Football Season Guide

One of the big sensations of last season (together with Moreirense), after having had a magnificent season in the previous year where they finished in 5th. The excellent Daniel Sousa left to join a stronger team in the country, and now it's the Uruguayan Gonzalo García to have the difficult task of following to his predecessor. García had a great impact on his last job in Croatian football, but is considerably unknown outside that country. García is known for his possession-style and has Spanish as his second nationality, which can be helpful to lead the "most Spanish team in Portugal". Arouca will have to deal with two massive downs for the new season: goalkeeper de Arruabarrena and striker Rafa Mujica were the main players for the club in last season and are now gone. Bambu is also a big name leaving, but he spent a big part of last season with injuries. On the way in, Arouca kept their eye in Spanish players and brought Fontan for defence and Gonzalbez for midfield. Henrique Araújo, for the attack, is perhaps the most exciting new name, as he is still considered on time to live up for the high expectations put on him 3 years ago at Benfica, despite two poor experiences on loan in Watford and Famalicão. The big names for the season are attackers Jason and Cristo, who were overshadowed by the goals of Rafa Mujica in last season, and will now have to play a more determinant role in the present one. Africans Sylla and Kouassi are excellent assets in midfield, while Vitinho will try to prove his big talent now that he looks away from constant injury problems. Quaresma is one of the most interesting left-backs in league. In goal, Mantl arrived to replace Arruabarrena, but this might be the final chance for Thiago Rodrigues to prove his quality shown 3 seasons ago at Estoril.