Football Season Guide

Fortaleza EC

In


Fernando Miguel (gk) Atlético PR; Anthony Landazuri (def) Independiente del Valle, ECU; Bryan Ceballos (def) Quindio, COL; Juninho Capixaba (def) Bahia; Zé Welison (mid) Sport Recife; Dudu (mid) Ferróviário; Silvio Romero (att) Independiente, ARG – on loan; Moisés (att) Ponte Preta; Renato Kayzer (att) Athlético PR

Out


Felipe Alves (sp)(gk) Juventude; Jackson (sp)(def) Sabah FA, Malaysia; Bruno Melo (sp)(def) Corinthians – on loan; Éderson (k)(mid) Salernitana, ITA; Edinho (sp)(mid/att) Juventude – on loan; Osvaldo (sp)(att) CSA; Wellington Paulista (sp)(att) América MG; David (k)(att) Internacional

2021 was the best season ever for Tricolor do Pici. The team from Ceará had their highest scoring season at top flight, and by a large number. Finishing 4th and getting Libertadores direct qualification was an achievement that very few fans would be expecting to happen in the near future. Fortaleza doesn’t seem ready to slow down their pace in 2022. They started the year on an impressive form and are currently on a long run of 15 games undefeated in the two regional competitions (Ceará State Championship and Nordestão Regional Cup). Tricolor invested big in attack. Strikers Silvio Romero and Renato Kayzer and Série B’s last season sensation, winger Moisés will add to the multiple options that Vojvoda possesses for the position. Fernando Miguel already seems the man for goal, while Juninho Capixaba and Zé Welison are established Série A names for the wing and defensive midfielder positions, respectively. Prolific attacker David is the biggest departure, so far, having joined International in the summer. Midfielder Éderson is also an important departure, but one that was announced a long time ago, as he was just on loan at Fortaleza. Yago Pikachu and Lucas Crispim are expected to continue to be important units on both wings; Róbson and Romarinho will maintain their status despite the arrival of three new important names for attack. The fans will hope that Felipe and Lucas Lima can improve their levels after relatively disappointing season in 2021. Despite having kept most of the squad and arguably improved their attack, the squad seems a bit short of options for Vojvoda’s well known tendency for heavy rotation, especially now that Tricolor will be playing in Libertadores. Argentinean Juan Vojvoda likes to employ a very bold, attacking and dynamic formation, loosely based on a 3-2-3-2 formation, but in constant adaptation to the game’s multiple stages.

Target


It’ll be hard to repeat 2021’s achievement. Granting a top-8 position seems a realistic goal.