FC Porto are unable to retain the trophy the won a season ago as the team were easily eliminated from the Europa League by Manchester City.  Vitor Pereira and his men will tell you that the score(s) didn’t properly reflect what transpired over the two legs, but it’s hard to feel any sympathy for the Portuguese club when the numbers tell a different story.

The truth of the matter is that Porto were woeful and wretched and really had no business contesting the tie at all.   After the second-leg in Manchester, the Porto contigent made nothing less than delusional comments and their analysis couldn’t have been more far removed from the truth.

One has to understand that Porto are a proud club and are used to getting their way (wink, wink), therefore when a team pushes them around the park and gives them a lesson in the game, you bet that they will try to spin the story in their favour.

Let’s start with the coach, as Vitor Pereira had stated that, “the result is a lie….they thrashed us, but in a match that they didn’t deserve to win.” – I almost don’t know where to begin.  I know, how about the second-leg  final score, 4-0 ( 6-1 aggregate).  How is it possible that a team wins in their own backyard by scoring four goals, without response, and are not deserving  of the victory?

Were all of City’s goals a fluke?  The players from City toe-balsted that ball, watched it go off a couple of Porto players, the beer vendor and the scoreboard before it went in the net?  No, that’s now how it happened, but instead City were methodical and calculating in their approach and were rewarded for being clinical, but somehow that doesn’t clearly show merit.

Yes, three out of City’s four goals came in the last 15 minutes of the match and their second was scored before Rolando was sent off, but does that mean they count for less?  City’s first goal was scored 20 seconds into the match, making the aggregate 3-1 at that point, therefore they didn’t have to force the issue.  They had put themselves in a very comfortable position, forcing Porto to expend their energies.

The golden rule in football is, it’s not how many opportunites on goal a team has, but what that team does with them.  City had a total of 7 shots on goal (14 from both legs), 5 of which were on target (11 from both legs) and, elementary, led to 4 goals.  If that’s not efficient, I don’t know what is.  How did Porto do in the same department?  Porto had a total of 13 shots (20 from both legs), only 3 made it on net (5 from both legs)- Joe Hart didn’t even break a sweat.  Again, how did the score not reflect what happened in both games?

Naturally, everything flows from the top down and Porto midfielder, Joao Moutinho, had some equally baffling conclusions as his coach, “we did not have the luck of the game, above all in the first-half, when we pushed Manchester City back, in their own stadium.”  What was Moutinho smoking?

He and Porto did nothing of the sort.  City did not look bothered by all the shots off target and only allowed Porto as much possession as they did because they let them.  As I mentioned earlier, the early goal by City meant that they didn’t have to go on full attack mode and were more than happy to hit on the break as they were in a very good postion overall.

For the most part, the hosts kept Porto on the periphery knowing that they needed to score a lot of goals to keep them in the competition, leaving themselves open on counter attacks, and that’s exactly what happened.  Everytime Porto thought they were getting closer to scoring, City would run up the field and leave the Portuguese side’s hearts in their mouths, over and over again.

Where was the 100 million euro man, Hulk?  He was making a right ass of himself with his theatrics and constantly whining to the officials looking for calls on fouls that never existed.  The only thing that Hulk managed to do was be the centre of ridicule by the City fans as they shouted, “you’re not incredible,” which, logically, forced Porto to file a complaint to UEFA (as I said previously, it flows from the top-down).  

I have no issue with Porto trying to find a silver lining in all this, but let’s not pretend that City were teams who Porto beat domestically recently like Vitória de Setúbal and União de Leiria (16th and 15th placed teams in the Liga, respectively).  City are also not one of Europe’s elite, yet, but have spent a whole bunch of money on quality players in order to attain that level, and they’re sitting atop of the Premier League, so please be mindful with the backtalk. 

All of Porto’s frailties were exposed and City demonstrated how to nulify the team’s offensive prowess.  Thereofore, for Porto to come and attempt to fleece their performances by trying to change the subject on how the championship is their main focus, there are teams in Portugal who can further underline those same deficiences.

Porto have been exposed all year as an inconsistent and beatable team, so please stop showing contempt and being discourteous to all those within the Liga and those watching from the outside thinking that the championship is yours because you said so. 

Yes, Porto are only two points back of first place, but if everything is allowed to play itself out, without interference, there would have to be a breakdown of biblical proportions by Benfica and the rest of the Liga in order for this year’s edition of Porto to win the title.  Injuries, a chaotic backline and contrariety of form will be Porto’s demise and, maybe, then they’ll understand that it was them all along…..or not.

Since star striker Papa Babacar Diawara (Baba) was sold to Spanish club Sevilla, Maritimo have not shown signs of suffering in the goal scoring department and the team, as well as their supporters, can owe their thanks due to the performances of attacking midfielder Danilo Dias.

The 26-year-old has been a revelation since his former Senegalese team mate moved to the Andalusian outfit.  To give you an idea of how productive Danilo Dias has been, the Brazilian has notched 6 goals, in all competitions (9 overall), since the departure of Maritimo’s former top goal scorer.

What’s interesting about Dias’ goals this season is that when he gets on the scoreboard, Maritimo win, with the exception of the 2-2 draw against Feirense back in October.  But other than that result, whenever Danilo does manage to find the back of the net, his goals usually lead to Maritimo grabbing all three points, and 4 of his 9 goals are game winning goals.

