Football Season Guide

Liga
Portugal
Liga
2017/2018
Rio Ave FC
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Rio Ave FC

In


Yuri Ribeiro (def)(Benfica, on loan), Silvério Silva (def)(Leixões, return from loan), Marcão (def)(Atlético Paranaense, on loan), Francisco Geraldes (mid)(Sporting, on loan), Pelé (mid)(Benfica), Óscar Barreto (mid)(Millionarios, COL), Nuno Santos (mid/att)(Benfica), Gabrielzinho (att)(Linense, BRA), Tasos Karamanos (att)(Panionios, GRE, on loan)

Out


Rafa Soares (r)(def)(Porto, return from loan), Pedrinho (r)(def)(Desp. Aves), Roderick Miranda (k)(def)(Wolverhampton), R. Petrovic (r)(mid)(Sporting, return from loan), Krovinovic (k)(mid)(Benfica), Kizito (sp)(att)(CMSI Iasi, ROM)

Last season with Luís Castro, Rio Ave were without a question one of the most interesting sides in the league. This season, however, Luís Castro moved out to embrace a new project and new man Miguel Cardoso arrives from being Paulo Fonseca's assistant. He promises to keep up with Rio Ave's mentality. However, a lot of important pieces of last season's squad departed. Arguably the most talented man at the club and one of the good surprises of last season overall was Krovinovic, who is now with Benfica. At the back, Roderick and Rafa Soares, two very important men for the whole team, are also gone. In the attack, Gonçalo Paciência didn't renew his loan contract and is also no longer at Vila do Conde. Petrovic is also out after a good half of the season loaned from Sporting. Finally, skilful attacker Gil Dias also returned to his parent club Monaco. To face these departures, some good players arrived but it remains to be seen if they are a bit too short in numbers when compared to the departures volume. Midfielder Francisco Geraldes is a confirmed talent already and should be one of the most interesting payers to follow in Portuguese league this year. Taso Karamanos proved to be a great striker last season at Feirense and is now going to be able to confirm his ability in a more attacking minded team. Winger, Nuno Santos, is also a talent from a new generation of Portuguese young players. Yuri Ribeiro and Pelé are also at Rio Ave trying to have more chances to prove their worth. Some foreign players also arrived at the club but are currently nothing more than question marks: forward Gabrielzinho, midfielder Barreto and defender Marcão. The goal is to be in the top six or seven positions like last season and settle in as a definite reference of a modern, attacking football team. The squad is very young and eager which is ideal for this kind of project. However, some fans might be worried about a potential lack of experience which could lead to losing a lot of points at some stages of the season.

Target


Rio Ave are establishing themselves as a good top half of the table team in Portugal. However, they are also a very unique side who always try to be an attractive football minded team.