Football Season Guide

Coming from a dream season, last year. Famalicão arrived at top flight level and immediately impressed, not only with a surprising initial run of excellent results, but mostly because of the impressive attacking quality of the team. It will be very hard to keep up with that level this time around. Not only opponents will be more alert this time, the squad predictably lost most of their main players. It will be almost as starting from scratch, as team only kept the coach JP Sousa (despite several talks about him leaving to join a stronger side) and a couple of last season's first team players, like midfielder Gustavo Assunção. Top scorer Toni Martinez is about to sign with Porto (should have done it by the time you read this); playmakers Racic and Pote Gonçalves left after an amazing season. Star wingers Diogo Gonçalves and Fábio Martins and pretty much the entire defensive system is gone as most were at Famalicão on loan. Rúben Lameiras, Riccieli and Anderson Silva will have more room to show their good quality, this season, but the team will highly depend on how well the (many) new signings will immediately fit the team. Zoblin may be a step up over last season goalkeeper options Vaná and Defendi, but all other new signings are a gamble. Trevisan, Jordão, Lukovic, Pereyra and the still irregular but highly skillful Robert are the biggest hopes for Famalicenses, as for new faces. The only thing that is expected to be kept is the good, attacking football that Sousa implemented at the club last year.