How does one explain why Danilo has been on a tear since Baba’s departure?  Not sure, as Pedro Martins is not playing with a different formation or employing a new set of tactics.  Martins  continues to use his favoured 4x3x3 set-up  and Dias was a part of the three upfront when Baba was still with the team, as he is now.

The only logical explanation is that Dias has been given more freedom because Baba is no longer with the Islanders.  The absence of the now Sevilla man means that Dias is not restricted to just playing wide and cutting in towards the middle.  Dias still lines up and operates mainly on the right wing, although he does switch to the left side, but now he can attack the net with more fervor (if that is even possible) and score himself instead of looking to lay off the final ball to the stirker.

I suppose you can say that Sami is now the one lone target man since Baba is gone, but it appears that Martins has let go of the leash and let the ex-Goias and Ipatinga forward go nuts, and why shouldn’t he?  Dias is quick, he can kick with both feet, takes corner kicks and can dribble his way out of any situation while only be given the slighest crack of daylight.   Let’s also give credit to Martins as he was the first admit that Maritimo “were not inferior due to Baba’s absence,” and he was right. 

Dias is a delight to watch and if the opportunity comes up where Maritimo match is being broadcast, take the time to take it in.  The unfortunate part for Maritimo with having a player like Dias on their roster and who is playing well is that other clubs do come sniffing around, it’s inevitable.

Dias’ contract is up in 2014, but it’s unknown what his release clause is set at.  Perhaps after his exploits this past weekend (brace against Rio Ave), club president, Carlos Pereira, probably has just added another €250K to his transfer fee.  Whatever the price is, Pereira also knows that with the economic climate and the fact that Baba was only sold for €3 million, Dias won’t be fetching a handsome price whatsoever.   

To Maritimo supporters, show Dias lots of love and enjoy every second that’s he’s with your club, and hope that one of the Liga rivals don’t snatch him up.  I’m sure it would be painful for a player of his skill set to come back and burn you.   But if the club continue their good form and solidify a place in the Europa League, maybe Maritimo won’t be forced t sell Dias at all.

After succumbing to defeat at the hands of Manchester City in the first-leg of their Europa League Round of 32 tie and claiming afterwards that his team , FC Porto, has what it takes to turn the outcome around when they visit the Etihad Stadium, team forward, Hulk, was also critical of the manner which he felt physically abused during the encounter as well.

The complaints made are actually very typical of the Brazilian everytime Porto fall to defeat or have put in a poor perforamance which results in a less than favourable score for the club.  Besides the match against Manchestr City, Hulk lodged the exact same grievances last month when Porto drew scoreless with Sporting and when they were humilated in Cyrpus losing 2-1 to APOEL back in November.

The player who, in Portugal, is referred to as “O Incrivel” (The Incredible) is anything but and tarnishes the name he assumes.  I would even go so far to say that it would probably vex, both, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

In this blogger’s opinion, Hulk is not a sensation or anything to marvel at (no pun intended Stan and Jack) and he is certainly not worth anything close to the €100 million release clause that the club have inserted into his contract.  In order to justify that kind of transfer fee, a player would have to undeniably stand shoulder to shoulder with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – now can anyone tell me if Hulk deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the previous mentioned pair?

What I fail to comprehend is how does a man that is almost 6 feet tall and nearly 85 kg (187 pounds) can so easily be moved off a ball and/or go to the ground at the slightest of contact?  Are you absolutely kidding me?  Hulk possesses above average weight for a footballer and should be on ox, yet still he insists on trying to con referees, as well as viewers, that he is the victim of fouls being committed against him.

With Hulk’s size, he could easily play in the National Hockey League, if he learned how to skate.  But if he tries to exaggerate a foul in that league, guess what happens?  He would handicap his team, by spending two minutes in the penalty box for diving/embellishment (Rule 64),  and that would allow the other team an opportunity to score, which would, most likely, infuriate the coach and teammates.

You say that diving is also punishable in football, yes, but not to the extent that it is in the NHL.  The officials in the NHL make that call, without hesitation, each and every time, whereas in football, a player will get a booking if he attemtps to deride the official in awarding a penalty and not, so much, in open play.

It’s not just me.  If you think that I’m ut of my tree or  have some prejudice against the player, here is one observations from an impartial individual found on Twitter that feels the same way:

MirrorFootball: Am not the world’s biggest comic expert but don’t remember many Hulk comics where he spent whole time rolling on the floor holding his head.

And here are various comments posted by readers from the Manchester Evening News after the paper’s scouting report on the Porto ‘superstar’:

1) over-rated, over-priced and , fortunately, over there.
Was a constant whining, whingeing, diving diva. No wonder Portuguese football is so bad, it’s awash with this type of drama-queen.

2) If he’s worth 100 million and we can only get 30 million for Tevez then somethings not right..

3) Would that be the same Hulk that is currently residing next to the spare change in Joleon Lescott’s pocket?
Or the one that went down screaming like a baby ever time a City player got within two feet of him?

4) Is there anything worse than watching a strong centre forward built like a brick outhouse tumble at the slightest breeze and bemoan the decision?

These comments are not made by Benfica, Sporting or Braga fans.  Hell, I would say that these people, probably, don’t even follow the Liga ZON Sagres.  This is their observation from seeing Huk for the first, maybe, second or third time, and this is the impression that they got.

