Manager singles out starter who fell short v Porto: Benfica's weak link | OneFootball

Benfica were beaten 3-1 at the Estádio do Dragão and ended the seventh round of the Liga Betclic with 16 points, suffering their second defeat of the season and seeing a run of five consecutive wins come to an end. For Paulo Alemão, there was one Eagles player who fell short of expectations in the Clássico: Rafa Silva.

“I think the game demanded a little more from Rafa today. Maybe, for me, he was Benfica’s weakest player in terms of productivity. It’s not as if he played badly, but more was expected — those bursts from him, those moments when he drives the ball forward very quickly, when he finds a pass for his teammates. Rafa was missing today in helping Benfica, especially from the moment they were down to ten men,” said the coach.

Despite the criticism of the Portugal international, Paulo Alemão had plenty of praise for Marco Silva and the way the coach has managed the Reds’ squad. For the pundit, the rotation ability shown by the manager could prove important over the course of the season and help keep the players committed to the project.

“Marco Silva has managed things brilliantly. He went to Milan with ten different players, and today he changed things again. That clearly shows the coach’s ability to manage the squad, to keep the squad on his side, which is often the most important thing in a team’s success. He himself has already said that in a few months it will be difficult to settle on a Benfica starting XI. And that clearly shows the quality Benfica’s squad has and the solutions available to come in,” concluded Paulo Alemão.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.