why it's not at a top 4 spot, or in a closer title shot position, so off goes the head. It was bound to happen, and we'll see how many managers they go through before they figure out that money doesn't buy silverware.

If they haven't yet played in a european match this season, yes.

Damn. I so didn't want the draw to put us up against each other... It's true, both of us aren't at our best at the moment, hopefully that'll change come February. We've got a new manager (finally), the players show more willpower in the pitch, so I'm hopeful we'll be better by then. Your injuries cannot last forever, either, so we'll be in better shape then, and have a couple of entertaining games.

The only viable option is go for loans on players that are not beeing used much, because the changes that anyone will let go of 1st team players mid-competition is slim at best, especially considering the financial state of Everton right now. It's still way too soon to tell, but there's bound to be a lot of names available.

National lack ambition. If you've watched their games in Europe this season, you can see that. They've had all their games pretty much controled, and lost or drew them all in the final moments. As for us, nothing needs to be said, really... We have the fullbacks we have, and yet, for some reason, the board thinks it's more important to get Caicedo and Angulo... Finally we have some sort of consistency in defence, with Polga (finally) gone, but creatively, we're doing crap, and it's clear this teams doesn't work without Izmailov. I have little hopes this year, especially if Bettencourt keeps Bento for much longer. As for you guys, it's clear this week that you'r not unbeatable. I'm not a big braga fan, but someone needed to ground you guys, and trust me, better now than later on. It's gonna be an interesting match in Goodison, after your defeat yesterday...

I agree. Looking at the last few years, the sheer number of injuries points to more than simply bad luck. I remember that, a few years back, benfica had a similar problem, they had a high number of injuries for a couple of seasons or so, and I remember they made some changes back then, don't recall exactly if it was on the medical staff or the phisio department. Maybe one of them remembers that better than me, but I do remember that it was something like their PT wasn't properly done, or something, and they had higher attrition numbers than normal. It's what makes the most sense, really. Their bodies aren't beeing properly prepared for the ammount of time they play, therefore they injure themselves easier.

That's what I felt when I was watching. I knew EFC had injuries (seems like a damned plague at Goodison, makes you wonder if there's more ot it than bad luck), but Moyes really botched his selections. benfica are offensively balanced, Jesus has always been an attacking manager, and they have quality up front. A new denfense against a side like that, playing at home to an enthusiastic croud, as benfica fans are always at the start of every season (reality sinks in later on ), was a tremendous risk. And while the 1st half, Everton didn't look bad, they didn't really threaten much either. The start of the nd half is terrible. A Premier League team, regular in european competitions, that wants to aspire to higher places, cannot concede 3 goals in 7 minutes. The 1st two are terrible, taking 2 goals in little over 3 minutes, when you have two kickoffs is unnaceptable. Moyes seriously needs to bang some heads on the flight back, but he must also realize that you cannot stirr the pot even more, against a team that's been scoring goals by the handfulls. I dissagree. The second half, especially, I don't think I saw him make a correct pass. He intercepted a few passes, but always gave possession away, and while cahill was playing outside his position, and rodwell, given fel's absence, actually had to do more than just his job, and he had a couple of nice moves. Fel needed to be the break at the begining of benfica's offensive moves, and he was seldom there. He also needed to be the transition between defense and offense, and he never did that. All in all, I only saw him because of his fro. With some players back, in 15 days, it's possible to beat them, especially with a more experienced defence.

Nicely done. It appears the boys have finally found their form. I know it's to early to tell, but those 1st matches were atypical, now confidence should be returning to normal, and results will continue to come. Keep at it, blues! :thumbsup_still: :thumbsup_still:

Very nice result, guys. Shame about Saha, how many games might he get for that, two?