Hulk is supposed to be the team’s go-to guy and he’s simply not.  He plays with purpose for about 20, 30, maybe 40 minutes  until Porto get that early goal or two, but then he just disappears when things don’t go to plan.  Hulk doesn’t track back and play defence, I honestly don’t recall him contributing defensively at all, and he certainly does not provide any inspiration when the team is in deep need of inventiveness.

Also, when defences do not show any signs of intimidation, Hulk appears to be the one who is actually intimidated and that’s when the theatrics kick into high gear.  For a player who is so revered amongst Portuguese journalists and other bloggers, it amazes me how no one has seemed to point this out, but others outside the country have.

Club president, Pinto da Costa, has claimed that he has already turned down offers between €90-99 million for his prized asset because it didn’t meet the organisation’s valuation.  But everyone knows that no one in their right mind would ever turn an offer like that down.

The reason behind the €100 million release clause is simply to artificially inflate the player’s true value so that Porto can make an obscene amount of profit from a transfer, knowing that their set price will never be met.  Does it come as no surprise that after the season Porto had last year, the only individuals that were sold were Andre Villas Boas and Falcao?  Hulk is in his fourh year at the club and will most likely spend his fifth next year at the Dragão.

It appears that greed has got the best of da Costa after notoriously manufacturing some of the country’s biggest transfers in recent years.  But this time, you’d have to say, that da Costa has got it wrong and has outsmarted himself as no club in Europe will even entertain the notion of trying to broker a deal after what they’ve witnessed, not only the other night against City, but entire seasons.

Only eight and a half months after deliriously hiring Domingos Paciencia as their new coach, Sporting have agreed to release the man whom they felt would place the club on their rightful place amongst the country’s footballing elite.  But now that’s not the case as the club are forced to return to the ol’ drawing board. 

There were very high expecations placed on the shoulders of Domingos Paciencia as Sporting really felt that they had the right man for the job after what he managed to accomplish with Sporting Braga in the past two seasons (a second place finish in 2010 and a Europa League final last year).  Coupled with the fact that newly elected president, Godinho Lopes,  splashed out €30 million in new signings, made everyone believe that the good times had come back to the Alvalade.

Despite rolling off a 10-game winning streak last September and October, it’s been a very slippery slope that Sporting have been on.  Falling 16 points back of first place and elimination from the League Cup at the group stage, without registering a single win, was enough for the club’s brass to pull the trigger.

Although reaching the final of the Portuguese Cup is commendable and does put the team in a position to win silverware, it doesn’t bring money like a place in the Champions League will.  Let’s face it, when Lopes spent as much money as he has, you better damn well know that he wants a return on his investment, and fast.

What Lopes saw was a team unwilling to fight for their coach and Braga slowly pulling away from the highly sought after golden egg known as the Champions League.  The club felt they had no choice put to pull the plug on their once favourable tactician.

As Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. once said, “a man is usually more careful of his money than of his principles,” and that is where we find Lopes at the moment.  If Paciencia’s employers showed just that, patience, then they would have kept the man that was once the toast of Portuguese football.

It is quite obvious that Paciencia fell victim to the administartion’s own delusions of grandeur, but Paciencia also didn’t do himself any favours either by allowing the team to wilt as they have been since mid-December.  After the aforementioned run Sporting went on, the team only managed two victories in league play (Nacional and Beira-Mar) since then, and the team’s table position reflects this.

Where was that spirit and fight under Paciencia’s Sporting?  This team did not show enough of the grit that Paciencia’s Braga was characteristiclly known for.  Yes, the difference was that Braga’s core was already present and just needed someone to get the best out of them as opposed to the mass assembly that Sporting underwent, but that’s still the coach’s job to unify all of his elements when times are tough.

Perhaps Paciencia had a point when he said earlier this season tha it’s not easy to communicate with a team when so many different languages are being spoken at once, and maybe it caught up with him. But that wasn’t a problem back in September and  October when he was receiving pats on the back and exchanging jibes with Benfica’s Jorge Jesus as to which Swiss team was more of a challenge, FC Zurich or FC Basel (respective European opponents).

Perhaps the real reason as to why this relationship ended up like a Hollywood divorce was that Paciencia was caught speaking with members of FC Porto’s about, possibly, taking up the coaching position there, according to Agencia Lusa.

Well, well, well, what do we have here now?  Is this just old friends shooting the breeze or this more than just the batting of eyelashes?  Is there a little footsie happening under the table, are both squeezing the other’s thigh while Lopes wasn’t looking?

According to a source close to Sporting, that’s exactly what has been happening.  Both parties have been flirting while attempting to maintain faithful to their respective better halves.  If true, how would you feel if you were Lopes, or Vitor Pereira?  Lopes, maybe, feels betrayed after everything he’s done and seeing the recent set of results, decided to send Paciencia on his way, instead of succumbing to blind rage and tearing him to shreds.

Whatever the truth may be, it is a case of men behaving badly and  have allowed their own self-procalimed grandiosty get in the way of the objectives they both set for themselves, and each other.  Now what’s left is for Sporting to grab a broom and clean the mess they have made and, hopefully, not fall into the same traps as previous regimes – what’s that, Sa Pinto is back?!?

FC Porto have turned back the clock with the (re)acquisition of Argentine midfielder Lucho Gonzalez. So what exactly is the club accomplishing by reintegrating a player that Marseille were desperately hoping to get rid of and who has not been the same this season since he left for greener pastures in the south coast of France?

