Outside the top three teams in the Portuguese top-flight division, four if you include SC Braga, there are always a few surprise packages. Last season, these were both Pacos de Ferreira and Santa Clara who managed to finish fifth and sixth respectively, earning the final two European spots.
The addition of the UEFA Europa Conference League has allowed Primeira Liga to have six European qualification spots up for grabs across the ECL, the Europa League, and of course, the Champions League.
One of the beneficiaries of the increase in continental football is Portugal’s historical minnows Estoril Praia. The club, with a stadium capacity of just 8,000, last reached any European competition back in 2013 when they were coached by the current Fulham and former Everton boss Marco Silva.
Now, Bruno Pinheiro hopes to take the Canarinhos back to the promised land. Right now, Estoril are sitting fourth in the table, having lost just one match in the opening eleven fixtures, which was against the champions Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Estoril won Liga Pro last season and have put themselves forward as early top six contenders, playing some of the most tactically interesting football in the league.
This article will be a tactical analysis of Estoril in the form of a team scout report. It will be an analysis of the tactics deployed by Pinheiro using the personnel available to him.
Formation choice and starting lineup
Pinheiro has stuck with his principles and philosophy this season despite the promotion from the second-tier to the top division in Portugal. The 45-year-old has deployed a 4-3-3 as Estoril’s main choice of system so far in the current campaign.
The 4-3-3 is merely a base formation for the side to structure themselves around, particularly in the defensive phases. As we will observe later in this article, Estoril also tend to switch to a back five depending on the game phase, while their shape differs in possession too.
The 4-3-3/4-1-4-1/4-5-1 has essentially been their substructure, and the conventional formation has been used in 74 percent of the Portuguese outfit’s matches so far this season.
Pinheiro prefers this shape because it suits the players at his disposal which is the most important factor the coach must consider when selecting their system. For instance, if a team has just one centre-forward, why would the coach select a two-striker formation?
The manager has been quite consistent with his team selections so far this season and opts to choose players that allow his philosophy to take shape on the pitch. Here is Estoril’s most used starting lineup so far in the 2021/22 campaign:
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