Football Season Guide

Last season was full of mixed feelings and many tribulations for Braga. There were three different coaches throughout the campaign which is never a good sign. With José Peseiro in charge, Braga were doing well in the table but the performances were never convincing. Jorge Simão arrived from an impressive Chaves' side but he did even worse than his predecessor, not being able to improve performances while starting to lose more and more points. When Abel Ferreira was brought into the club, Braga had already blown their chances in the race for 4th place. This time around, Abel Ferreira will have the proper conditions to try and make it a better season. The goal is to interfere with the classic top 3 which could only realistically happen if there is a very bad season from one of them. The squad seems better equipped than last season. Despite the departure of an important player like Battaglia, the arrivals are looking to make this season's Braga a more solid side with more options for different scenarios. In the defence, Bruno Viana, a reputed Brazilian centre-half arriving from Cruzeiro after one season loaned to Olympiakos in Greece, joins the already good signing of Raul Silva. While these might be the two centre-halves in the starting line-up, there are also important players from last season like Rosic and Ricardo Ferreira. Ricardo Esgaio and Jefferson arrived from Sporting to be good options for the full-back positions. In the midfield, while Mauro and Rafael Assis are returning from long injuries, incontestable talent Danilo Silva returns to the squad after a couple of failed experiences at Benfica and Valencia. Maritimo's star of the last two seasons, Fransérgio arrives and should be a great addition for Arsenalistas’ playmaking role. Vukcevic and Xadas complete the list of very talented midfielders for the season. In the attack, winger Fábio Martins returns from a very good season on loan at Chaves and Dyego Souza is the biggest candidate for the first team striker position despite having spent half of last season out of action due to a big suspension. There is a also very big expectations around 17-year old Pedro Neto. The winger/attacker is expected to have increasing game time during this season and this campaign might be the one that the promising talent will be revealed to the world. Ricardo Horta, Pedro Santos and Wilson Eduardo should, however, be the first options for the winger positions.