It is safe to say that Porto supporters fondly remember the player also known as El Comandante, and why shouldn’t they?  The last time Gonzalez was in town he was a four-time national champion as well as picking up two Portuguese Cups and a Super Cup.

Gonzalez’s time at Marseille was also impressive as the former River Plate man was crowned champion in his first year at the Velodrome, won the French Cup twice as well as France’s equivalent of the Super Cup, once.  But times got tough for the South American lately and now he finds himself back at the Dragao only two and half years since his departure.

Besides the amount of trophies collected in the past six years, there are other numbers to consider, 16, 11 , 8 and 9.  Those were tota minutes that Gonzalez was utilised in four separate matches for Marseille this season and he wasn’t even injured in those contests. Why would a club that paid €18 million for a player a little more than two years ago under use him so much, especially when they were competing in the Champions League.

Some think that it had to do with an assualt incident that happened to Gonzalez’s family months ago and that the midfielder wanted to leave the city for his family’s security.  But the player himself confessses that although it was an ugly episode in his and family’s life, that wasn’t the reason whay he wanted to leave Marseille and return to Porto.

When we peel the layers a little further, Gonzalez’s departure form one of France’s more prominent clubs was more about shedding some euros in light of the worl’d econmomical climate, therfore the player’s exit was nothing more than a salray dump.  Gonzalez earns somewhere between € 7-10 million/year, depending on which reports you read, and a player at his age (31 years old) the club could not justify keeping that kind of financial commitment and demographic on their books any longer. Or perhaps it was the club’s attaempt at getting prepared for the UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations. 

Great, so Gonzalez’s arrival at Porto was just a financial issue for Marseille and nothing else?  I suspect there’s more to the story.  Why would Marseille allow a player of Gonzalez’s calibre return to the club from where they bought him from for nothing?  Two and a half years ago Marseille paid a very handsome  €18 million to Porto for one of the continent’s more coveted midfielders at that time and in 30 months he’s not worth anything?

I can’t understand why Marseille would pay the transfer fee they did plus the player’s salary this whole time and just allow him to leave for free in the middle of his contract due to budgetary reasons?  When I look at his minutes and the infrequency Gonzalez has been used this season, there’s something more that’s not being addressed.  Is there an injury that Marseille are not disclosing?  Was there a falling out between player and coach or player and the board?  All of this doesn’t make sense and considering the ecomonics of the world, even far less.

Also, why did no other club come in for Gonzalez if he was available for nothing?  Surely, there had to be some clubs who were interested in the player and even would have shelled out a few million for his services, but there weren’t any, not even one.  This just just doesn’t add up.

As for Porto and their supporters, what do they expect will happen because the player is now back with them – the chamnpionship this year is as good as won?  Don’t think so.  Just because something worked once, it doesn’t mean it will have the same success over and over again.  Unless all the other elements are the exact same as they were before Gonzalez left, everyone is living a pipe dream.

I’m not 100% sure, but I would think that teams like Benfica, Sporting Braga, even Sporting and Maritimo could care less that Lucho is back.  All these teams, as well as the rest of the league, have objectives intact and no one player can sway them  or disrupt them from trying to achieve them, especially in mid-season.  There’s not one player, on his own, that possessed that much influence.

As for Gonzalez himself, the Porto team that he’s now a member of is vastly different from the one he had tremendous success with.  Gone are midfield partners Raul Meireles and Paulo Assuncao, not to mention Jose Bosingwa, Bruno Alves, Lisandro Lopez, Sektioui, Quaresma etc.    There are few faces that Gonzalez will recognise at today’s Porto and those are Helton and Cristian Rodriguez.   Perhaps, he will remember  Rolando,  Hulk and Fernando as they arrived in his his final year during his first spell with the club, but that’s it.

There’s too little time to forge any chemistry with Joao Moutinho and Steven Defour as Vitor Pereira is proving that he is not a magician that Pinto da Costa believed him to be.  What’s worse is Porto have already dismantled their squad by allowing last season’s  integral players to leave to Italy in Fredy Guarin and Fernando Belluschi.  Porto this year are far too thin and disjointed to make any kind of push for any trophy.  Wholesale changes mid-season does not work and the club have made it much worse with their January transfer activities.

By this time next year, Gonzalez will be 32 years old, not an old man by any stretch of the imagination, but also not as well built as he was ten years ago either.  Younger and hungerier players are always looking to succeed and time will tell if Gonzalez gets pushed around and made to look his age in comparison to the game’s youth.  If things do go badly, then Gonzalez’s famous goal celebration (hand over his eyes) will give a new meaning as everyone will be looking back, searching for the player that he once was.

Jorge Fucile has been shipped out to Brazil, Cristian Sapunaru is on his way to Romania and so many question marks remain as to the futures of Fredy Guarin, Fernando and Belluschi.  The team that Vitor Pereira Pereira inherited from Andre Villas Boas is looking anything but.  Is there a method to this man’s madness?

There is a certain uneasiness that has seemed to permeate the environment of FC Porto and as each day passes it appears to get worse.  It is not often that such emotions are present when looking at the club from the outside in, but now what’s occuring inside is on the outside for everyone to see.

