Preseason Season Four
Preseason was key for newly promoted Oriental
Who Were We Playing?
Our preseason is long, 7 weeks in total, which should give us ample amount of time to try and get this team working together and as a unit, while also getting our tactics ready for the up and coming season - getting the players all ready for the new season.
Preseason Results
All in all I'm very pleased with our preparation for this season. Not only did we defend well, only conceding three goals for the duration of the fixture list, but we also showed prowess in front of goal.
We begun the preseason at
Alverca. A two-nil win would have to suffice seeing as though it was the first game of the new preseason, players were tired and signings were making their first impressions. But we got the win and that is sure to give the players a morale boost early on in the season.
Following that we played
SLB B and came away with an even better result, this time 3-0 our way. The team is already combining well and we're showing some great, counter attacking football just like I've wanted.
Casa Pia were a side that we played against back in the good old National Championship days, and three seasons later we couldn't have been in a more different place! They put us behind early, but we managed to come back to win it, a fighting display even for a friendly. Again we took lots of positives out of this match.
We'd already played one Lisbon side's B Team this preseason, and now it was time for
Sporting B to be entertained. It was a much closer affair than first thought but the scoreline shows that we managed to just about overcome them.
We got a bit of a change of opposition in the shape of Spanish outfit
Sevilla Atlético. We got another comfortable victory under our belts, with three first team players in China, Franchi and Liparoti all putting their names on the scoreboard.
Along with Casa Pia,
Naval were another team we'd hosted before - but in our promotion bid in season 2013-14. We drew with them last time, and we could only get a draw this time, too. They frustrated us and it was a fairly poor result.
The seventh, and final friendly fixture was again versus a small, lower league Portuguese team in
Estrela Amadora. After slipping up and going behind the boys showed they could score if need be and we ended getting our 6th win out of 7 for preseason!
Player of Preseason
One of our new signings, China, looked at ease on the ball and chipped in with a few goals, too. Could prove to be one of the signings of our season. He has great attributes and fills the role of Enganche very well.
Preseason was highly successful not only with results on the pitch but the benefits off of it. Everyone knows how we want to play, and they all know eachother's tendencies. It's a team, now. Morale is high and that will go along way over the course of what could prove to be a very tough season.
The Month Ahead
The first month of our maiden campaign is actually an alright one. I see some winnable fixtures in here and a chance to prove we are no pushover! Luckily, we haven't been drawn to play any of the big three until later in the season. That's when things will get tricky. Still, we won't change to a defensive style of play - we'll look to play our game and win, no matter who the opposition are.
Next Up...
Chairman News & The Season Begins!