Benfica played host to Estrela da Amadora on Saturday evening, and despite the important win, that was far from the main topic of discussion after the final whistle.

Leading up to the match, Roger Schmidt’s pre-match press conference raised some eyebrows. His comments about Odysseas’ performance Monday evening against Boavista left an uncertainty in the air about the Greek internationals future at the club.

When the teamsheet was released, I’m not sure anyone expected to see what we saw.

ODY LEFT OUT

I wasn’t sure who to expect in between the posts on Saturday evening, but if I’m being honest, I didn’t expect Samuel Soares. Once I saw that, the next big indicator would be who was on the bench. To my surprise again, and I’m sure yours, Trubin. What the hell happened with Ody?

Shortly after the XI was announced, rumors started circulating that Ody and Roger Schmidt got into an argument before the match. I’m not sure we’ll truly ever find out what happened, but here’s my take on it.

Ody has been at the club for six seasons, and he’s had his highs and his lows. During that time, he’s never been able to get majority of Benfica fans on his side. Some like him, some don’t think he’s good enough, and others are on the fence still, unwilling to make a decision.

From a managers perspective, Roger isn’t the first to be uncertain about Ody as the starting keeper.

I’ve been a critic of his for a few years now.

In between the sticks, I think he’s an above average keeper. My frustration with him is that he doesn’t command his box, he doesn’t control the space behind the back line well, he’s not great with his feet, and crosses into the box are a wildcard.

Every player has their strengths and weaknesses, but it’s surprising to me that he hasn’t improved his weaknesses enough given his time at the club and his game time.

Now, for this specific situation and how it unraveled…

Based on Roger’s comments in the pre-match press conference, I’d hope and assume that a discussion was had with Ody prior to that knowing the press were going to ask. If that conversation wasn’t had, then I can agree that the manager could have handled it better.

On the other side of this argument, let’s not forget that Ody too hasn’t always been a role model at the club either. When he was benched for Helton Leite, whether it was right or wrong, the next chance he got, he said it was time to move on from Benfica. Therefore, he’s shown us that when he’s had to fight for his spot, he hasn’t handled it well. Could that have been the case this time around?

Did Ody have a bad enough performance on Monday to warrant a change? I’d say he’s definitely had worse performances, but I believe the big difference is Roger now has a keeper he hopes and believes can be the starter. Had we not signed Trubin, would this decision had been made? I don’t believe so.

Time will tell what happened, and maybe opinions change, but for now, it appears that Ody’s days at the club are numbered.

NERES THE GAME CHANGER

Benfica’s first half was positive, despite the scoreless draw at the half.

Estrela sat deep, playing with two lines of five more often than not, making it difficult to break through. With a few clear chances, Benfica was unable to find the back of the net. Lack of efficiency; we’ve had this conversation before.

Defensively, the league newcomers didn’t necessarily get forward enough to create problems for Benfica.

As time passed, it became more evident that Benfica was going to need someone more direct to come in and unlock Estrela’s resolute defense.

In the 69th minute, Benfica’s offensive demeanor completely changed.

Neres looked motivated to prove himself, and he did just that.

Whether it was individually, or collectively, he seemed to be involved in everything. Estrela struggled to contain him 1v1, and just 10 minutes later, his assist to Tengstedt allowed the team and all Benfica fans to exhale.

To top it all off, he turned Estrela’s defender inside out in stoppage time, setting Rafa up for an almost unfair 1v1 situation against Bruno Brigido. Rafa converted, but I’m surely not the only one who thought Rafa was going to dribble the ball into the keeper, right?

Naturally after a performance like that, people are going to ask why Neres isn’t starting. Roger said in his post match presser that he’d had a knock on his knee, and needs to ease him back in.

We’ll see if he makes it into the starting XI against Gil Vicente.

MIHAILO IN AURSNES’ SHADOW

Another decision that left fans scratching their head was Aursnes at left-back, instead of Mihailo.

The Norwegian has featured in a number of positions since his arrival at the club, and this was just another one of those situations.

It seems obvious that Mihailo doesn’t necessarily fit into Roger’s tactical mold. Defensively he’s more sound than Jurásek, but offensively he doesn’t give as much. Seeing as this match was likely going to be one way traffic, could Roger’s decision have been for Aursnes given he can get forward with more ease, and is better at linking play?

I spoke to someone about this during the match and they mentioned that sometimes it comes down to confidence and trust. Aursnes is a regular, and with the few chances Mihailo has had, has he done enough to give the manager that confidence? It was said just a month or so ago that Roger was fine moving on from Mihailo, but the Serbian wanted to stay at fight for his spot.

Our next match is away to Gil Vicente, which should be more defensively demanding. Will Mihailo get the start, or will Roger opt for his safe bet?

Let me know what you thought of the match, and of course, Roger’s decisions.