Football Season Guide

After the team’s bankruptcy back in 2005 this is their 1st season back in the top flight under their new name. It was a dramatic last campaign. Claimed the 2nd spot and the final promotion only on goal difference over Torreense. Had the best attack in Liga 2 with 58 goals scored. This brought 17 wins D8 L9. Building the team from scratch over the last 2 decades after the bankruptcy had its advantages. Have some experienced players at the top level in their ranks. Coach Fonseca departed at the end of the season. He was tempted by an offer from a bigger team. He has been replaced by experienced Bruno Pinheiro. Coached Eupen in Belgium last season but before that managed Gil Vicente. Added 3 new GKs this summer. Reaction to the departure of star GK Gil. From them Lavin or Ewerton seem to be the front runners for the starting role. Lavin is really liked by Pacheco and he should get the nod in the early rounds. The other big departure was that of CB Ramos. No replacement signed yet. Have 4 CBs as it is and they all have decent experience even at top level. Still finding a new cornerstone at the back before the end of August is imperative for Academico’s survival chances. Captain Luis Silva (34) will orchestrate the midfield. DM Ceitil should play even more now Academico are expected to defend deep in most games. Winger Guilherme played a key role last term. Signed permanently now. Will see lots of action up front. Added another promising winger to the ranks this summer – Zamora. The main tactics are likely to be of transition attacks so having these 2 explosive forwards helps a lot to utilise those. Brazilian CF André Clóvis is still the big star up front. He is a prolific goalscorer when the service towards him is good.