Football Season Guide

Tondela was a pleasant surprise last season, picking a generally good performance over the year against first expectations. Spanish coach Pako managed to make the most of a very short squad, showing the talents of Mario Gonzalez and Jaume Grau to the country. Pako will however have again a hard task on his hands. Some very important players left this summer and there wasn't yet a proper replacement. Stars Mario Gonzalez, Jaume Grau and the most experienced defenders (Tavares, Filipe Ferreira, Ricardo Alves) will be very hard to replace. Eduardo Quaresma is a true talent for the back, but he is as inexperienced as Jota. Manu Hernando arrived from Real Madrid but, not only he isn't that experienced, he is on final stage of a long injury. Bebeto (31) is the only defender above the 23-years old mark. The highly promising, but inexperienced, Tiago Dantas arrived to replace Grau in that deep-lying midfielder 'maestro' position. The powerful Jaquité, the experienced dynamo João Pedro and the compact and reliable Pedro Augusto will provide Dantas some good back up, but there's a clear lack of options for the long season. Dadashov and Daniel dos Anjos arrived to make up for the loss of Mario Gonzalez, but it will be very hard to repeat the achievement of the Spanish striker. Murillo, Agra and Rafael Barbosa are the sources for creativity and flair. Pako is expected to keep rotating between the 433 and the 352 like last season, but, for now, there's a blatant need for new signings: club is still very short in terms of options for defence and midfield.