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SC Braga: A Hero's Return

Started on 14 April 2014 by Jack
Latest Reply on 17 September 2014 by Jack
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years

August Update


With it being the start of the season, I thought I'd present the new players to you first, so you don't start asking who they are or anything:


Now you've seen them, lets have a look at our results in a very tough month of August!

Sporting CP 2 - 2 Braga




Joao Mário (4, 21)
Michy Batshuayi (pen 28)
Jorge Amorim (74)

Braga 1 - 0 FC Porto




Romaric N'Gouma (87)

Estoril 3 - 3 Braga




Emídio Rafael (pen 13)
Ricardo Baptista (o.g. 22)
Michy Batshuayi (24)
Marquinhos (31)
Sequeira (37)
Bruma (69)





After a restful month we get straight to the action in September, Champions League group games against Monaco AND Real Madrid! The game never stops! On top of this, we play SL Benfica in the league which will be an extremely tough match

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Josh_MU's avatar Group Josh_MU
11 years
Very detailed update! Some amazing signings there! Pirlo<3.
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years
Josh: Thanks ;) Really needed to cut down wages and I've cut them huge. I share your love in Pirlo :D
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years

Ferreira: Cost-Cutting Destroyed Braga




Former Braga boss Jesualdo Ferreira has criticised Braga's recent firesale led by manager Armando Azevedo.

Braga let €66million worth of players in the summer and it has seemed to hit Braga right back in the face as they slumped down to ninth place in the opening five games of the new season. The criticism may be part of some mind-games that are being played ahead of Braga's tie against Ferreira's Benfica in a few days. It is Ferreira's first return to Braga since being sacked in July 2013, only to be replaced by Armando Azevedo who has gone on to win six trophies in his first two years. The titles include the LIGA ZON SAGRES twice, the Taca de Portugal twice and the Supertaca twice.

"I left Azevedo with a good squad at Braga in 2013 and he has thrived with it but now none of those players are there anymore because of a silly revamp with the squad. Azevedo is entitled to make his own decisions there and he will make some mistakes, and this is a big one.

"He signed brilliant players last season such as Alex, Natkho, Costil and Ménez but they have left because he wanted to ease up on the budgets, he's organised his budget now and he's brought in loads of kids. I looked it up and the average age of the squad is 21! It's great he's giving youth a chance but to make those youngsters good, they need to work with good players! They are all young and all average players! It makes no sense and if he doesn't sort it out in January he may suffer the consequences like I did." Said the 69 year old Benfica boss.
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Walter's avatar Group Walter
11 years
Shuddup Jesualdo :P
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years
2014-06-29 21:40#182104 Walter : Shuddup Jesualdo :P
Still bitter that I took his job :))
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years

Pardini: Azevedo is a Great Motivator




Wonderkid Federico Pardini has come out in the Portuguese press today to praise his manager, Armando Azevedo on his incomparable mental and managerial skills just a day after former Braga boss and now Benfica coach Jesualdo Ferreira had criticised Azevedo's managerial skills and use of knowledge, complaining that he had ruined his (Ferriera's) team.

The statement was most definitely controversial and caused a stir in the newspapers the next day, and although there has been no response to the comments by Ferreira from Azevedo, his players certainly seem to be fighting his corner.

left-winger stroke striker Federico Pardini spoke to the local press about how he and the Braga squad feels about their boss.

"I don't know any managers who are capable of motivating a squad like Azevedo has done here, he gets into your heads before every game and it's mesmerising the way he does it. He's done it for the past two seasons since he's been here and I'm sure many can tell as well.

"The comments made by Ferreira is one of the most unprofessional and undeserved criticism of a manager I have ever known. He may think it's just mind games but let's be honest here, what has Ferreira achieved in football? He's had a three year spell at Braga before, what were his incredible achievements here? That's right, 5th placed and 4th placed twice. After this he lasted a month at Boavista. A month.

