Luis Castro at Botafogo 2022 – tactical analysis

While a few details have to be ironed out, Botafogo look set to appoint Portuguese manager Luís Castro. The 60-year-old manager has been at Al Duhail this season but has also managed Shakhtar Donetsk and Porto in the past. This is the first appointment of John Textor’s ownership. The American, who also owns a part of Crystal Palace, has expressed the desire to turn Botafogo into a South American giant and a global brand. In order to do so, he is implementing a new structure at the club. From heavily investing in the analysis and data department to bringing in a whole new set of sponsors, Botafogo are looking to build something big.

There are two main motivations behind Luís Castro’s appointment: youth importance and attacking football. The Portuguese manager has years of experience working in Porto’s youth academy and developing young players. In the first seven matches of this year’s Carioca, Botafogo have used 12 youth players and started a total of eight. While John Textor will look to invest and enhance Botafogo’s academy, the club already has a lot of talent. Castro will be key in using and developing this talent.

Luís Castro’s recent jobs at Al Duhail and Shakhtar Donetsk have demonstrated the Portuguese’s attacking playing style. He has averaged around 60% possession in both clubs and puts a large emphasis on controlling the game. This is in line with John Textor’s comments on wanting a forward and modern-thinking manager. However, Botafogo have just been promoted from the second division and do not have the strongest squad. It will be interesting to see how Castro copes with this.

In this tactical analysis, Luís Castro’s tactics at Al Duhail will be analysed to determine how Botafogo might look under the Portuguese.

Formations

There are many defining characteristics of Luís Castro’s playing style, but perhaps the most significant one is the importance of possession. We will look at this in more depth, but he focuses on retaining possession through quick and simple passes. In order for this to be done, the organisational structure of his team must be one that allows for constant support. Additionally, triangulation is necessary. The third man principle indicates players should constantly form triangles in support of possession. This allows the team to maintain possession and keep numerical superiority in certain areas.

In order for these principles to be carried out, the formation must be correct. This essentially means players are effectively distributed among the five channels and three thirds. In his last two projects, Luís Castro has consistently used a 4-1-4-1 and a 4-2-3-1. The 4-1-4-1 was most common at Shakhtar, whereas the 4-2-3-1 is used at Al Duhail. This is due to the characteristics of the players at his disposal. These formations allow players to constantly support possession and create numerical superiority, whether through the middle or the wings. With attacking full-backs and inverted wingers, his team becomes dynamic and able to change the area of focus.

Patient possession

A patient style of possession is the defining characteristic of Castro’s tactics. More specifically, his style of possession is very high tempo yet not very direct. Players are looking to break the lines in a much more controlled manner, with certainty. As a consequence, players take fewer risks and keep the game very simple. Players are constantly providing support and creating numerical superiority in small areas. His teams still move the ball with great frequency, though, as Al Duhail lead the league in passes per minute of possession at 15.3. The team also averages 59.91% of possession and 527 passes per 90. Unsurprisingly, they have the fourth-lowest 1 vs 1 and dribbling per 90 at 25.03.

Castro’s teams have a few patterns of behaviour which allow this style of possession to be carried. A common one is the attract and switch. Especially in the build-up, his team will look to attract a high number of opposition players into an area before quickly switching the ball and attacking the other side. In the example below, Al Duhail attempt to build out of the back through the right side. Not wanting to take risks or simply kicking the ball up the pitch, the right-back switches to the ball to the other side.