The last few weeks cannot be good for the club’t morale as Porto have always projected an aura of confidence, swagger even, and the anxiety that has been created, and increased, is starting to take its toll.  There was the elimination from the Portuguese Cup and Champions League, in less than spectacular fashion, and the 1-0 victory against lowly Estoril Praia leans to the feeling that all is still not well.

It is an unfamiliar sight to see Porto is such disarray and it can’t be good that so many players are linked with moves away from the club in January in  a negative context.  Yes, players like Guarin and Fernando have been rumoured to leave the Dragao for some time now, but in the past, Porto players would quickly dismiss any notion of leaving the Portuguese side, reaffirming their happiness in the Invicta city.

 Now agents are speaking on behalf of their clients claiming that a move would do the player in question some good as they seek more, regular playing time – did any of this talk happen when the team were winning tropies at will last season?  I agree that winning makes any suffering tolerable, but why are so many of Porto’s squad eager to jump ship?

Sapunaru was a staple in Andre Villas Boas’ sqaud, now he can’t buy any playing time under Pereira because he doesn’t “meet the demands of the team and club.”  Guarin had a breakthrough year last season and looked to justify his €30 million relaease clause, but now reports are surfacing alleging that he will be sold to Juventus for one-third of that. 

Let’s have a look at Varela.  The Porto brass looked to have completed a stroke of genius when they signed the former Sporting man from Estrela da Amadora, but now he is anything but a guaranteed starter for the defending champions, and may even lose his spot with the national team.  By this time last year Varela had accumulated over 1300 playing minsutes and scored seven goals, in all competitions.  Now, he’s scored less than half that amount and only amassed slighlty over 900 playing minutes.

If that were not bad enough, striker Walter gave a scathing interview on Maisfutebol revealing the details of his move and how he lost the confidence of Pereira and really wasn’t given a reason why he was left out of the squad so often. Also, Kleber finally admitted that he has had difficulty adjusting to his new team, especailly playing in the shadow of now Atletico Madrid marksman Falcao.

What?!?!  This almost sounds insane.  Porto players airing out their grievances and, in turn, exposing their fragilities and frailties – who is this team?  This was a squad who were so used to possessing copius amounts of determination and self-assurance that you could even hear Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman” playing in the background.

Now that’s no longer the case and players are looking to abandon ship faster that disgraced Italian captian Francesco Schettino and appear to be falling apart at the seams.  And who’s to blame for all this?  The answer is two-fold, Pinto da Costa and Vitor Pereira.

Why is the president parly to blame, if not all, it’s simple, he hired Pereira.  Back in June when it was announced that Villas Boas would be leaving the organisation for Chelsea, hours later da Costa appointed Villas Boas’ former number two – just like that.  It was an impulsive, irrational decision that is now starting to bite the president in the ass.

The chamionship is not over, but it doesn’t appear that Pereira has the charisma or allure that Villas Boas used to ooze when he was in charge of the same squad that Pereira has taken over.  If we look at the point differential compared to last season,  Pereira’s Porto are  a -7 in points from where they were a year ago and they also coughed up first place to heated rivals Benfica.

Yes, Benfica have improved vastly themselves, but if Porto took care of their business, they wouldn’t be in this mess, now would they?  And who’s to blame, the coach, of cousre.  How is it that Villas Boas made the same squad appear that they could have beaten any team on any given day, but under Pereira the same bunch look like agroup of contentious self-doubters?

If there isn’t an intervention soon, this will all end badly.  If Pereira doesn’t admit that mistakes were made, he will lose his entire squad, the championship and, most likely, his job.  But constantly being defensive and snapping at journalsits during press conferences is not the right way at trying to make admends with a team that is slipping through his fingers.

Let’s be honest, perhaps Pereira is in over his head and to try and live up to the standards that Villas Boas isn’t easy, especially for a individual who has never coached in the top flight, let alone a club like FC Porto.  All of this may be proving to be too much to handle.  If he needs help then the only people who can do that is his squad, but not if they’re showing themselves willingly out the front door.

Trust is imperative and if that is lost, which it appears it may have been, there isn’t a thing a coach can do as players will band together for a common cause – themsleves.  Also, it’s easier to get of a coach than it is of 25 players.  One last thing that won’t bring Pereira peace of mind his Guarin’s latest entry on his Twitter account when he admitted, “whatever decision the club makes, I will always be a Dragon for the rest of my life.”  Cue the violins.

After placing Vitoria Guimaraes comfortably in sixth place with a 0-2 victory against Academica this past weekend.  The team from Portugal’s founding city are in much better standing and owe a lot of thanks to the coach they hired back in August, Rui Vitoria.

Guimaraes are a stark contrast from the team that Vitoria took over from Manuel Machado last summer.  Guimaraes fans may not want to remember the team that was at the beginning of the season, but they will surely rejoice in the team that they have become in the last five months.

The vimarense were a dire outfit, only winning one of their matches (out of seven), in all competitions, before the club felt they had no choice but to axe Machado, and what was worse were their performances.  Feeble, meek and toothless are some adjectives that come to mind looking back at Guimaraes at that time. 

The team had conceded 13 goals while only scoring 3 goals themselves – having been shutout by Atletico Madrid (twice) in the Europa League play-offs and Beira-Mar in succession convinced the administration that they had to stop the hemorrhaging.

In comes Rui Vitoria, who had a brilliant season with Pacos de Ferreira just a few month ago, finishing in 7th place with 41 points, only two back of his future employers, while narrowly missing out on a European berth.  Although, Guimaraes are six points from qualifying for Europe again, it would be a safe bet that the 41-year-old is very much capable of pipping Maritimo for that last spot with half of the championship to go.

