Tag: Benfica

by Tarcísio Neri

Benfica offers 30 million euros for Orkun Kökçü

The Turkish midfielder and captain would be very close to being announced as a reinforcement for Roger Schmidt’s Benfica for next season.

Benfica’s initial proposal to take Orkun Kökçü out of the Netherlands is around 30 million euros, including variables that can be achieved. Furthermore, Orkun Kökçü’s salary would be tripled in Portugal.

Stadionclub does not want to release Orkun Kökçü for less than 40 million euros. The midfielder is only 22 years old and could still bring a lot of money to Benfica’s coffers, if this negotiation is confirmed.

If Benfica manage to buy Orkun Kökçü for less than €40m, current Feyenoord director of football Dennis te Kloese is expected to add a high resale percentage. The expectation is that in the next few days, this negotiation will be finalized.

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by Jan

Strong Ajax kicked out of Champions League

The visitors were played off the pitch in the first half of the game but were silenced in the second half.

“Being better in possession” was Ten Hag’s mantra after the disappointing draw in Portugal. In order to not fall into the counter-knife of Benfica, Ten Hag made some subtle changes to his system. The left flank, where Ajax suffered most in Lisbon, was set up differently this time, with a leading role for Ryan Gravenberch.

Tactically, this is a different match altogether. In Portugal, supported by the crazy Benfica fans, they pressed high at times.This time around, the Benfica coach used a 4-2-3-1 with a strong defensive block. Ramos played more like a midfielder than an attacker. while Silva and Everton also played more like wingbacks than winger. Benfica’s most important mission: do not concede, hoping Ajax will somehow stumble in the second half.

In order to stop the opponent from being dangerous, Ten Hag has used some more certainties. Daley Blind was out of position a number of times in the away game, when Benfica countered. This time around, he played more like a third centre back.

In the build up, Blind constantly joins Timber and Martinez at the back, which usually means that Ajax has 3 defenders around striker Nunez. Ten Hag before the match: “We need to bring our style to the pitch. Which is cool and collected on the ball and recognising the moment to accelerate. When we do this, it usually means our rest defence is top. In this way, we can manage the game and pounce when there is space.”

Blind as third central defender does indeed offer more on two aspects of the Ajax game: there is more composure on the ball at the back and Ajax’ rest defence is already there when needed. To keep a threat on the left hand side, it’s Gravenberch who is playing wide on the left, with Tadic.

The Benfica defenders have difficulty with this. Their defence is zonal based. Ajax will lure the right winger Silva in the direction of Blind, which means right back Gilbero is faced with Tadic and Gravenberch, at times.

This image above demonstrates the confusion at Benfica. Taarabt and Weigl are both pointing and coaching team mates. Taarabt doesn’t want to pulled away from the centre of the pitch, by Gravenberch, while Weigl is dealing with two opponents: Berghuis and Mazraoui. Taarabt ends up the man to cover for Gilbero in some cases.

Ajax’ most threatening attacks do all come from their left flank.

In the 36th minute, Blind also joins into the attack. But the defensive organisation doesn’t change, as Mazraoui will drop back, and Ajax still has three at the back. Blind’s presence confuses Benfica and Gravenberch finds the space to dribble inside and release a good attempt on goal.

Three minutes later, Gravenberch starts a move that results in a big chance for Berghuis. This time, the attack starts on the right. Martinez with a good cross pass to Gravenberch, who is in a 2 v 1 situation with Tadic. Gravenberch waits till Gilbero bites and plays Tadic in. His pull back into the box offers Berghuis a golden opportunity, but the south paw wants the ball on his left foot and fumbles the chance.

This attack is exactly what Ten Hag wants. Be patient, push the opponent back, create a man more situation and pounce!

Benfica coach Verissimo is not happy with the first half and hooks Taarabt at half time. The playmaker is replaced by a defensive mid, as direct opponent for Gravenberch.

In situations where Gravenberch would have been free on the left, now Meité comes with him. Benfica is able to neutralise the Ajax threat. With 19 minutes to go, Benfica thinks they have enough control to bring more heading capabilities in Yaremchuk, he’ll take the central role and Nunez will move to the left.

With 13 minutes to go, the ref gives a soft free kick to Benfica. Nunez beats Timber in the air and Onana’s timing mistake results in Ajax conceding a goal in a game in which they hardly gave anything away.

Ten Hag responds by bring Brobbey and midfielder Klaassen. Blind first move to left central defender but shifts back to the wing, while Timber takes a more midfield role. Benfica’s speciality is to kill time and Ajax’ final thrust never really takes place.

Ajax played a double ticket against an opponent who rolled out the red carpet in the first leg. In Portugal, Ajax lost the tie, by opening themselves up needlessly. The draw in Portugal was what Benfica needed to completely disrupt Ajax’ game in Amsterdam. A better organisation did help Ajax to stop Benfica from countering but shooting blanks up top and making mistakes with a dead ball was all it needed for Ajax to disappoint in Europe yet again.

Sunday, arch enemy Feyenoord awaits.

