In May 2019, Jorge Jesus was appointed as the new manager of Flamengo.
In a brief stint, the Portuguese created one of the most legendary teams in Brazilian football history.
In a little over a year, Jorge Jesus had won five titles and lost four matches.
For the first time in a very long time, the manager was bigger than any player in a completely star-filled squad.
After leaving Flamengo for Benfica, Jorge Jesus found some success, but not quite at the same level as he had there.
Six months after parting ways with Benfica, he has been appointed as the new manager of Turkish giants Fenerbahçe.
Despite being one of the biggest clubs in Turkish football, Fenerbahçe have not enjoyed any success in nearly a decade.
They have not won any trophies since 2014 and are considered by many as a sleeping giant.
With superstar manager Jorge Jesus, Fenerbahçe aims to achieve similar success as Flamengo and rise back to the top of Turkish football.
With an intense attacking style, Jorge Jesus hopes to deliver the excitement and success that supporters have long desired.
In this tactical analysis, we will examine Jorge Jesus’ playing style and tactics throughout his time with Flamengo and Benfica.
More specifically, this analysis will examine the defining aspects of Portuguese-managed teams to determine how Fenerbahçe will look in the 2022/23 season.
Jorge Jesus Formations
While formations are not as relevant as they used to be, Jesus has a couple of favourite ones worth noting.
With how dynamic football has become, teams no longer maintain a rigid shape for most of the match.
On the contrary, most teams have defining principles that guide collective behaviour from the outset.
In other words, it is a lot more complex and fluid than a few simple numbers.
Throughout his time with Flamengo, Jorge Jesus used a 4-2-3-1 formation 45% of the time.
As seen below, many other variations and shapes were used depending on specific oppositions and scenarios.
To a larger extent, a similar tendency was followed with Benfica.
Jesus had an initial 4-4-2 structure, which he used most of the time.