It hasn’t been easy or pretty for Guimaraes since Vitoria took over from Machado as the team have bowed down to Benfica (twice – League and League Cup), Sporting and were also eliminated from the Portuguese Cup by Desportivo das Aves.  Losing to Uniao de Leiria didn’t help either, but Guimaraes have picked up points where they’ve had to, allowing to be positioned where they are.

Top goal scorer Edar Silva has already notched 8 goals this season and is only three goals off from his tally of 11 goals, in all competitions, scored last season.  There’s also Marcelo Toscano, who started off brightly last season, but fell off the goal-scoring assembly line, finishing with 5 goals.  Now the 26-year-old Brazilian has found the back of the net six times, in all competitions, and is very likely to finish the season in double digits.

If the players who the team rely on are scoring goals, then the team must be scoring goals as well, and Guimaraes are.  In the matches that Vitoria has been in charge of, Guimarses have scored 24 goals, in all competitions while allowing 17 goals to be scored against them during that same period. 

Under Vitoria, Guimaraes have brought down their average of goals suffered to 1.1 goals/game from the 1.9 goals/game under Machado.  Yes, Vitoria has had more games in which to inflate his statistics, but even looking at the first seven matches that Vitoria headed, Guimaraes were only allowing 1.3 goals/game and still scored 9 goals – that’s six more goals than Machado’s team managed to produce before he was shown the door.

Guimaraes under Vitoria won’t be winning the championship this or even next year, but that’s not to say that he can’t collect any other silverware along the way, say the League Cup (he was a finalsit with Pacos last year) or manage to match the achievements that Sporting Braga have done over the last couple of seasons.

Judging by what’s he’s done with Fatima and Pacos, what’s to say that he can’t win a title if handed a little more money in the way of transfers.  Hopefully, he and Guimaraes fans won’t be holding their breath as everyone in the Liga has had to tighten their belts due to the ecominic conditions, but with meticulous planning, Guimaraes can rightfully re-claim their spot that Braga have currently occupied. 

Should Vitoria continue his success on a minimalist’s budget, a move to a club with the funds in the bank is not beyond anyone’s imagaination and  if I were Vitor Pereira, I would be looking over my shoulder.

On the eve of the Classico between Sporting and FC Porto, newspaper Publico publsihed an article condemning the images above as it is up on the walls of the Alavalde where the visiting team go to and from their dressing room.  Do you have a problem with it?

The author of the article, Hugo Daniel Sousa, castigates the images, and in turn, the club for using/compiling the pictures that they did.  Sousa claims that the club are promoting violence by using images that depict fascism and are highly inappropriate.  Sousa goes further and disputes the club’s selection and choice of where the images have been placed, alluding to the fact that the ideas and approval of such images are contrived and deliberate.

We can’t argue on that point because nothing gets done without anyone’s knowledge of it happening, therefore no one from Sporting’s administration can claim ignorance as a defence. If we look at the images closely we see snapshots of several Sporting fans (claques) celebrating and chanting the way that they do, but it is of design which faces the club made focal points of.

The first image in the forefront has an adult male, topless, holding a flare while his face is wrapped in a t-shirt.  The second is just down from the white hooded male and it’s another topless  male with his arms outstretched and his face is covered also, but with a black belaclava. In between these two is an inidividual’s right arm sticking out as if it were giving a nazi/fascist salute.

Now we can guess that the arm is attached to another male and he might very well have had his left arm in the same motion, but the way that it is portrayed on the wall gives it another context and was not done by accident – this was intentional.  For even more dramatic effect there is also a shot of a steward looking over his shoulder as it appears that he’s trying to control an angry mob.  If that weren’t bad enough, what Sporting wrote on top of these faces, quite cheekily is Bem-Vindos (Welcome).

I don’t have to spell out anything for anyone as to how bad this looks against the club because everything speaks volumes, even down to the guy holding the flare with his massive gut hanging out – that alone is offensive on so many levels.  But this is either a poster for a terrorist recruitment or a poor attempt at psychological warfare, I think it’s the latter.

Players and coaches alike from the visiting team will see this everytime they take to the field and try to regroup at half-time.  Whether it gets into their heads is up to the individual, but the hope that it does is prominent.

I undersatnd that Sporting can decorate their builidng and facilities any way they want to, but don’t try and play us for saps by claiming that it was done to honour the club’s greatness and illustrious history.  Surely, in more than 100 years of the organisation’s existence there are images that better represent what the club are about.  These selected images are very misleading, childish and are petty, at best.

Speaking of petty, Sporting were quick to issue a statement justifying the images have always been present, since the beginning of the season, and went as far and claimed that their hallway art was approved by the Liga and UEFA when they visited their buildings – big mistake!

For once, the Portuguese media got on their horse and quickly refuted the club’s assertions.  Both Publico and Maisfutebol posted articles on their respective web sites stating that no one from either the Liga or UEFA approved or eulogised the images and that UEFA were going to speak to Sporting directly about the matter.

The problem now is the timing when these photos went up.  The Liga had paid a visit to the Alvalade on July 5 of last year and, more than a month later, on August 8 and the Liga never complained because the images weren’t present when represenatives were there last summer.  A spokesperson from the Liga told Publico that they will intervene once a complaint is filed by a club, but, perhaps, no club has complained because they were never present until recently.

