- Aug 25, 2011
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Good to hear there's a fellow yid in Lisbon!Hi. I'm a long time reader, but decided to actually join because of this thread. I live in Lisbon, and as far as reliability goes, there are a couple of things to note.
A Bola is the Benfica newspaper.
Record is the Sporting CP newspaper.
(O Jogo is a bit more evenly spread, but also a bit Porto).
The rule of thumb at the moment - it was different under Bruno de Carvalho - is that if Record is posting something pro-Sporting, take it with a pinch of salt. If it's anti-Sporting, and that includes news of Fernandes asking to leave, there is quite possibly truth there.
Equally, if it's pro-Sporting in A Bola, it is very likely true. If it's anti-Sporting, it could be anything.
I go to a fair few Sporting games (they're my Portuguese team), and Fernandes is brilliant. The best player in Portugal in my opinion. I would say though that he is far more a Dele-like player than Eriksen. If he is being seen as an Eriksen replacement, I would suggest that it would be because Poch wants to change the way we play. Which I believe is something that has been discussed. Having said that, he actually came to Sporting more in the Eriksen mould, and he's evolved. Possibly because he's better than Liga NOS, so he could. So who knows.