FRANKFURT: Concerns are growing among Portugal fans about the approach of Roberto Martinez, who will face Slovenia in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 on Monday.
Portugal arrived in Germany as candidates to win the tournament for a second time, but despite finishing top of Group F, their performances lowered expectations of how far the Selecao could go.
They beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in their last gasp, impressed with a 3-0 win over Turkiye, and then suffered a shock 2-0 defeat against newcomers Georgia.
In the match against the Czech Republic and Georgia, Martinez used a 3-5-2 formation, which his players struggled with, but the better-known 4-3-3 formation worked well against Turkey.
After qualifying for the European Championship with a 100 per cent record, Portugal’s form has since deteriorated, with Georgia suffering their first competitive defeat under Martinez.
Slovenia were the first to beat Martinez’s Portugal in a friendly in March, and his 3-5-2 system failed again that day.
However, experienced Portugal defender Pepe said the team needed to strengthen and better execute Martinez’s instructions.
“I think we lost when we should have lost and now we have to learn from it,” the centre-back said ahead of the clash with Slovenia in Frankfurt.
“(We have to learn) from what we didn’t do as players, whether we generally did what the coach asked us to do, and of course try not to make mistakes in the next match.”
However, some Portuguese media believe that the players are surprised by Martinez’s plans and therefore have difficulty implementing them.
“We are left wondering whether Roberto Martinez understood what went wrong in the match against Georgia and also against the Czech Republic,” reads a column in the A Bola newspaper.
“It’s hard to see in (many players’) faces a team that knows what it’s doing and, perhaps more importantly, believes in it.”
There are also concerns that Martinez is showing too much respect to 39-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who has failed to score in any of their three group games.
Even though practically the entire squad was rotated in the match against Georgia, Ronaldo still started, and Martinez’s argument did not stand up to criticism.
“I think that in order to maintain the rhythm of the competition, it is not good to stop and then (have to) reactivate in six days,” the coach explained before Portugal’s capitulation.
Martinez left Belgium after the 2022 World Cup, where his team were eliminated in the group stage, scoring just one goal.
In that tournament, his selection of Eden Hazard was questioned due to his fitness and form issues at Real Madrid, with the winger later saying he felt younger players had earned his place. Portugal fans will hope the result against Georgia will serve as a wake-up call for Martinez, but the coach insisted his team are now well-prepared for the knockout rounds after sharing minutes with the substitutes.
“We focused on preparing all the players and now we are better prepared for the round of 16,” said Martinez.
“We had players on the bench who had to play. “We don’t like losing – this is the first important game we’ve lost – but the objective was achieved because we’re better prepared now.”
In Slovenia, Portugal will face a tough opponent who has reached the knockout stage for the first time in their history, drawing with England.
With Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak in goal against his former Real Madrid opponent Ronaldo and striker Benjamin Sesko lurking at the other end of the pitch, Matjaz Kek’s men could prove to be a tough opponent for a Portugal side struggling to find their rhythm.