"He may have won a couple of league titles but we're talking about the biggest budget in the league there at Porto. So, after all the truly inspirational things he's done in football he manages to find the nerve to have a dig at a manager, who in his first two years in any form of staff at professional level has won the same amount of titles in his whole 24-year experience of managing. I find it very shallow for him to come out in the press to shower him with criticism that was seriously undeserved. It's more fuel for us to go out and beat them now."
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years

September Update
Possibly the worst month I have ever had as manager of this football team. For the first time in two years, we went a month, yes, a month without winning a single game. You may argue that we were against great teams but we must beat the best to be the best to use a cliché, it's totally unacceptable.

Braga 2 - 2 Académica

Liga Zon Sagres
Estádio AXA
Attendance: 18,870


AS Monaco FC 3 - 1 Braga

UEFA Champions League Group E
Stade Louis II
Attendance: 10,754


Viktor Havel (26)
Lukasz Piszczek (39)
Falcao (65)
Oliver Baumann (own goal 82)

Nacional de Madeira 1 - 1 Braga

Liga Zon Sagres
Estádio da Madeira
Attendance: 5,033


Joao Aurélio (4)
Michy Batshuayi (49)

Braga 1 - 1 SL Benfica

Liga Zon Sagres
Estádio AXA
Attendance: 16,085


Michy Batshuayi (69)
Eduardo Salvio (88)

Braga 2 - 2 Real Madrid

UEFA Champions League
Estádio AXA
Attendance: 29,697


Michy Batshuayi (3)
Xabi Alonso (pen 9)
Viktor Havel (40)
Gareth Bale (66)





The Month Ahead

October

A much easier month but judging on September's performances I am still slightly worried here. The Roma game will be the most difficult as we want that qualification from the Group Stages otherwise we will lose a ton of potential money.



Player of the Month

Nobody

No player deserved the Player of the Month award for September.
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Walter's avatar Group Walter
11 years
Only truly poor performances in that game were the draws to Academica and Nacional - other than that I don't see it being a bad month at all. Only one loss..
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years

CL Qualification Great for Youngsters




Braga boss Armando Azevedo has told the local press that qualifying from Braga's group would be a 'special' achievement for his young squad.

Braga have the youngest average age in their league with an average of 21.48 years old with their oldest player being Andrea Pirlo at 36 years old but after him, the age plummets down 8 years to 28 year old Luca Antonelli, then 25 year old's Ryad Boudebouz and Oliver Baumann. Braga's youngest player is Facundo González at 16 years old, turning 17 on the 15th of November.

Azevedo has admitted that his youngster revamp of Braga 'was always a risk' but has promised fans that the new philosophy will work out whether it be this year or whenever.

He said this about the Champions League: "In my opinion, our group is the most difficult at this stage of the tournament. We have Real Madrid who have dominated world football for well over 50 years, Monaco who have fallen in the money and have previous continental experience in the Champions League and AS Roma who have, in recent years staked a claim for the Serie A title. Then we have us, Braga. We've won 2 consecutive Portuguese league titles so everyone knows the threat we bring.

"With the young squad I have at my disposal here, it would be an incredible moment for our players to get through such a difficult group with such a young side. It will definitely aid their development and confidence which is just what they need at their age"

Braga sit in 3rd place in Group E, 3 points behind leaders Real Madrid, 2 points behind Monaco and 4 points in front of Roma after three games played.
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years
2014-07-02 00:02#182356 Walter : Only truly poor performances in that game were the draws to Academica and Nacional - other than that I don't see it being a bad month at all. Only one loss..
True, but looking at it based on results it is a very poor month in all competitions.
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years

October Update


In contrast to September, October was a very good month, we managed to get a 100% win record, achieving four wins out of four matches, two of which in the league. Another positive is that we have moved up five places up to fourth which puts us firmly back in title contention should Porto and Benfica slip up.

