João Felix flopped? Bruno Fernandes overrated? The biggest myths of the 2019-20 season
In what was the longest season in history, there were plenty of talking points and plenty of drama - though perhaps also plenty of miconceptions.
Football is a game of opinions. ‘Ronaldo or Messi?’ is one of the favourites in the modern game. But could it be that some of those opinions sometimes extend beyond that of reasonable logic? Here, we take a look at some of the biggest myths associated with Portuguese football over the 2019-20 campaign and attempt to prove, once and for all, exactly why these opinions simply cannot be supported.
João Felix ‘flopped’ at Atletico Madrid
Where better to start than the myth that Joao Felix failed in his first season in La Liga. And this one was perhaps always inevitable, regardless of Felix’s on-field performances.
People looked at Felix’s mega 120 million euro price tag when he moved to Madrid and were so determined to paint him as flop that they were going to stick to that assessment regardless of what he actually did on the pitch. There is this sense that some refused to even contemplate the thought that a 19-year old from the Portuguese league - that many people may not have even hear of - could be worth even close to the price Atletico paid, and were going to criticise him at every opportunity - to such an extent that Felix’s debut season has been largely exaggerated.
Felix was unfortunate this campaign; a handful of injury issues ensured that his game time was more limited than it otherwise would have been, though he still amassed 36 games across all competitions, and scored 9 and assisted 3 in the process. A direct goal contribution every 207 minutes is not brilliant, and it is short of his excellent debut season in senior football with Benfica, but it certainly isn’t disastrous, particularly in a team that plays very defensive football.
Indeed, compare his stats to that of Sergio Aguero when he first joined Atletico Madrid. The Argentine star played in all 38 of Atletico Madrid’s league matches - and scored just 6 goals. Of course Aguero cost a fraction of the price that Felix arrived for - 22 million euros to be precise - but it was a different time and the market has evolved considerably since then. The point is, for a debut season, it was a solid effort - and if he goes on to replicate Aguero’s career, this will have proven to be outstanding value for money for Atletico Madrid in the end.
Football goes beyond stats too, of course. And he often looked lively for Atletico Madrid, offering directness with his strong dribbling ability, and frequently being the source of creativity for his side. So no, Felix, though he may not have torn the league apart, certainly did not fail in his first season in Spain.
The coronavirus hasn’t impact the transfer market
You may look at the transfer market and think that everything is pretty normal. You see Jadon Sancho linked with a big-money move to Manchester United, Lionel Messi preparing for a stunning move away from Barcelona, and even Benfica coming extraordinarily close to pulling off the signing of Edinson Cavani - which still cannot be ruled out from being concluded to this day - but the truth is, the market has taken a significant hit this campaign - and it is having a pretty hefty impact on some of the biggest clubs in Portugal.
Benfica are not being affected too much - Champions League football last season and the sale of Joao Felix means that, financially, they are pretty secure, and have pulled off some stunning signings. But for Sporting and Porto, it’s a relatively different story. Both clubs are in a position of needing to sell before strengthening their squads significantly - and so far, how many profile departures from the Portuguese league have we actually seen? Francisco Trincao from Braga to Barcelona is really the only one - and that one was confirmed to be happening all the way back in February. Other than that, there’s been no big-money signings from the Primeira Liga.
And it is an issue for the Portuguese sides. Sporting have invested small sums this season, and are desperately looking to offload a couple of their biggest assets in Acuna and Palhinha - but because clubs know they are looking to sell, and because of the market currently, they haven’t had suitors offering sufficient sums for either player, and they may end up being forced to sell Jovane Cabral. Porto, meanwhile, have several key players entering their last year of contract, yet offers for them have been in short supply. Alex Telles, Otavio, Tiquinho Soares and Sergio Oiveira are among the players who see their contracts expire in the summer of 2021, but no sufficient offers have arrived for any of them. Then there’s Danilo Pereira who expected to leave this summer, but still remains at the Portuguese champions.
It may well be difficult for Porto and Sporting to be able to strengthen significantaly this summer with the market as it is - and coronavirus has surely played a role in the limited spending this window - with Benfica and Chelsea, the latter having had many funds in reserve after a lengthy transfer ban, perhaps the two major exceptions.
Bruno Fernandes is not world-class
Have you ever seen a player have such a significant impact on a club in such a short space of time? Bruno Fernandes completely turned Manchester United’s fortunes around, has been their best player in almost every match he has been involved in, and yet is somehow undermined by many fans for - wait for it - his impeccable ability from the penalty spot.
