Roberto Martinez exit as Portugal manager was something inevitable after their exit from the World Cup in the round of 16. Martinez stepped down as the Portuguese manager after their 0-1 defeat to Spain in the Iberian derby on Monday, July 6.
Spain were the dominant team in the match and Portugal did not have much show in terms of attacks aside from Nuno Mendes’ shot that rattled the crossbar and Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot that was grabbed by Unai Simon in the first half.
The relative non-performance of Cristiano Ronaldo, who still scored three goals in the tournament including two against lowly Uzbekistan, was not the only reason behind the Roberto Martinez exit from the Portuguese national team.
Roberto Martinez Exit Was Brought About by the Reluctance To Take Brave Decisions
The Roberto Martinez exit from the Portuguese set-up was a result of the lack of courage to take brave decisions on the part of the 52-year-old Spaniard. Martinez benched Ronaldo only against Croatia with around 15 minutes to spare, with substitute Goncalo Ramos scoring the match-winner during that time period.
It is quite inexplicable that Ramos played for less than half an hour in the entire tournament. Ronaldo looked every bit of the 41-year-old that he is for the majority of the World Cup, but Martinez decided to persist with him.
In the match against Spain, the Spanish goal came during injury time, which gave Portugal around five minutes to fight back and equalise. Naturally, no substitution was going to work within such a short time.
However, the fact that Martinez persisted with Ronaldo till the 91st minute, when Spain scored their goal, clearly shows that he was playing for a draw and was not very interested in trying to take the lead in the very first place.
The aversion to the risk of taking off Ronaldo was not Martinez’s only folly. In the Spain vs Portugal match, Bruno Fernandes failed to make his mark and was the most unimpressive of the midfielders on either side. It was obvious that he was struggling to hold his own against Pedri and Rodri, but Martinez refused to take him off.
Instead, the Spanish coach took Vitinha off and introduced the ageing Bernardo Silva. It would have made much more sense to take Fernandes off, introduce Ruben Neves as the defensive midfielder and then give Vitinha and Joao Neves the license to attack by going forward.
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However, Martinez was always going for a draw and was happy to play second fiddle to Spain despite Portugal having one of the tournament’s best midfields. The decision to start with Joao Felix in most of the matches including the Spain vs Portugal one, when a more adventurous Rafael Leao could have been a better option, was another one which originated from a defensive mentality.
Portugal drew their first match of the tournament against lowly DR Congo as well, but Martinez apparently did not learn his lessons there.
Martinez has won the FA Cup as the Wigan Athletic manager and also the UEFA Nations League last year with Portugal. However, his apprehensions and inhibitions as a manager of the Portuguese national team, with the huge shadow of Ronaldo looming large over him, caused his ultimate departure.
Had he been able to guide his team to the semi-finals at least, the Roberto Martinez exit might not have happened.
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