Admittedly a failure for Guimarães, this season. Team had 3 coaches (plus interim Moreno, for the final 2 rounds) and none of them was able to bring the best out of the group of players, as Vitória failed to even reach the last place for European qualification.
Season was predictably going to be a risky one when unexperienced Tiago Mendes was brought on board while a totally arbitrary policy in signings seemed to be on course. Multiple new players were bought without any visible concern on following a balanced profile for the team.
There was a good moment from November to late January, already with second coach João Henriques, when Guimarães picked only 2 defeats (big teams Sporting and Porto) and 7 wins in just 10 games.
However, these sequence was not enough for João Henriques to escape from a very poor February and March, and Vitória went on to the 3rd coach Bino, who failed to improve the performance and ended up being sacked after 7 rounds.
Quaresma was the big name brought for the season, but his injuries and the incompatibility between him and the other talented winger Marcus Edwards didn’t help the former Barcelona winger to bring Guimarães to the next level.
Goalkeeper Varela oscillated from points-earning performances to clumsy liability levels. Defence was hardly solid with Jorge Fernandes knowing multiple partners at the back. Midfielders Pepelu and André André were perhaps the most reliable pieces on a side that was generally disappointing.
Preparing a successful season will mean rebuilding the squad, forming a characterful and balanced group, which doesn’t seem to be easy at this point.
