By appointing Francesco Farioli as manager last summer, FC Porto signalled their intent to evolve, not just change leadership. After a period of domestic stagnation, Dragões now seek a renewal of identity, characterised by a sharper tactical framework, greater control of matches, and a return to proactive football. Farioli, aged...
Crystal Palace had arguably the club's most successful ever season in 2024/2025. An 12th-place league finish was accompanied by a historic FA Cup victory over Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. As a result, the London side has reimagined their ambitions, and this summer's transfer window could be crucial in solidifying Palace's future...
Florentino Luís is a 25-year-old defensive midfielder, currently playing for SL Benfica. He has been one of the most consistent performers in Liga Portugal over the last three seasons. Born in Angola, he moved to the Lisbon region of Portugal with his family at a very young age, where his...
This tactical analysis explores Vasco Matos' work at CD Santa Clara during their outstanding 2024/2025 Portuguese League season. After winning promotion as champions of Liga Portugal 2 in the previous campaign, Santa Clara made an immediate impact upon returning to the top flight, finishing in a remarkable fifth place and securing qualification...
Benfica have always been known as a selling club, producing great young talents that are then sold for hefty fees, but can this be the year they also make a significant push in the Champions League? Currently, they are second in Liga Portugal with 53 points, three points behind Sporting CP. However, they...
Throughout its existence, Portuguese football has been dominated by three teams. Sporting CP, Benfica, and FC Porto are the most dominant teams in the country, with no other team coming even close to their level of success. In recent years, a fourth team has emerged from the depths of the...
Fall is officially here, which means that it is time for the new November 2024 issue of Total Football Analysis Magazine. In this month's November 2024 issue, we have a cornucopia of articles, 21 to be exact, about La Liga, Primeira Liga, Bundesliga, Premier League, EFL Championship, Ligue 1, Serie A, EFL...
In Porto, the dragons usually roar so loud that you can hear them throughout Portugal. FC Porto have been one of the most successful teams in the country, having gained the most points out of all Portuguese teams in the top flight and won the second most championships in Liga...
While relegation is a very hard sentence for most clubs, it offers an opportunity for change in an otherwise very fast-paced environment. C.D. Santa Clara were in deep trouble when the club finished their 2022/23 campaign with three manager sackings and only 22 points from 34 games. As with most...
In world football, there is only one constant: change. These past few years have seen a drastic change in the way the game is played. If you compare today’s game with the game in the 90s or early 2000s, it is barely recognisable. One position that has seen the most...
Benfica are one of the biggest clubs in Portugal, and there is absolutely no doubt about that, but when the club was looking for a coach in the summer of 2022, the team was going through a rough patch, losing out to FC Porto and rival Sporting for multiple years...
With just four games disputed in the Portuguese top flight, the historical side Boavista FC have equalled their best-ever start with three wins and one draw (10 points in 12 possible). They currently join Sergio Conceição's Porto and Sporting at the top of the table. They are the second-highest-scoring team...
Yesterday, it was reported that Goncalo Borges of FC Porto is being linked to Premier League clubs Everton and West Ham. We first identified Borges in March 2022 and felt he was ready for regular Tier 4 minutes. As the season progressed, we revised that to Tier 3, then to Tier...
Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been increasing considerably their investment in their own leagues, and it's already impacting the European transfer market. Such external investment is creating friction among some European dirigents due to the non-regulation of such clubs' financial balance. One of the markets that have been a...
It is public knowledge that Manuel Ugarte is calling interest from top clubs and top leagues. However, the English clubs were the ones who showed more concrete interest in signing the Uruguayan, especially Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool and, more recently, Tottenham Hotspur. In this tactical analysis, we will detail Manuel Ugarte's position at Sporting...
When a player attracts the attention of Manchester City, Arsenal and Southampton in the same transfer window, there is no doubt that he is someone with an exceptional talent. And this is the case of Ousmane Diomande, the 19-year-old centre-back who is yet to land in the Premier League, as...
It has been a summer of change for Eredivisie champions Ajax. Argentine international defender Lisandro Martínez followed manager Erik ten Hag to Manchester United ; meanwhile German giants Bayern Munich picked up right-back Noussair Mazraoui and promising midfielder Ryan Gravenberch. Top scorer Sébastien Haller also went to the Bundesliga, joining...
At the start of the calendar year, Athletic Club decided to part ways with current SD Eibar head coach Gaizka Garitano after almost two-and-a-half years in charge. Within 24 hours, former Valencia and Villarreal manager Marcelino Toral put pen to paper to become the newest man in the dugout of...
As Sporting Portugal won the 2018/19 Taça de Portugal title, Bruno Fernandes interviewed his good friend and teammate, Stefan Ristovski, as a good-natured piece of entertaining content for the Sportingistas. The Macedonian paused his celebration, took the mic and made a half-joking/half-serious appeal to his superstar teammate, saying, “Please stay...
Update 10/29/24: Sporting CP has confirmed that Rúben Amorim is leaving to become the new Manchester United manager. The History Of Portuguese Coaches Portugal has long been a hotbed of coaching talent within the footballing world, ever since the ‘Special One’ Jose Mourinho burst onto the scene in the 2003/04...
