By the skin of their collective teeth, Vitoria avoided relegation back to the Serie B. Having just been promoted in 2015, the Rubro-negro was a prime relegation candidate, but they were able to avoid the drop zone by two points. It certainly helped that the team took ten points from its final six matches, as it had looked like they might not be able to survive, and for that they can thank Argel Fucks, the coach who arrived in September to steer them to safety. It was an especially satisfying result for Fucks, given that the two other teams he had spent time in charge of during the 2016 season were Internacional and Figueirense, with Vitoria staying up at the expense of those two clubs. Before Fucks came in to save the day, Vagner Mancini had been in charge at the Estadio Manoel Barradas and he actually got the team off to a good start. Following an opening day 4-1 loss against Santa Cruz, the team lost just one of their next six matches. What did for Mancini, though, was a 2-1 home defeat against Flamengo in September, which was their fourth defeat in six and which convinced the board to pull the trigger.
Although Fucks deserves plenty of credit for the way he was able to guide his team to safety, the true hero for Vitoria fans in 2016 was Marinho. He was their best player by far and may even have been the best player in the whole division this season. Despite playing for a relegation candidate he was able to wow the country on his way to a 12-goal season. He also provided six assists, while his explosive runs from attacking midfield helped the Salvador-based team to move the ball forward even when they struggled to do so through passing. The run of three wins and a draw in their final six matches was driven by his determination to make something happen, with the 26-year-old scoring an incredible seven goals in those final half a dozen matches of the season. His sidekick in attack also played an important role, with Kieza – the centre-forward in their 4-2-3-1 system – contributing nine goals over the course of the campaign. If it sounds like this was an attack-heavy kind of team then that’s because it was, with Vitoria scoring the 5th-most goals of any team in the league, although that was balanced out by the fact they conceded the 5th-most.
Defence, therefore, is the area most in need of improvement as Vitoria looks to make another push for Serie A survival in 2017. They may also, however, need to look for attacking reinforcements as both Marinho and Kieza are bound to attract interest from other clubs, both domestic and foreign. Also on the Vitoria shopping list might be a new coach. Argel Fucks was brought in to avoid relegation and he achieved that goal, but with the club in the middle of presidential elections it remains to be seen if he’ll be invited to continue in the Vitoria dugout for the 2017 campaign.
