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Preseason 2015
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Estádio Abel Alves Figueiredo
After negotiating a wage of £240 with the chairman, I set about making an imprint on the team and creating a squad who I thought could achieve the chairman's aim of reaching the Promotion Stage of the Campeonato Nacional.
Due to the lack of funds both on the wage and transfer budget I did not delve as much into the squad as I would of liked. Firstly, I assessed the squad report given to me from my assistant manager and whom he deemed first team quality, a decent prospect or someone beneath the required standard of the team.
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It was clear that the centre of midfield was in need of some serious investment, which may not be entirely possible. Right now we only have one natural central midfielder, with Helder Pedro naturally more attacking and therefore that position became my first priority in the transfer market. Other areas of improvement included left back, right back and striker - where we were all thin.
Our main source of cheap transfers came from our neighbouring club Desportivo das Aves who compete in the division above us. They were willing to send players on loan to us without us needing to pay wages or monthly fees. I decided to exploit this affiliation and beef up our offensive options with Alexandre Guedes, a quick and composed forward who works hard for the team.
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Despite the winger position in our squad being arguably our strongest and most covered area, Zé Mario was just too good to turn down. He possesses crossing and dribbling abilities similar to players in divisions well above us. For a season, I felt he and Jorginho would form two potent weapons down the flanks.
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The major problem with both my transactions was that they both failed to solve our main issue of central midfield. Our finances were already in disarray and the signing of André Costa only sent us further past the budget on wages. Despite this, Costa was once again too good to turn down, and was a hole that I desperately needed to fill as I am not confident in any of the players currently filling out for the Under 19s.
Tactically wise, I decided the 4-3-3 was the best way to approach the season. With Tito we have a strong anchor man and as mentioned previously Jorginho and Zé Mario are both more than capable for this level. The defence seems strong enough but the left back position is still worryingly low and one injury will be enough to make the right back position as precarious.
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For preseason I assigned my assistant manager to matchdays as I dealt with transfers, tactics and a host of other issues facing me. Our results were positive, especially towards the end of the preparation period and as players approached their peak fitness levels. There are still a few issues to iron out, such as the lack of goals in some friendlies despite being afforded chances, what our best starting eleven is and how to get the best out of them and finally the finances - which look grim at best. I guess this is the life of a football manager.
