Football Season Guide

Fla is coming from one of their best seasons ever last year, only comparable to early 80's Zico team. Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus arrived in June and revolutionized the team, building a very strong group and dominating the league with quality football rarely if ever seen in the country until then. There are however two problems for 2020: Jorge Jesus left, and he left the new coach a very heavy shadow to deal with: Spanish Domenec Torrent will face an immense challenge as he will need to live on the high expectations built around the team. There are however very good arguments to help the new coach succeeding. Not only the club saw almost no relevant player leave, they even brought a small but very solid group of highly important new signings. Pablo Marí was the only important player leaving, to join Arsenal. On the other hand, the club brought in like for like replacement Leo Pereira from Athlético (also left-footed) and even strengthened the position with the arrival of Gustavo Henrique. Midfield and attack have now valid options to challenge the XI players from last season. Thiago Maia is arguably a more complete player than Arão, while Pedro, Pedro Rocha and Michael will allow a good rotation in attack this season. The advanced age of some key players may be a problem and, of course, the aforementioned departure of the iconic Portuguese coach will definitely be a blow harming the team during the year.