Football Season Guide

Even though they failed to catch Buriram United (was it ever really on the cards? Can anyone do this?!) in the Thai League One title race last season, they respectably finished as runners-up. They also won the Thai League Cup, beating BG Pathum United in the final. The above meant that interim manager Sarawut Treepha, who had temporarily replaced unwell boss Alexandre Gama, was offered the job permanently as Alexandre Gama moved to Uthai Thani. It looks a good appointment - he coaxed a lot out of their players last season. Now back in the Asian Champions League Elite, they've had to bolster their squad to cope with the additional fixtures. They've done well on that front, adding good, experienced Thai players like Otton, Ratree, Bihr, Kaewprom, and Selanon to give them reliable rotation options for domestic matches. They've also sought to improve their overall quality level, particularly in attack - Al-Subhi, Ribeiro, Soonsup-Bell, and Rui Costa look to be good acquisitions on the face of it. Jatobá, Moreira, and Marcel were the additions that vaguely inclined toward wanting to improve other areas of the team. They did lose some regulars pre-season but none they'll miss too much. Take Brayan Perea, for example - a very good player on his day, but injury-prone, and inconsistent too. CB Sulaka is the only one they might miss - he requested to leave to return to Sweden for personal reasons. In general, it must be remarked that this team has increased its depth substantially, and has most likely improved its overall quality. Attack is perhaps their biggest unknown as they're placing all of their hope in new attackers, and you can never be certain as to how they'll adapt. Still, with Kaka Mendes still running the show, this team is well-placed to have another good campaign. They should be in the title race with Buriram United, but as always, actually catching them is likely to be a bridge too far.