WHAT DOES SIMAO DO?

I'm not sure about you but I am struggling to see what Simao Sabrosa brings to the Portugal lineup.

The Benfica wideman has done little to justify the alleged interest in him from some of Europe's top clubs in the European Championships so far and I, for one, am wondering why Luiz Felipe Scolari picks him.

So far I have Simao take two free-kicks away from the 'best player in the world' Cristiano Ronaldo only to promptly lift each of them tediously over the cross bar. Simao is by no means a novice, in fact he scored a wonderful effort at Old Trafford a few seasons ago, but when Ronaldo is alongside you it only makes sense to let him have a go.





And as for the former Barcelona wingers corners, well I am sure Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho would rather someone such as Deco or Joao Moutinho was curling the ball onto their head, rather than Simao finding the defender at the near post time after time after time after time.

So far this seems to be a bit of a rant - okay its a lot of a rant - predominantly about the quality of Simao's set-pieces but this is not the only part of his game that has irked me.

Unlike some England's poor excuse for wingers - Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips take note - Simao has a good first touch but having controlled the ball nicely he seems to, as Lennon and SWP also do, spend the majority of his time running down blind alleys.

By the way, his finishing and composure in front of goal are not exactly brilliant either - the rushed attempt agains the Czechs being symptomatic of this problem.

Oddly the Portuguese are in the enviable position of possessing a proverbial monopoly over the world's most exciting wide men. Obviously they have Ronaldo, who is a guaranteed starter, who is backed up by Simao, Porto's Ricardo Quaresma and Ronaldo's Manchester United team-mate Nani.

Both Nani and Quaresma have superb quality with their delivery, in fact Nani has become known as one of the Premier League's finest corner takers.

Each is considerably younger than Simao and possess very similar characteristics to the Benfica man. However, they seem to be better exponents of these abilities than their national team-mate.



Personally I would prefer the Portuguese to line-up with an attacking trio of Nani, Quaresma and Ronaldo interchanging positions providing a deadly attacking triumvate. However new Chelsea boss Scolari is intent on avoiding using Ronaldo as a central striker so that leaves Nani, Quaresma and Simao competing for a spot alongside Ronaldo and Nuno Gomes.

With the Portuguese already qualified for the quarter finals as winners of Group A I expect Scolari to experiment against Switzerland. Nani and Quaresma should both start this match and I would bet that if either was to display the level of ability we already know they possess then Simao could be edged onto the bench by the time the business end of the tournament approaches.

What do you think, is Simao Portugal's weak link?

THE RONALDO DEBATE RUMBLES ON...

It's time to be honest, I am starting to think that perhaps, just perhaps, Ronaldo does really want to leave Manchester United for Real Madrid. The worst nightmare of United fans everywhere could become a horrible reality.

At this point I also venture to suggest that the quotes released today that have been attributed to the 23-year-old Portuguese seem a little far-fetched and as cruel as it may sound - I believe them to be - controversially - a fixture of Jose Gomes' imagination. Sky Sports News have interviewed Gomes and fellow journalists - who claim they have not seen the Brazilian journalist at Portugal's training camp in Switzerland - and the Portuguese national side's Press Officer claims Ronaldo has not conducted any interviews at all. Meanwhile, in Gomes' interview with presenter Sam Matterface he was pressed on why he failed to ask Ronaldo why he wished to leave and what reasons he had for wanting to join Real Madrid and on each occasion the Terra Newspaper reporter basically pleaded the 'fifth ammendment'.

On such quotations my personal jury is not even out - they have already delivered a unanimous verdict. However, they say there is no smoke without fire - and the fire is that Ronaldo himself has not quashed the rumours as he could have done.

With this in mind I will now look at what the potential repurcussions would be for United should Ronaldo make a potentially record-breaking move to Spain:

The biggest problem for United would be replacing the 42 goals the Portuguese scored this season - a mammouth task even for some of the world's finest strikers including the like of Fernando Torres or much linked Karim Benzema. Also let us not forget that Brazilian midfielder Anderson failed to score this season and with the ability he possesses it is hard to believe he will not become a regular contributor next season.

Of course there are obvious solutions to this problem in that Sir Alex Ferguson would have - potentially - upwards of £50million to spend in order to plug the gap. This money could be used to fund a mega-money move for the exciting Benzema - presumably with money to spare! Or perhaps Fergie will look at different options. With Ronaldo in Madrid there would be no place for Robinho. I am not suggesting Robinho is of the same quality of Ronaldo - because nobody is - however he has similar traits and talents, and a little under the radar he has started to develop into the player the world thought he would become.

With Robinho or Benzema in the side United would be able to operate the same fluid attacking system they have this season with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez completing the trio.

However, the heir apparent to Ronaldo's throne at Old Trafford could already be there in Portguese compatriot Nani who has shown glimpses of frigthening quality - especially in the FA Cup win over Arsenal where he teased and tormented the Gunners.



In all honesty, there are any number of potential solutions to the problem of losing Ronaldo, all with different merits.

There is no doubt that Manchester United will be weaker should they lose Ronaldo, any team would be, however they have lost big players before and always seem to come back stronger.

I would urge the Old Trafford faithful to ignore the press reports and wait until they see Ronaldo officially discuss the matter after the European Championships before thinking about whether he will stay or go.

My money is on Ronaldo blessing the Theatre of Dreams with his skills and goals once more next term, for the time being at least...