Being a Benfica is already an emotional roller coaster, but the 2020/21 version is not fit for those who are emotionally unstable.
After an absolutely catastrophic ending to last season, how the hell could things get any worse? They couldn’t right? I mean we got stuck watching Nelson Veríssimo on the sideline while Benfica lost to a ten man Porto in the Taça de Portugal final.
Well, the 2020/21 season thus far has said, hey, hold my beer! Or vinho, whichever you prefer. If things continue like this, it’ll be more like aguardente, but, back to the point…
Benfica went and spent a shit ton of money this off-season.
We broke the record for the highest transfer in the league, we sent Luis Filipe Vieira in a private jet to go get Jorge Jesus version 2.0, and, he even brought João de Deus with him. We have Jesus and Deus, and we still can’t figure this shit out! Did I also mention we pay JJ and his crew a fuck ton of money?! Like real money!
Listen, I was not on the bring back Jorge Jesus train. I would have preferred someone else, maybe the likes of Gallardo from River Plate, or someone else with the proper CV to turn this locker room around after they completely pissed down their leg last season.
With that said, when Benfica ripped Jorge Jesus away from Flamengo and his side chick, I was going to support him.
At this point in the season, I’m starting to run out of hope. I’m an optimistic guy, especially when it comes to Benfica, but these guys seem committed to sending me and millions of others into an out of control spiral.
This is the guy who had Benfica playing some of the best football my generation has witnessed thus far from the club. Made it to two Europa League finals. He was arguably one win away in either of those finals from making a jump to one of the top leagues in the world.
I was a believer in needing time to adjust to the team, make it his own, yet with the passing of time, I’m left wondering when the hell the consistency will arrive.
When you see a passionate and gritty performance like we saw at the Dragão, and then what we witnessed against Nacional, how do you justify that?! Better yet, how the hell do you explain it?!
Outside of tactic, strategy and planning, there is effort, desire, and the drive to want to win and battle on the pitch. Against Nacional, and in previous matches, there’s been little to none of that.
They came out playing well, took the lead, and then decided to pack it in and do fuck all the rest of the match. On top of it, they conceded yet another stupid goal, something an amateur team would be bitching at each other for, yet we are seeing highly paid professionals concede these goals.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, of the few chances we created, Seferovic managed to miss an open net, but, that’s a conversation for another day.
Sure, we should have had a penalty in the second half, but besides that, we didn’t do nearly enough.
Where the hell is the football Jorge Jesus got us used to in version one? High press, quick transitions, and always hungry for more? Now, we have no press, no transitions, and no hunger for some, let alone more.
Despite all the absences in the squad and my absolute fury at the fact this match was played, and Nacional not wanting to postpone, Benfica had more then enough in that XI to win.
We drew at home to Nacional, who had 13 points and was sitting on the relegation zone line. They had four straight losses in all competitions, while conceding 10 goals in that stretch. And we barely scored one against them. What the hell is happening?!
The next few weeks will be vital for this squad, and dare I say it, JJ and LFV.
That trip to Alvalade will be more crucial now than anticipated. If Sporting beats Boavista and we go into that match back six points, anything less than a win could be the nail in a coffin.
I’m not ready for a funeral in February… That would be a very long second half of the season, but if JJ doesn’t figure this out soon and these players start looking like they care for more than 15 minutes, get your aguardente ready… we’ll need it!
