The best midfielder is in Portugal. The 21-year-old Bai Kante is too hard in the national team.

An excellent midfielder always needs to be both offensive and defensive. On the basis of doing these two things at the same time, if he can also control the ball and run in a wide range, that is the talent that countless coaches dream of.

Neves, the 21-year-old Portugal international who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, is a typical representative. Some say he is the contemporary Bai Kante, while others say he is Gattuso, who can score goals and organize.

In Paris Saint-Germain, the team's advantages lie in its strong running ability, high speed, and fast transition between offense and defense. However, when Fabian Ruiz often needs to penetrate the opponent's penalty area, Paris will rely heavily on Neves' help on the defensive end.

He is always able to retreat to his own penalty area to rescue danger at critical moments, and he can also block the opponent's counterattack in the center circle, covering up Vitinha's lack of coverage.

Of course, this is also based on the fact that the entire Paris team engages in a high-position press. Starting from forward Dembele, it will pressure the opponent, and it will also help the small Neves to provide sweeps and supplements from behind.

But in the Portuguese national team, this problem is not that simple. On the one hand, Ronaldo's presence is a problem for the execution of the high-position press. At the same time, Neves not only still needs to take care of Vitinha's defensive loopholes, but also loses Fabian Ruiz, who has confrontational power. On the contrary, there are more B seats and B fees whose coverage and movement are declining.

It is really difficult for such a Portuguese national team to achieve a balance of offense and defense. Even Leo, the key substitute player, also suffers from laziness.

Neves has a certain role in filling positions and balancing offense and defense because of his strong running ability and high defensive accuracy. However, since his debut at Benfica, he has essentially been a technical midfielder and even has great offensive potential.

When he penetrates the opponent's penalty area, he stops the ball and connects with the shot very quickly and with high accuracy. On the offensive end, he can even cross the ball and hit the ball without the ball at any time. It is obviously inappropriate to regard Neves solely as a defensive engineer.

This Portugal team relies too much on the defensive capabilities of the four defenders. Even if Mendes' individual defense is very strong, there are still flaws in consciousness. Therefore, the biggest trouble for this Portugal team may not only be Ronaldo, who is old but still needs to occupy the starting lineup, but also the 2B behind Ronaldo.

If the team can really build a frontcourt combination based on running and ball-handling skills around Neves and Vitinha, there may be better room for development in the future. It's just that in the short term, at least next year's World Cup, this scene is impossible to see.