Good moves: Benfica loans out young players

I was pleased to hear the news that Benfica loaned out Ivan Cavaleiro and Bernardo Silva.  Pleased for a variety of reasons on different levels.

Starting with Ivan Cavaleiro, this is a good move for several reasons.  He is a quality player.  With the opportunities he has had to play on the "A" squad he has not disappointed.  He has shown speed, explosiveness, he is not shy to have a shot from anywhere, he defends well and has a nice soft touch on his passes when needed.  After years in the B team and solid play in the Portugal Under 20 and Under 21 sides its time for his breakout year.   Problem is, he wouldn't get enough playing time on Benfica to have the breakout that I expect him to have.  Benfica's wings are like a treasure chest of elite quality players.  With the likes of Gaitan, Salvio, Sulejmani, Ola John, Pizzi, Bebe it would be difficult for Ivan to get the quantity and consistency of playing time needed for him to affirm himself as a top elite pro this year.

I think his loan is good for him and I think the team he was loaned to is perfect.  He was loaned to Deportivo La Coruna who returns to the Spanish top division this year.  Deportivo being a team not nearly as deep in top quality attackers as Benfica is, he will be relied on heavily there to play and perform.  So he will be playing in a great league against great competition while playing on a team that isn't as deep in quality which translates into him getting a lot of minutes.  Also, his defending and closing of spaces will improve a lot as Deportivo is one of the weaker teams in La Liga so he will have to adapt to being on a side that doesn't control the ball for most of the game.  All of these factors translate into a high likelihood of Ivan learning a lot, maturing a lot and playing a lot.  That equals a recipe for success with this loan which will translate into one of two positive outcomes:
1. His quality is sufficient at the end of the year to earn him a starting spot upon returning to Benfica .
2. His quality is sufficient to merit a large cash offer for his purchase.
In either scenario Benfica wins.

Now Bernardo Silva.  I think he is the most overrated player in the universe of Benfica fan chatter online.  They try to make this kid look like a Football God (just like they did with Miguel Rosa and David Simao - we saw how they turned out didn't we !!! -- oh thats right, you have probably never heard of them -- thats because they suck).  He will be loaded to AS Monaco in France will he will encounter a good coach in Leonardo Jardim who works well with young developing talent.  My position is and has always been that Silva is one of those players who looks good in tier 2 competition.  He can look great playing in the second division where he regularly plays on the B team.  He has had several opportunities to play with the A squad and never earned as much as a positive note in any reviews.  He is small, slow, passes poorly under pressure, loses all balls in the air and can't defend worth a s***.  It is great to see him loaned out because:

 1. it will shut up the nationalist Benfica fans who demand he play.  If this kid were to get playing time on Benfica we would have the same results that Sporting CP does by playing all their youth "talent"  we saw the fruits of that last season where Sporting played all their young kids, didn't win any trophies nationally, didn't even make a final of any of the cups, didn't qualify for the european competitions and their best young player, Carvalho, was but a backup on the national team.  Silly nationalism that says this kid must be great because he is portuguese and young is illogical, irrational and blind to reality.  If Bernardo Silva had quality he would have played regularly on the "A" squad.  He would have gotten more playing time.  These same delusional people said Nelson Oliveira was the next Ronaldo when he got a bit of playing time a few seasons ago for Benfica.  Not only did he fail to earn a spot on Benfica he was loaned out, not once but twice - to Spain at Deportivo and then the next year to France at Rennes.  Each time he failed miserably. Neither team wanted to keep him and he got less and less playing time.  These delusional fans will blame JJ for his "not being able to show what he has".  Baloney !!!  He has had ample opportunities in 3 different teams over the past 3 years and no coach wants him on the field.

2. It will confirm, at the end of the season which will be another miserable failure for Bernardo Silva that JJ was correct to not give him time and suggest he be loaned out.  This kid sucks.  He has no place on the "A" squad.  And those that demand he play on the "A" squad are putting their nationalistic irrationality above the interests of the club.   If Silva played in Benfica's starting 11 it would GUARANTEE they could not win the championship.

So im glad to see this lousy player off the team.  We want quality.  And quality doesn't see  itself in nationalistic colours.