Football Season Guide

A struggling season, last year. Team's deep financial problems reflected on the pitch. There was some good value on the XI, but the squad was arguably the shortest in options of the entire league. After some time, fatigue and form dropping made the team suffer despite some good initial moments under Barroca. After coaching some teams abroad and also some managerial jobs, Paulo Autuori is back at Série A, with a massive challenge in front of him. He always seemed to be ahead of his generation of managers in the country, but often looked like missing some communication skills towards the players. The team is expected to be back at something close to the style employed by Barroca during the first months of last season, which can't be but positive. The team will evidently lose many points, but the idea should be to get some victories on the way and pick 3 points all at one time instead of going for one point in each game. The aforementioned financial deep problems not only continue this season, they may be even worse. That means a very weak position on the market. Almost all new signings came on loan, and the big names Kalou and Honda are in very questionable moments of respective careers. On the other hand, important players like Gabriel and Carli (last season's solid back duo), midfielder João Paulo or attacker Diego Souza are gone. Replacement is questionable and the team will be highly dependent on the affirmation of young talent. Rhuan and Igor Cássio are the ones to look at. Goalkeeper Gatito and midfielder Alex Santana will be the leaders for the season and are the good, solid values the fans learnt to trust.