Ordinarily, you would say that being an accomplished penalty taker is a universally positive trait - yet because of the number of goals he has managed to get from the 12-yard spot, there’s this unusual belief that he isn’t actually as good as he is - which in many ways is quite bizarre.
If you watched a Manchester United match, you would see the quality that he offers on the game, how he controls proceedings and creates genuine goalscoring opportunities, either for himself or the players around him. The sort of impact he has had at the club isn’t a coincidence, and he is indisputedly world class. 12 goals - yes, penalties do count as goals - and 8 assists in 22 games for the Red Devils tells only part of the story with regards to Fernandes’ influence.
Benfica’s Champions League group was Europa League quality
Quite extraordinary the level of disrespect that was shown to group G of this season’s UEFA Champions League. You don’t need to look too far to find out to what extent this group was overlooked.
Group G: Zenit, Benfica, Lyon & RB Leipzig.
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) August 29, 2019
A.K.A the group not a single person will watch a match from.
Zenit, Benfica, Lyon, RB Leipzig is the most Europa League Champions League group ever.
— Michael Potts (@MichaelPotts73) August 29, 2019
You only have to look at the replies and quoted retweets of the tweet below to see how underrated the group proved to be; several suggestions that this was a Europa League group, others calling it boring, while there was, of course, the customary “Farmers” remark from one person too.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 29, 2019
In reality, though, this not only proved to be an incredibly exciting - and competitive - group, but two of the four teams in it went on to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. That’s right, from the so-called Europa League group, not only did one of the teams reach the final four of the UEFA Champions League, but two did.
Lyon and RB Leipzig defied all expectations in making an extraordinary run to the semis, and proved many wrong - it also made Benfica being knocked out seem far more respectable.
Jose Mourinho is past it
For a long time now, Mourinho has been seen as something of a scapegoat in the English media, often painted as the villain in proceedings, often the first manager to receive criticism whenever possible and rarely given the praise he deserves.
The headline below is one good example of that; it is, of course, referring to the fact that Mourinho ‘failed’ in his meeting with Sevilla a couple of years ago, when his then-Manchester United side lost to the La Liga outfit over two legs in the Champions League - but the way it is written is clearly completely overlooking the fact that Mourinho won the Europa League with Manchester United, the tournament that Ole was supposedly looking to ‘shine’ in. Quite extraordinary, really.
Can Ole Gunnar Solskjaer shine where Jose Mourinho failed? ✨
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 16, 2020
Ole and his United side went on to also lose to Sevilla - though there wasn’t too much talk of it being a ‘failure’ in the aftermath, which is also interesting to note.
In any case, Jose Mourinho took over a Spurs side that were down on confidence, conceding goals for fun and looking like a shadow of their former selves. Had it been Mourinho that was in charge during such an extraordinary slump, you would expect that it would still be discussed in the media today. Yet for Poccettino, it is hardly mentioned at all.
Spurs ended up finishing 6th and were one of the best teams in the league on form after Mourinho arrived. He secured European football for the London club last campaign, which was looking highly unlikely before he arrved, running counter to the belief that Mourinho is no longer a top-class manager.
Wolves bought their success
Another successful season for Wolverhampton Wanderers this campaign - and again there are those that like to point to Wolves’ advantageous connection to Jorge Mendes and suggest that Wolves are buying their way to success. But it’s really not the case at all.
Sure, Wolves have spent their fair share of money, but they have been very shrewd in the market, and have signed some quality players for very reasonable prices. The fees paid for internationals like Joao Moutinho, Rui Patricio, Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Leander Dendoncker yet again prove that their recruitment policy is exceptional.
Indeed, in the 2019 summer transfer window, according to Sky Sports, Wolves spent a total of £65million - considerable funds compared to that of the Portuguese Primeira Liga, but in the English game, it’s a relatively modest figure. Indeed, no fewer than nine Premier League clubs spent as much, or more, money than Wolves in the 2019 transfer window, and Wolves finished above four of them - Arsenal, Aston Villa, Newcastle and West Ham.
If it were all about the money, how can you explain Aston Villa, who spent an astronomical £144million, finishing just one place and one point above the relegation zone? Or that West Ham, who spent £78million, finised in 16th? Wolves’ success does not rely on mass spending, but excellent recruitment.