But that won’t stop UEFA as Europe’s governing body on football stated that they will contact Sporting immediately and will order them to take down the images if they see it unfit and damaging – still feel like a bunch of tough guys?

I can understand trying to get the edge on your opponents by using a little gamesmanship, but this has gone too far.  Their attempt at disheartening their adversaries was foiled and now the club look like idoits and could suffer consequences never imagined.

I also understand that the club have spent as much money as they ever have in the last 10 years combined, but maybe they should have invested it in buying some common sense.  If Sporting wanted to paint their walls using blustering images, get pictures of real lions catching their prey or, I don’t know, The Orc army from the Lord of the Rings movies.

My suggestions too could be shot down so go with my earlier idea of using images of famous Sporting players and big moments in the club’s history – winning trophies etc.  But the club didnt and now have to answer their unruly deed by explaining why they lied about it as well.  Sporting were hoping to enter in the minds of their opponents during game time, but it now has blown up in their faces and become their own nightmare.

Pinto da Costa and his entourage abused journalsit Valdemar Duarte and Sporting disallowed Luis Sobral from attending their press conference, when will the silliness that the Liga ZON Sagres is known to embody end and the league will finally become legitimate?

The incidents mentioned occured late last year and, not surprisingly, the episodes did not get as much coverage as one coach slagging another through the media.  Although the events were initially reported, one wonders as to why the media didn’t ban together and stand firm against the transgressors.

Perhaps, the reason being is that it comes down to cash.  Sales in their newspapers and all the advertsing dollars that is generated from their dailies/web sites would severly diminish if they proceeded to protest against the actions by both clubs.  But what about their journalsitic duty?  Isn’t it the media’s job to constantly seek the truth and persistently chase the factualness until it made it say ‘uncle’?

For example, if there was an abduction, assault or political scandal, don’t the media cover the story until they have exhausted all of their resources, so much so whereby the story had been out for so long that the public starts to suffer nausea?  How much coverage do you think the Russell Brand-Katy Perry divorce is going to get.  Exactly, so why not now?  Is it becuase it’s football or, better even, footabll in Portugal?

I will admit that the aforementioned events are much more serious (not including the splitting up of Brand and Perry) and do require the diligence by the media to be brought to the public’s attention, but so do the negative aspects of sport.  When we get right down to it, these are people that are being prevented from doing their jobs and a breach of their rights – freedom of speech/press/media.

Not only that, but Duarte and Sobral’s colleagues didn’t even pursue the issues further as statemtents were not released by their employers (TVI/Maisfutebol) condeming the actions.  Were they scared?  Probably, from lossing advertising revenue, subscribership, hits on their web sites and/or from being sued. So, cash again.

It’s not only these two occurences, it’s everything – the fires set at the Estadio da Luz, the lights going out a the Estadio AXA between Sporting Braga-Benfica and last season at the Estadio da Luz when Porto clinched the title.  Let’s not forget Jacinto Paixao’s confession which surfaced just before the Europa League final between Porto and Braga – which fell by the wayside, as bitterly expected.

How about we stop trying to ignore the elephant sitting in the middle of the room, known as Apito Dourado.  As long as everything involving this disparagement is not properly dealt with, then the black cloud that has been created from this ignominy will  hang above the league forever.  Also, if anyone has any inside information to other teams being corrupt in the past, well then, please do everyone a service and bring forward your, beyond a shadow of a doubt, evidence – surely, you must be privy to highly classified information.

As for Paixao’s confession, was anything done about it, of course it wasn’t, why would it be?  How about the Arbitral Tribunal for Sport that was proposed by former State Secreatry for Sport, Laurentino Dias?  Well, that never saw the light of day because Dias was ousted from his post when the last federal elections in Portugal took place.  Did anyone else decide to run with the idea – nope.

In all honesty, all of this becomes very tiring and it becomes increasingly difficult to take anything that happens in this league seriosuly, and therein lies the danger.  What if there are no more fans attending matches, buying up magazines and newspapers or showing any interest in the game?  An economical collapse, that’s what.

The league will suffer financially and so will everyone who is affiliated with the industry of football.  Can the country really afford taking this kind of risk in this day and age?  Am I being melodramatic, maybe, but the Portuguese league is not  the most commercially viable on the continent and the country’s economic crisis is a clear indicator that managing money is not one of its strong points, therefore the league, and crticis, are not in a position to argue, now are they?

I am under no delusion that the Portuguese league  will make any kind of money that Spain, Germany or England does, but it could stand to make more if people believe that the league is legitmate – won’t it?  ‘But it is legitmate – look a tlast year’s Europa League semi-finals,’ you say.  Well, as far as I know, I didn’t see any bank vaults full of money via foreign investment for rights to broadcast the Liga ZON Sagres because of last year’s Europa League, did you?   If outside money cannot be brought in then try and generate more from within.

How can this done with the financial restirctions that Portugal are under?  Simple, it starts with the mentality.  If people demand change – fans, media, executives etc – then it will happen.  Change can occur only with the firm belief that it can come to fruition.

Let me ask you, the reader, how good would it be if the Portuguese league if full of excitement like the English Premier League had this past weekend with upset after upset, throwing twists into the championship race every round?