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by Jan

Benfica – Ajax: two faced match

Ajax could and should have beaten Benfica in the first leg in Portugal. In a time where a draw away versus a Portuguese top team is lamented as a disappointing results (have we forgotten that we hardly ever won against Portuguese teams, home or away??), Ajax can look back on a decent first half.

Ten Hag explained his choice for Gravenberch over Klaassen in geometrical terms: “With Klaassen I can play vertical, Davey loves his forward runs. But i want to put the emphasis on the width of the park. And Gravenberch is the player for this.” Huh??

Before the half time break. Ten Hag appears to get it right. What Ten Hag described worked. Seb Haller scores the 1-2, and like Ajax’ first goal, it is the result of the tactical hocus pocus of the bald maestro.

In the first half, Benfica is trying to pressure Ajax with a 4-4-2. When that fails, Ramos drops back into midfield to make life hard for Alvarez, trying to stop Ajax finding the free man in the midfield.

In defensive terms, Ajax plays man to man on midfield, as per usual. Alvarez on Ramos, Berghuis makes life hard for Weigl and Gravenberch is up against Adel Taarabt. The pressure play is done by Antony. The right winger is constantly pushing towards Vertonghen, from his position vis a vis Grimaldo. Mazaroui pops up behind Antony in the half space whenever he can.

That patterns is clear to see right before the first Ajax goal. Antony leaves Grimaldi open to push Vertonghen. Goalie Odysseas opens to his left back, assuming he’s got time and space. But Mazraoui pounces like an eagle and pushes the Spaniard off the ball, he combines with Antony and assists the Tadic goal. Seven seconds between the turn over and the ball in the net. It happens so often: the high press resulting in a goal for Ajax.

The way Ajax gifts the equaliser to Benfica must have Ten Hag pulling out all his hair. If he had hair. Martinez is paired with Vertonghen but due to a block, the Argentinian loses him and Mazraoui takes over his duties. But the right back slips and Vertonghen finds himself with time and space. The ex Ajax defender hits the ball in, where Pasveer fails to stop the cross in. And Haller doesn’t count on the goalie’s omission and stands on his heels, not able to move his feet: 1-1.

Still, Ajax gains control swiftly again. The second goal demonstrates why Gravenberch is in the team. Ten Hag has been harping on about pulling the opponent wide. Using the width to create openings in the opponent set up. Another aspect to focus in on, is Timber’s runs into midfield. His opponent Nunez is not one to defend and he allows Timber to become and extra midfielder. Benfica plays zonal and has two player on their right hand side. Ajax puts three players opposite these two. With winger Tadic, left back Blind and midfielder Gravenberch almost hugging the line. Silva is pulled towards the ball by Blind, Berghuis took the left winger role for a bit while Tadic is in the centre and the former Feyenoord talisman crosses the ball into Haller who has two bites of the cherry: 1-2.

This is not a coincidence, because just before the break, this same situation results in another chance for Haller. Timber is in midfield again and Gravenberch plays like an extra left winger and the Benfica defence is getting confused. Ajax opens with a cross ball to the right, where Antony has space one on one. He launches Alvarez and the Mexican hits the post with his shot. The rebound is just to hard for Haller to control with his left.

In the second half. Benfica coach Verissimo plays the joker. Yaremchuk comes as an extra striker. Now, there are three central strikers on the pitch for Benfica and Ajax starts get countered more often, with four Benfica forwards threatening the Ajax goal.

In an attacking sense, Ajax’ wing backs have more space to attack but when the ball is lost, the Benfica forwards have space and time and the game opened up massively.

This is the lead up to the Benfica equaliser: Timber is in the opposing box and in my view, he makes a mistake by simulating an injury, to get a penalty. The slow-mo shows he wasn’t touched. He’s down though and as Gravenberch, Tadic, Blind, Haller and Antony are also up field, the rest defence consists of Alvarez, Berghuis, Martinez and Mazraoui. The Mexican is played out by Silva and the move ends with a distance strike by Ramos. Usually, a low percentage option. Pasveer blocks the shot but the ball drops right in front of the empty goal where Yaremchuk is simply quicker than Berghuis: 2-2.

Ten Hag responds by bring a better defender for left back with Tagliafico. The Argentinian can bomb up the flank too and Klaassen is coming in for Gravenberch. Ajax wants control back. But Benfica is happy with the draw and switch back to a 5-4-1 system and starts to run out the clock.

Benfica ends up being joyous with the draw which is another indication of the big chance Ajax missed to get one leg into the next round. Benfica can now play defensively in Amsterdam and play on the counter attack.

Oh, and it has to be said…. Daley Blind played a terrible game….

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by Jan

The new Black Pearl of Benfica: Ola John

Last summer, Man United wanted to sign Benfica’s Nicolas Gaitan. Sir Alex was happy to offer 25 Mio euros + Fabio and Macheda. Benfica refused.

Today, Gaitan warms the bench and Benfica has a new young star. The Black Pearl (Mark II) has arrived: Ola John.

Ola’s older brother Collins is still a pro. He plays his football for English club Barnet. The twice capped striker started his career at Twente and took him to all sorts of places. From the EPL (Fulham), to Belgium, the US competition, Iran even (!) and now back to England.