Marco Silva is a fraud of a manager
Three spells in England now, all brief and all ending in disappointment - it is safe to say that Marco Silva’s time in the English Premier League was somewhat disappointing.
But look beyond that and you see that he was not the disaster he is restrospectively portrayed as at any of the clubs he managed. He started by taking over a Hull City side that were, to all intents and purposes, deemed to be all but down when he took charge, sitting on just 13 points after 20 games had been played. He went on to get them 21 points from fewer games, and made them a genuinely competitive force. Looking at Hull now, you can say that his time was a great success, even if it did end in failure.
His time at Watford was very impressive too, and they were pushing for European football before Everton made an approach for the Portuguese coach. Their form sank dramatically after that, but they were 10th when he was sacked, having had to endure injuries to 12 senior players, while they finished 17th the season before he arrived. They have since also been relegated, which makes his brief stint at the club look even more respectable
And while his time at Everton also ended in disappointment, his first season in charge was encouraging, securing some impressive results in the season. But you can have no complaints about his sacking. At the same time, looking at the managers that have been and gone at Everton over the years, having departed in great disappointment, he’s in decent company. The likes of Roberto Martinez and Ronald Koeman both failed to appease the board, while Marco Silva’s win record at Everton (40%) is better than that of both Sam Allardyce (38.46%) and the legendary Carlo Ancelotti (38.10%).
Perhaps the issue at Everton was not the manager, but the transfer policy and those higher in the hierarchy.
Portuguese clubs succeeded on the European stage
A positive myth is the suggestion that Portuguese clubs were actually pretty successful in European competition this campaign - and you can see why some would think that.
In the UEFA Coefficient, Portugal earned 10.300 points, which is a very respectable tally, the 6th highest of all the 55 associations in Europe, and both Braga and Vitoria Guimaraes were impressive against some top-class clubs. But the fact is, overall, this was still a disappointing campaign for Portuguese clubs in Europe.
Porto, for example, failed to even make the group stage of the Champions League, knocked out by Krasnodar at the first hurdle, and then struggled to even make it out of their Europa League group containing Rangers, Young Boys and Feyenoord. They ended up going out in the round of 32.
Benfica were then handed a very balanced Champions League group with RB Leipzig, Lyon and Zenit - and only just about scraped into the Europa League by finishing 3rd in the group on the final day of the campaign. They too went out in the round of 32.
And then there was Sporting. They had a tricky group with both LASK and PSV, but actually qualified for the round of 32 with a game to spare - yet ended up also going out in the first knockout round against Istanbul Basaksehir in unforgivable circumstances, losing the second leg 4-1 having won the first 3-1.
It meant no Portuguese club remained in European competition beyond the month of February for the first time in twenty years. So, not a successful season for Portuguese clubs on the continental stage.
Outside the top 3, there’s little quality in the Primeira Liga
Linked to the previous myth, though, is that about the Portuguese league in general, and the idea that, outside of the top 3 in the country, there’s a lack of genuine quality. And though it is abundantly clear that the Portuguese Primeira Liga is far behind in terms of depth and quality compared to the likes of the English Premier League and Spanish La Liga, there are also some exciting players and competitive teams in the lower reaches of the top flight.
What both Braga and Vitoria Guimaraes did in the Europa League, giving the likes of Wolves, Besiktas, Arsenal and Eintracht Frankfurt seriously competitive games proves as much, while Famalicao and Rio Ave are both very competent sides that were really exciting last season too. There’s a lot to enjoy in the Portuguese league, and the quality is not as bad as many make out.
Renato Sanches was overhyped
Last but not least is the myth about Renato Sanches. Much in the same way that Joao Felix is being written off, Renato Sanches’ inability to crack into the Bayern Munich team after the 2016 Golden Boy moved to Germany from Benfica instantly made him something of a failure in many people’s eyes. Which is difficult to understand.
Yes, he unequivocably had a thoroughly disappointing loan spell in the Premier League with Swansea City - everybody was expecting so much more from him - but players struggle at certain clubs for one reason or another. The likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Mo Salah were both less than spectacular at Chelsea, and yet they’ve since become two of the very best players in the world.
Now at Lille, Renato is sparkling again, and looking like the top-quality player Benfica and Portugal fans always knew he was. The future remains bright for the Portugal international.
Renato Sanches. Photo author: Rufus46. License link.
