The Secrets Behind High-Press Mastery with Armando Evangelista at Famalicão – Tactical Analysis

The 2023/24 season was not a lot of fun for most teams in the midfield of Liga Portugal, with over half the league being in the relegation battle for the majority of the campaign.

One of the clubs caught up in this mess was Famalicão, a rather small club in the north of Lisbon.

The club has made a name for itself after being promoted in 2019 by finishing sixth in their inaugural season in the Portuguese top flight and not finishing in the bottom half of the league since the promotion.

During this time, a lot of bigger names went through the ranks of the club, with the likes of Uroš Račić, Toni Martínez, Otávio, Pedro Goncalves or Manuel Ugarte leaving the club after a short period of time there for bigger opportunities.

In March 2024, being just three points ahead of the relegation play-off place 16 in the table, Famalicão decided to fire their coach, João Pedro Sousa, and hire Armando Evangelista to give the team another spark to finish the season.

And boy, oh boy, did that work.

During the last nine games of the season, FC Famalicão scored 14 points, as many as big FC Porto did, and managed to finish the season in eighth place.

Like every year, the team faced their star players leaving the club.

Winger José Luis Rodriguez transferred to Red Star in Serbia, Captain and top goalscorer Jhonder Cadíz made a permanent move to Mexico, and just this week, FC Villarreal picked up Famalicãos goalkeeper Luiz Júnior as a replacement for Filip Jörgensen, who made the big move to Chelsea FC.

Still, the team managed to beat heavily favoured Benfica and Roger Schmidt 2-0 on matchday 1 and convincingly beat CF Estrela 3:0 in the second game, putting the club in joint-second place with FC Porto in these early stages of the campaign.

But how did Armando Evangelista preserve the momentum the team gained at the end of last season?

In this tactical analysis, we will take a look at the tactics used by the Famalicão coach and provide an analysis of what we can expect from the team moving forward into the season.

Armando Evangelista formations At Famalicão FC

Armando Evangelista is not a friend of change.

During his now 11 games with FC Famalicão, hes always used the 4-2-3-1 as his base formation, as he did with pretty much all of his former clubs.

The goalkeeper position underwent a change during these first two games, with Ival Zlobin rotating into the starting eleven for Luiz Júnior, who was on the verge of leaving the club and finalising his move one day after the game.

The rest of the starting XI stayed the same during these two games to start the season for FC Famalicão.

The back four consists of Justin de Haas and Enea Mihaj starting as the two centre-halves with captain Francisco Moura starting at left-back and loanee Lucas Calegari starting at right-back.

In midfield, the double pivot consists of holding midfielder Mirko Topić partnered with box-to-box midfielder Zaydou Youssouf, who plays a more advanced role.

In offence, Evangelista trusts 19-year-old Gustavo Sá as his playmaking number 10, with new signings Rochinha, who came from Trabzonspor, and Sorriso, loaned out from the Brazilian Red Bull Bragantino, playing on the wings.

Up front, young Spaniard Óscar Aranda has been starting both games for Evangelista in his second season at Famalicão, joining them from Real Madrid last summer.

Other notable reinforcements during the summer transfer window for the club are 28-year-old Spanish striker Mario González and 21-year-old right-back Rodrigo Pinheiro, who was brought in from FC Portos B-team.

Overall, the team had to replace the offensive firepower that left them.

Jhonder Cádiz, who scored 15 goals last season, was a vital player for Famalicão, so the offence had to undergo quite some changes during this preseason.

Defending well all over the pitch

One thing that stands out during Armando Evangelista’s tenure at Famalicão is the defensive prowess of his team.

In 11 games under Evangelista, FC Famalicão have only conceded 11 goals, and they have not conceded a single goal in the two games they have had so far this season.

There are many things that Evangelista‘s men are doing exceptionally well on the pitch, but to start off, we are going to examine how the team defends from a tactical standpoint.

One thing that stands out about Famalicão this season is their ability to defend all over the pitch.

They can play with a very high pressing line and defend deep in their own territory against teams that dominate possession.

They can survive phases of play where they face a lot of pressure without conceding many goalscoring chances.

In terms of tactics, Evangelista uses his 4-2-3-1 formation in a different way than you would expect.

As pictured above, attacking midfielder Gustavo Sá pushes up the field against the ball, forming a 4-4-2 shape.

Sá sometimes even plays ahead of the actual striker, Aranda.

If we look at the Fa