Vitória Guimarães 2 - 4 Braga


Liga Zon Sagres
Estádio D. Afonso Henriques
Attendance: 19,276

Michy Batshuayi (17, pen 87)
Tomané (37)
Marco Matias (52)
Federico Pardini (76)
Viktor Havel (89)

Monsanto 1 - 3 Braga


Taca de Portugal 3rd Round
Estádio Municipal Joaquim Batista
Attendance: 1,625

Sadio Mané (49)
Michy Batshuayi (52, 77)
Gilberto Santos (68)

AS Roma 0 - 1 Braga


UEFA Champions League Group Stage
Olimpico
Attendance: 47,969

Michy Batshuayi (39)

Braga 3 - 0 Olhanense


Liga Zon Sagres
Estádio AXA
Attendance: 15,501

Sadio Mané (48)
Leonardo Capezzi (72)
Michy Batshuayi (88)





The Month Ahead

November
In November we play six games, three in the league, two in the Champions League and one in the Taca de Portugal. We must be thankful as the teams we play in the league and cup are reasonably poor compared to what we could have potentially faced next month. The AS Monaco game in the Champions League has to be the most important game for us next month as we try reach that knockout-round stage of the Champions League.


Player of the Month

Michy Batshuayi


Of course. Who else could have possibly won Player of the Month apart from Michy, in every single game we played this month, he scored in it. We pulled off some good victories thanks to a good understanding throughout the team but without Batshuayi, I don't think we'd have gotten half of the goals we got this month.
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Coxy's avatar Group Coxy
11 years
That is a brilliant month mate. Good momentum for the upcoming month. You'll need it for Roma and Monaco! Batshuayi is a monster! :D
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Jack's avatar Group Jack
11 years

Azevedo Looks to Ligue 2 Striker and Serie A Midfielder



Sporting Clube de Braga boss Armando Azevedo has today confirmed interest in two players, fairly unknown to the football world.

Andy Delort

Tours FC - Ligue 2 - Striker - 24 Years Old

French striker Andy Delort has been playing for current club Tours FC since the 2013-14 season after joining from Ligue 1 side AC Ajaccio following a disappointing five-year spell at the club. Although, the step down from the pressure of top-flight football has aided Delort's development as a player.

Delort had a rough first season at Les Tourangeaux, after playing in 31 matches and returning only 11 goals which helped Tours to a poor tenth placed finish that season. In his second season at the club, Delort sparkled under Olivier Pantaloni, as he single-handedly staved Tours of a relegation with 16 goals in 28 games.

Tours' valuation of Delort seems to be around the €1 million mark, with the Ligue 2 strugglers under financial pressure and Delort being their only prize asset.

Would a move to Braga, the reigning Portuguese champions be too much of a step up?

Federico Viviani

Torino - Serie A - Central Midfielder - 23 Years Old

The Italian midfielder Federico Viviani struggled to break through the ranks at former club AS Roma, after an eight year stay at the capital club, Viviani only managed to make six first team appearances for Giallorossi, all in the 2011-12 season. At this time, players like Fernando Gago, Daniele De Rossi, Miralem Pjanic and Rodrigo Taddei were dominating the midfield for Roma, so to break into the first team category at that time would seem very impressive.

Although, the season after, Viviani spent all season in the development side before being loaned out to Serie B's Padova where he made 22 appearances. Padova finished 11th that season before becoming champions the following season.

After his loan experience at Padova, Viviani starred for Serie B side Latina on loan. He made 41 appearances for Pontini, contributing three goals and eleven assists, picking up five Man of the Matches, with an average rating of 7.32. This loan seemed like the making of Viviani's career as he earned himself a move to Serie A's Torino for a reported fee of €625,000 at the start of the 2014-15 season. He has gone on to make 17 appearances for Torino, with only one assist to show.
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Neal's avatar Group Neal
11 years
Don't know much about Delort, but it would be a big step up from Ligue 2 to Portugal's top division. I've heard great things about Viviani, though, could be worth signing! :D
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