Two games, two wins. Can't beat that. Victories over Denmark on Friday and Iceland on Tuesday, both by a 3-1 score, completely change Portugal's situation in Group H of Euro 2012's qualifying round.
Paulo Bento didn't make many structural changes to the player layout on the field, opting to keep the 4-3-3 we saw Queiroz implement during this year's World Cup. The similarities between both managers end there.
What was a scared, inhibited, fragile team just a few months ago is now a much more confident and creative one. The laid-back, defensive, wait-for-the-opposition's-mistake style which should never have been employed in a team so rich with talent has been amended with Bento's more aggressive attacking build-up.
I never quite understood why Queiroz was even chosen to manage the National team (once again). I think a few people forgot his debacle while managing Portugal in the 90's. His head coaching glory days go back quite a bit to before he even coached anyone over the age of 22.
I loved Paulo Bento's choices for the starting 11. In fact, he fielded the same exact starting formation I would have picked. Though I'm not a huge fan of the 4-3-3, it's by far the formation that best suits Portugal's interests and the one that best uses the team's current talent.
Club managers have the luxury of choosing players that fit their desired formation and can scout accordingly. Need a striker? Ok, get your scouting department on the job and find one that fits the skill set you're looking for. National team managers don't have this luxury and must therefore implement a tactical formation that places as much talent on the pitch at one time. The talent pool is limited to players of Portuguese nationality, so there is no scouting random leagues to find exactly what you need. Though the 4-1-2-1-2 may be Paulo Bento's favorite, I think he realizes that the current Portuguese talent pool consists of a surplus of middle midfielders (is that even possible?) and a lack of strikers. I'll expand more on this thought later in the week...
What really changed was the team mentality. Sports are very highly influenced by psychological factors. Queiroz came from a sub-par World Cup performance where key players blatantly came out against him. There was little team unity and an ingrained philosophy of passively watching the other team play. The ONLY Queiroz-led game that I saw Portugal be aggressive in was the 7-0 victory against North Korea. Go figure.
At first, I was afraid of Paulo Bento's slim coaching resume. Professional coaching experience? 4 average years at Sporting. League titles: 0. The more I came to terms with the fact that Paulo Bento was the only logical option, the more I realized that his leadership could be exactly what the group needs. He's much younger than the last few head coaches and brings a fresh perspective in terms of game approach.
Bento's team goes after the ball, not the other way around. The team works together, passes quickly and usually simply. Ball possession is prized and he allows the players to make creative decisions rather than restrict them to rigid defensive roles. All the ingredients needed to make a functioning football machine.
One thing is certain, change was mandatory. I'm really glad it has worked out so far.
Thanks to everyone that has shown their support for my blog during the past week. Suggestions and comments are appreciated as always at paulsballsblog@gmail.com.
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