Yes, you’ll have your pernnial contenders for the title, but every team will have something to play for every weekend and that drives interest and, in turn, more money.  It’ll be a stark contrast to the empty stadiums that most teams in the Liga play in now.  So, why not admit mistakes were made and pledge a future that will be full of transparency and dedication to make the product much more attractive, authentic and equitable? 

It is a new year, a time where many make resolutions to improve aspects of their life and Portuguese footabll must do the same.  In order for resolutions to be successful, a new attitude must be adopted and only then will change come about.  Do it now before all is lost and the spirit is broken.  It will be too late to try and salvage the game at that point because there will be no more trust, if there is any now.

It as Leo Tolstoy once said, “everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself,” and I will add that if people do not decide to make changes sooner, rather than later, they will be forced to change - suit yourselves.

With just over half the season complete, Andre Villas-Boas has conceded that Chelsea’s chances of winning the Premier League championship is over. So what went wrong with the man the media labelled as the next Jose Mourinho?  Perhaps, Villas-Boas is not really all that good to begin with.

How dare I say such a thing from the man who won four trophies with FC Porto last season?   Big deal, how is that little trophy haul helping out in his new job at the big time?  Well, not very well because what works in the sticks is not much of a consequence to his current competition.

Not only has Villas-Boas lost to Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool (twice), but the Portuguese coach couldn’t even beat the likes of Queens Park Rangers, Wigan or Fulham – a far cry from the terrorizing play that allowed him to collect so much silverware last season and an eventual move to London – once again, big deal.

If not mistaken, half of the people thought that Villas-Boas’ move to Chelsea was warranted and the timing perfect to make such a career change, while the other half felt that he was going to fall on face in front of the whole world and demonstrate that he’s a medicore coach, at best, and winning all those trophies was about as difficult as writing an Algebra final with Diophantus and Abu Kamil both sitting on either side.

Why on earth would anyone think that an individual who has only been coaching for two years would be ready to head a team like Chelsea?  Besides the one year at FC Porto, if we look at Villas-Boas’ record at Academica, we’ll see that he wasn’t all that spectacular and didn’t show anything that would even merit a move to Porto.

When Villas-Boas took the reigns at the Estudantes in October of 2009, he finished the season posting 11 victories, 9 draws and 10 defeats, and was a +3 goal difference (in all competitions).  That translates into a 37% winning percentage – how is that trophy-winning material?

What was that?  He brought Academica to the semi-finals of the Carlsberg Cup? Another less than stellar accomplishment. In the first group phase, Academica were involved in scoreless draws with Beira-Mar and Portimonense (both teams from the Liga da Honra that year) as each team finished with 2 points and no goals scored or suffered.   The only reason Academica advanced to the second group stage was because the squad posted the youngest average age amongst the three teams in question (that’s right, look it up).

The second group phase Academica were lumped in with FC Porto, Leixoes (relegated that year) and Estoril Praia (Liga da Honra) and qualified to the semi’s as the best second-placed team overall with 7 points, where they lost to Porto.  As previously mentioned, pretty pedestrian as there were no signs that Villas-Boas was the second coming.

So what happened at FC Porto that allowed Villas-Boas to cry out his infamous line “grito de revolta” and convince many that Portugal was beneath him and bigger challenges were waiting for him as it was his time to dominate Europe like he did the Iberain nation?

Was everyone just that bad last year, making it that much easier for Villas-Boas and Porto to swallow up trophies like a black hole?  Why hasn’t AVB  been able to translate that voodoo that we knew he did do at Porto to the big league?  Where’s the cockiness and clever sound bytes that he oozed when he was with Porto?

All I see is a meek man who has come to the realisation that his shit does stink, probably feels that he, possibly, has made a mistake and is not as good as once believed.  It also doesn’t help his confidence none when his Florent Malouda also tells the media that ‘third place is the best that Chelsea can hope for’ after they drew 1-1 against Fulham at Stanford Bridge.

I believe Villas-Boas’ success is best summed up as Pinto da Costa recently claimed “Jose Mourinho, Andre Villas-Boas, Jesualdo Ferreira and Fernando Santos were never champions until they arrived at FC Porto,” that certainly is telling, isn’t it?

With the exception of Mourinho, none of the other names can brag that they’ve won as many honours, and probably never will.  Yes, Co Adriaanse’s winning season with Red Bull Salzburg in 2009 and Fernando Santos’ Greek Cup triumph with AEK Athens almost 10 years ago are by-products of the winning culture that Porto claims to profess they produce, my mistake.

What about Porto’s Europa League win last season when they slaughtered their competition along the way before lifting the trophy in Dublin – who cares!  The Europa League has importance when that team can’t win or qualify for the Champions League.  Do you think that both Manchester teams are happy they got relegated (and I stress the word relegated) to the Europa League?

On average players don’t move from one club to another unless they’ve been able to prove their pedigree for, at least, two consecutive seasons, to ensure that the one campaign was just a fluke.  But desperation and lack of common sense took over at Chelsea (as it’s custom) and arrogance got the best of Villas-Boas. 

If coaches like Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti couldn’t keep their jobs at Chelsea, especially with the resumes that these two men can boast of, what chance does Villas-Boas have?

No one will be surprised if Villas-Boas gets the axe before season’s end and if he does, he can always return to his “cadeira dos sonhos” and pretend he’s somebody for as long as he wants – but will anyone listen to his gritos then?