JCtips - 2008/2009 Portuguese “Superliga” season preview:

[JCtips]

Here's my 2008/2009 Portuguese “Superliga” season preview:

Porto
Porto is the current title holders and has won the title in the last 3 seasons.
They lost influential players like right back Bosingwa (Chelsea), defensive midfielder Paulo Assunção (At. Madrid) and star winger Ricardo Quaresma seems to be on his way to join Italy’s Inter Milan. If Quaresma does leave the club this will be a big blow for them.
The new hirings are still failling to impress and Porto, usually a defensively tight team at the back, might have some trouble there this season in particular at the wings where they currently look vulnerable.
They still have a very good team and some top stars like Argentina Internationals Lisandro Lopez (who had a tremendous season last year scoring a total of 24 goals) and midfielder Lucho Gonzalez and also Uruguay International winger Christian Rodriguez who moved from Benfica.
Despite being weaker (this season) in terms of defensive processes IMO, I still expect them to be top contenders for the title.

Benfica
Benfica had one of their worst seasons in their history last year, so this year they can really do nothing else but to improve.
Star playmaker Rui Costa stopped playing, is now the new head of Football Operations and is doing a terrific job so far IMO.
Benfica kept all their best players (except Christian Rodriguez who was at the club on a one year loan and moved to Porto), hired Spanish coach Quique Flores who I see as a great coach and predict a great future within the next few years.
Among other players, Benfica also hired Portuguese International midfielders Carlos Martins (Huelva) and Ruben Amorim (Belenenses), Argentina International Pablo Aimar (Zaragoza) and Jose Antonio Reyes (At. Madrid) and is still expected to sign either Luis Garcia (Espanol) or Suazo (Inter Milan).
Benfica has all the resources they need to have a good season (IMO they could and should still improve at the right back position) but as they have several new players they might need some time to adjust and play as a team and not a group of players.
I expect them to fight hard for the title this season (1^st game away to recently promoted Rio Ave and 2^nd game at home against Porto are crucial to start the season “in the right foot” and give them momentum) and have a good run in the UEFA Cup.

Sporting
Sporting won the Cup and the Super Cup last season (they just won this season’s Super Cup last weekend against Porto) but had a mediocre season in the league mainly because they did a horrible job when playing away from home.
They will be looking at improving their league performance and hired Portuguese International defender Marco Caneira (Valencia) and defensive midfielder Fabio Rochemback (Middlesbrough).
There are still talks in the Portuguese Media about Captain and Portuguese International midfielder João Moutinho moving to Everton before the transfer deadline, which would be a loss for Sporting in the short term.
Sporting will also have to live without their top striker Liedson until, at least, late September or early October as he’s still recovering from a knee surgery.
Sporting’s weakness IMO is the right back and left back positions and also the fact that the keeper is inexperienced when compared to Benfica’s and Porto’s keepers.
In order to be strong title contenders they will need to improve their away performance and to improve their away performance they need to improve in terms of psychological strength.
If they can do that, we’ll see the closest title race in many years in Portugal.

Braga
I rate Braga as this season’s 4^th club in the country right after the 3 usual “big boys” but in sports and in soccer in particular, you never know…
Braga has a very good coach in Jorge Jesus (hired from Belenenses), kept their best players and hired some very good players like Keeper Eduardo (returned from a tremendous season at Setúbal where he was on a 1 year loan), Alan (Guimarães), Mossoró (Marítimo) and Meyong (Belenenses).
I surely expect them to be close to the “top 3” for most of the season and look for one of the big clubs to have a poor season and get to the podium.

Guimarães, Marítimo, Belenenses
I expect all these clubs to be UEFA Cup contenders but we get surprises every year so one of them might struggle. They should spend the season somewhere between the top of the table and the middle of the table.
Guimarães had a tremendous season last year and, as a result of that, is now playing, for the 1^st time in their history, the Champions League 3^rd qualification round.
They have a good coach in Manuel Cajuda (same as last season), but they lost Centre back Geromel and influential wingers Alan (to Braga) and Gilas. I do not expect them to be as secure at the back this season and also to have more trouble in producing as many quality offensive plays as they did last season.
Marítimo had a great start of the season last year but then they lost gas and ended up in an average position.
They have a new Brazilian coach that nobody knows in the country, kept most of their best players and hired eleven more players, most of them good ones for a team at this level. There could be some overall improvement there, depending on how the new players fit in the club.
Belenenses did well in the last two seasons under coach Jorge Jesus and it won’t be easy to improve that this year.
They lost their coach to Braga and young players Ruben Amorim to Benfica and Rolando to Porto.
Their new coach is Brazilian Casemiro Mior who had a successful season at Nacional da Madeira a few seasons ago and they hired many new Brazilian players. Adding to the ones they already had, the club surely looks like a “Samba school”. It will be interesting to see the outcome of that.

Nacional, Setúbal
I expect these teams to be in the middle of the table but they cannot let their guard down (if they do they risk being in the relegation zone).
Nacional sees coach Manuel Machado return to the club where he had a tremendous season a few years ago. The new hirings are either lower division players or Brazilians nobody knows (seems to be a tradition at the club and they always seem to discover some interesting players every season). Nacional is a great question mark for me this season and I don’t expect them to make it to the UEFA Cup.
Setúbal had a tremendous season last year but coach Carlos Carvalhal left to Greece and so did most of their best players (Eduardo, Mateus, Pittbull…). They have a new young coach in Dauto Faquirá who moved from Amadora where he did a good job, kept their midfield trio (Elias, Sandro and Ricardo Chaves) and hired some interesting players (Keeper Bruno Vale, Leandro Lima and Bruno Moraes all on loan from Porto). Their major weakness is their Financial problems which are a major concern for the club and might cause them some trouble during the season.

Amadora, Académica, P. Ferreira, Naval, Leixões, Trofense, R. Ave
Unless we see any major upset, I expect all these clubs to spend the entire season struggling to avoid relegation, trying to win as many home games as they can and also get a point here and there when playing away from home.
Leixões, Trofense (playing for the 1^st time in their history in the top division) and Rio Ave are the most likely to get relegated IMO but you never know.


Good luck to all with the new season betting.



JC

[Paul Ross]

Nice preview JC.

[JCtips]

Originally Posted by Paul Ross

Nice preview JC.

Thanks for your kind words Paul !

Just doing my best to give people a more in depth insite on the Portuguese League and hoping that the facts (results) agree with my preview ...



JC

[sharpshot7]

great stuff JC

Some interesting signings by benfica.It could be a lot closer in portugal this year.

[JCtips]

Originally Posted by sharpshot7

great stuff JC

Some interesting signings by benfica.It could be a lot closer in portugal this year.

Thanks sharpshot7 !
I think it will but that's just my perception...



JC