Porto have retained their core having only sold the prolific Radamel Falcao and brought in a couple of interesting additions such as the highly-rated Juan Iturbe, dubbed the new Messi, Steven Defour and Brazilian international Danilo (who will arrive in January).
With a deeper squad and with dynamic duo James Rodriguez and Hulk yet to peak, it is easy to understand why expectations were so high. However, if it is a bit unfair for any manager to have his results compared to the ones of an all-conquering season, on the other it is hard to ignore the hiccups this season. What happened then?
- André Villas-Boas left in the summer. The young manager led the team to an incredible 2010-2011 season where the team won the Treble (League, Portuguese Cup and the Europa League) but decided to seek greener pastures at a time most expected him to stay for another season. I am still convinced that Falcao could have been persuaded to stay had AVB remained at the helm of the club. In the end, the chance of managing Chelsea proved too good to be turned down, a decision that must have disappointed some players who would certainly have welcomed a deep run in the Champions League under the same manager. While Mourinho and AVB both enjoyed meteoric rises to stardom, not every young manager with little experience will enjoy the same degree of sucess and quite honestly, I wonder whether Vitor Pereira has earned the trust and respect of his players.
- Porto are one of the shrewdest teams in the market having been able to unearth talent year after year and usually selling players with huge margins of profit. Still, after selling Falcao to Atletico Madrid and knowing that last season the team played with virtually one striker, the club signed just another forward: the young and untried Kléber from Marítimo. Now, the young Brazilian has shown potential and can play a part at the club but he's not one to start every game at the moment. Hulk has somtimes played upfront, but he's best employed on the wings where he enjoys more freedom to roam and destroy defenders.
- Vitor Pereira suspect decision-making. Some of Pereira's options have been questionable. Fredy Guarin, who enjoyed an another-worldly campaign, has surprisingly seen his playing time largely reduced and Maicon, a natural centre-back, has also been employed as a makeshift right-back for some reason. Perhaps the one thing that concerns Porto supporters the most are the decisions Pereira makes during a match who have so far backfired.
- The constant transfer speculation in the summer affected Alvaro Pereira and Fernando. The left-back almost joined Villas-Boas at Chelsea while Fernando tried to force an exit. The absence of the industrious Brazilian left a void in the midfield that nobody could fill and the defence - arguably, the Dragons' weakest link - got more exposed;
- At some point last season, Porto were perhaps the 3rd best team in Europe and even when considering the talent at their disposal, it seems obvious they have maxed out. At some point, a dip in form would occur and some of the weak points that weren't visible last season would show up. Considering the aforementioned points, the inconsistent form doesn't look so strange, now does it?
Still, the Dragons sat atop the league and, provided they beat Zenit at home in the last match, they will advance to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Danilo will bring an extra edge in January and should they move for a more experienced/prolific forward (Leandro Damião was mooted at the beginning of the season, but was deemed to expensive) they will continue to be big favourites domestically even if Vitor Pereira isn't half the manager AVB was.
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