🚨🗣️ 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Rooney on Portugal 1-1 draw against Congo and why Reberto Martinez needs to drop Ronaldo to the bench as he’s a hindrance in this Portugal team and makes the team lacks cohesion:
“If I’m Roberto Martínez, I make the hardest decision in football and I put Cristiano on the bench. People will scream, they’ll call it disrespect, but football doesn’t care about emotions. It only cares about balance and cohesion.
Portugal have too much talent to turn every attack into a tribute act. Rafael Leão, João Félix, Gonçalo Ramos, Gonçalo Guedes and Trincão are more dynamic, more technical and they play off each other naturally. Right now, it feels like every road leads to Ronaldo, and when one player becomes the destination instead of the journey, the whole team slows down.
Against Congo, he was barely involved, yet every time Portugal won the ball, the first instinct seemed to be ‘Where’s Cristiano?’ rather than ‘What’s the best option?’ That’s not modern football, that’s nostalgia. Nostalgia wins documentaries, not World Cups.
And tactically, where does he fit? He’s not a true number nine pressing defenders. He’s not a false nine creating spaces. He’s not a ten orchestrating attacks. He’s not giving you the legs of a winger. So what are you building around? A name or a system?
I watched Portugal and I saw something worrying. Your striker touching three times more balls than your playmaker without having the qualities of a false nine? That’s a tactical alarm bell. It’s like putting a grand piano in the middle of a Formula 1 track and wondering why the cars can’t overtake.
People say dropping Cristiano would be madness. I say refusing to evolve is madness. Football is ruthless. It doesn’t care about legends, it only rewards functioning teams. And if Martínez keeps treating Portugal like Cristiano FC instead of Portugal, don’t be shocked if they pack their bags earlier than expected.
Because reputations don’t win tournaments. Cohesion does.”
@pearlythingz Most things, really.
Many women talk a lot. It’s very hard for neurodivergent me to figure out which of the words are important, which always led to trouble.
I grew up around horses, so nonverbal cues mean more.
@pearlythingz Back in the hunter/gatherer days, women did the gathering. They occupied their time with gossip and social positioning. Still true. Men went hunting more than necessary just to get out of the cave. They didn't hunting, just hiked to a lake far enough away.