Champions League Round of 16: Porto v Arsenal

[albakos]

There are no mentions of Sexuals anywhere!

I see, you felt lonely there and decided to come back among the sexuals here

 

[SA Gunner]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1749020100361961930

Here We Go

 

[Curtarc]

If we lose these ties however, I think I’m leaning Arteta out

Who are their danger players? Jesus corona still knocking about?

Corona left Porto for Sevilla three of four years ago. I wrote a report on the Porto team in this thread back in December if you are interested in diving a bit deeper and don't mind reading a large manuscript. I basically go over the team's form and the overall state of the club, with the poor financial situation and the looming presidential elections with Villas Boas competing for the seat.

Talking about the key players specifically I have to first say there have been some developments over the last few weeks and Porto is now playing a better football compared to what they did until December.

Basically Sérgio Conceição was forced to radically change the team that he usually fielded every game due to very poor results and performances and also because Taremi and Zaidou left for CAN. The young players that took their place have been proving themselves and Porto got their biggest wins and also had their best performances of this season during the last three games.

Conceição switched his traditional 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 approach and players like Nico González, Francisco Conceição, Alan Varela and Evanilson have responded very well to this tactical change and are securing their spot in the main 11.

Right now I would say that the key players to look out for are:

- Diogo Costa (the GK is in superb form and should have his last season at Porto this year. I don't see how Porto will be able to keep him for another season with the way he has been performing both for Porto and the portuguese national team)

- Alan Varela (the 22 year old argentinian defensive midfielder arrived at the club this year and immediately won a spot in the main 11. Widely regarded as the best Porto signing since Luis Diaz, he keeps improving every game and recently had some brilliant performances. I personally think he has everything it takes to become a world class player and wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't last more than 1 season at Porto)

- Pepe (he is somehow still a good player at 41 years of age and by far Porto's best centre back. Porto's defence is the team's Achille's heel, but when he is available to play he is capable of disguising some of those weaknesses with his experience and voice of command)

The following are young players that have shown potential and are currently in a good form, but still have more to prove:

- Francisco Conceição (the 20 year old right winger is the coach's son and seems to have benefited from his year at Ajax. He is a technically gifted pacey winger with good crossing ability, but had issues dealing with more physical players due to his short stature. He seems to have improved this limitation, but only recently gained a spot in the main 11 so still has a long way to go)

- Evanilson (the 23 year old brazilian striker proved to be a technically gifted clinical striker and seemed well on his way to become a main 11 player at Porto last year until he suffered consecutive injuries and lost his form. He started this year injured again, but recovered near the end of 2023 and seems to have recovered that aura that he had last year. He is plagued by injuries so we will see how long this will last)

- Nico González (the 22 year old box-to-box midfielder arrived from Barcelona this season with a lot of hype behind the signing, but failed to live up to the expectations. Was close to leaving Porto to Girona, but the coach gave him a second chance and he benefited from the tactical changes introduced a few weeks ago and had a couple of very interesting games that earned him a place in the main 11.)

Finally, If we were talking about last season's Porto I would also add Pepê as a key player, but he is in terrible form this season and is far from the player he proved he can be last season.

Don't know if this has to do with his staying at the club against his will since he had good offers during the summer or ended up suffering from Otávio leaving to Al-Nasr and the coach switching his traditional position and trying to mold him into the role that Otávio had at the club.

At his best Pepê was an extremely pacey winger with good technical ability that could also play as a right back and was adequate at that job.

 

[Riou]

As a great man once said...

"Fabrizio Rioumano"

 

[Rasmi]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1749020100361961930

Here We Go

My role model. I would give him Edus job straight away

 

[Sanchez11]

Biggest spoofer on the net ffs.

 

[Dennis_Bergkamp_10]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1749020100361961930

Here We Go

He's a ****ing clown.