The main problem is that the other team always has something called "defense"

mmmkay, out of jokes, the main point is that, in the last decade, we got used to play with only one striker, and him against 3, 4 or more defenders doesn't have much of a chance, unless he is a phenomenon (a thing we don't have for a looooong time), and so, we gotta rely on the crossings for the area, or the plays from behind, especially when we're losing and we begin to become even more nervous. Look at the game against Greece.

(only noted later, paranoik0 has already pointed some of the stuff I mentioned. Oh well )

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No, I'm not aplz.

Yeah, taking out Maniche and playing another striker could be a good idea, but somehow everybody here thinks that our team can only play good football with two defensive midfielders (because of the sucess we had with that tactic in euro2000). Anyway Maniche is already somewhat an offensive player that shoots a lot, and makes up for the hole Deco leaves in the midfield everytime he goes away from his position to try to destabilize the opponent's deffence.

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sempre contra a corrente do jogo

Portugal take too much time in the final third, they try to play a fast attacking game but they're not able to draw defenders out of their position to create the space for anyone running through. As we saw yesterday and throughout this tournament, they're restricted to long range efforts, crosses and trying to get free kicks. They're not making the runs for each other. C.Ronaldo for example was very energetic yesterday but he was more than matched by Ashley Cole. I never understood why he didn't switch flanks and try to get more joy out of Gary Neville. It was England's right flank where they got the space to cross for Postiga's equaliser and Ronaldo could have found a lot more room there because Neville and Beckham were more tired and ineffective than Cole and Hargreaves on the other side. Ronaldo is far more effective as a free roaming midfielder.

Portugal haven't convinced me at all in this tournament, they are one of the best teams in terms of technical ability but too often with them it's about running at defenders and then thinking about your teammates, rather than the other way round. That said, Deco has really impressed me, always looking to bring other players into the game or make that killer ball, although his cynical theatrics are bloody frustrating.