But his biggest claim to fame, by now, is being Ola’s manager (and role model, but more…like how you don’t manage your career).

When young talent John came through the Twente ranks and left at an early age to Portugal, most fans thought he would make the same mistake as his brother (chasing the money at a young age).

But Ola himself tells a different story. “I actually didn’t want to leave Twente. Collins is not my manager either. He does support me of course, but I went to talk about opening up my contract at Twente but instead of that they said they accepted an offer from Benfica. That was a surprise for me. I remember saying: Good for you, but I will determine where I will play my football!”.

John’s manager Frank Schouten confirms this. “We were flabbergasted. Nine mio euros was the deal. Ola decided to check Benfica out. We went for a day, but Ola wasn’t able to decide. He was on his way back to the airport when Twente called and asked him to stay a couple of days longer. He had training the next day, but Twente allowed him to forget about that.”

In those days, John felt that Benfica really wanted him. They did what they could to make him feel at home. “I remember playing Benfica for the CL qualifications the season before. I played a good game and after the match their coach came up to me and said “very good game”. I don’t think I ever heard that from the opposing coach, haha. When we went to play there, the players of Benfica told me I was going into the wrong dressing room. In hindsight, it seems they had an eye on me for a while.”

“When I met Rui Costa, Benfica’s manager, he said he only needed to watch a video of my highlights for 15 minutes to know he wanted to sign me. And they followed me for 20 games! It was clear that the coach knew exactly what my qualities are and how to use me, I was really impressed.”

Ola John is a football fanatic. He watches everything and is very aware of the qualities of Benfica. “I followed the competition and knew most players. Benfica as a club, with their history and players like Eusebio, Nuno Gomes, Rui Costa… I always liked them. I remember that big game against Man United of two seasons back in the CL and they do have a reputation of making players better.”

And John is right. Benfica is not like Man City or Chelsea. They don’t buy big names and spend money. Benfica is – more even than any Dutch club – capable of spending a couple of millions to on-sell players after they developed for multiples. John: “People who think I went to Benfica for the money don’t know football. I would have gone somewhere else for that, if that was my goal. At Benfica, we play modern 4-3-3 football. We play CL almost every season and we play for trophies domestically. A great step for me and I improve here daily.”

John plays on the left flank when their game against Barcelona is on. Due to injuries, the coach asks the Liberian born to play on the right wing. John plays against Carlos Planas and is Man of the Match. In the Barca game, Ola John demonstrates that he is the complete package. Physically strong, explosive and fast and he is a good decision maker. He can dribble, play pass and move, he has a good long pass and cross and he can score goals. Skilled and intelligent. How is it possible that the Dutch Under21 coach believes VVV winger Wildschut is better?

Judging him on his Barcelona game, John is better than Lens, Narsingh, Elia and Schaken and belongs in the Big Oranje.

Frank Schouten is used to scouts from other clubs to harass him. “After the Barca game, the Man City scout came up to me to ask when John’s deal ended in Portugal. The Sunderland scout asked me for players like Ola, but in a less expensive category….”

John was brought with care. His coach didn’t throw him for the lions, but allowed him to get used to the football in Portugal. I didn’t agree. I wanted to play. But they talked to me about Angel di Maria. He played 12 games in his first season. 14 games in his second season, and then Real Madrid signed him for 33 mio euros. Benfica plays 60 games per season, so you will always play a good number of them.

“Practice every day with guys like Aimar, Cardozo, Gaitan, Bruno Cesar and Luisao is something else. I played with Theo Janssen at Twente. An amazing kicker of the ball. But check out what our striker Cardozo can do with it. That takes it to a different level altogether. In Holland, training is mostly skills based. Here it is too but also more tactics. I think I have become smarter here, as a player.”

Heading a ball is the only weakness in John’s game. “I never had to. I was always used on the flank. I was the man of the cross. I am perfectly two footed, thanks to Boudewijn Pahlplatz and Theo ten Caat, my youth coaches at Twente.”

Despite his one weakness, Ola John is dazzling the pundits in Portugal. In his first full game, Benfica won 3-0 and John was involved in all three goals. He has played everything since.

The only downside of living in Portugal is the intensity of trainings camps. “At Twente, you slept at home before a home game. In Portugal, we basically live on the trainings ground. We have our own rooms there and we have camps for every game. That takes getting used to. You’re never home. But my girlfriend understands. We love life here. We hang out with Ricky van Wolfswinkel and his girlfriend a lot. He helped me find my way a bit here.”

Ola John may not have been on the radar of the youth teams in Zeist, but Bert van Marwijk did select him for his first trainings camp with Oranje. “That was great. A nice confirmation. I remember I had to pass as I got injured, but I knew I was on a list in Zeist. When Van Gaal started to use all the youngsters in his campaign, I knew I was close to a call up. All you can do is perform at your club. This is what Mr Van Gaal told me too. Simply focus on playing well and regularly for the club. I trust that everything else will follow from that. Any next step, or any Oranje invitation. I focus on what I can influence: my game and my contributions to Benfica.”

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