Football Season Guide

Last season was not great for Belenenses. After a decent start, ‘Azuis’ went through a rough period from the 10th round until around the 23rd. when some positive results started to appear, along with some more solid performances, after Silas took over control. It will be very interesting to see what this Belenenses side can do with Silas starting a season from scratch, as the sample from the last part of last season was intriguing. There will be several changes from what we could see back then, starting with the formation. While Silas implemented a trademark 3-4-3 formation since the first day he took over, it seems that Belenenses will be returning to a more conventional 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 this season, judging from what Silas has been presenting during pre-season. There are also many new faces. And we should put some emphasis on ‘many’. It is expected that at least half of the base eleven will be made of new signings, as some important players of last season are now gone. Specially in the midfield, where there is no longer Bakic, Yebda or André Sousa, while the very reliable full-back Hanin is also gone. The main reference in last season’s attack was Maurides, who also left the club, in a predictable move as Silas didn’t seem to like him that much. Domingos Duarte returns to the club, again on loan, after having been a reference of Belenenses’ defence back in 2016-17. Perhaps the best “new” face at the back is the return of goalkeeper Muriel Becker from the injury that took him out of action for a big part of last season. In the midfield, there has been a lot of players signing in to fill in the empty spots: experienced Nuno Coelho will definitely be a useful and safe unit, but the first team spots are expected to be delivered to the likes of Brazilians Lucca and Eduardo Henrique, as well as Serbian Ljulic. Filipe Chaby and Merlin Tadjigora are very talented options, but their physical condition has betrayed them in recent pass. In the attack, while Keita and Henrique Almeida will fight for the spot in the centre, Dálcio is the likeliest name to explode this season, as he will be staying one season on loan from Benfica.