Can Porto retain their titles in the 2011/2012 season? – Portuguese Primeira Liga Special
Porto recently lost their manager, Andre Villas-Boas, to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 and the London giants are reportedly eyeing some of the Dragon stars. Bettor.com analyzes the chances of Portuguese Primeira Liga trophy ending up at the Estadio do Dragao yet again in the
upcoming season.
The 2010/2011 season will forever be etched in the memory of the Portista fans. The sight of their beloved team lifting an unprecedented quadruple is rare in football and doing it twice is unheard of in the sport.
Most of the credit for their success goes to their visionary tactician Andre Villas-Boas; the former Academica boss was instrumental in his side’s trophy haul of the Portuguese Primeira Liga, UEFA Europa League, Portuguese Super Cup and Portuguese Cup.
Before the arrival of Villas-Boas, Hulk had not scored more than 10 goals in a season and Falcao had not fulfilled his undoubted potential. But the ‘New Special One’ got the best out of Porto’s main attacking duo, his attention to training and revolutionary
methods lead to the duo scoring a combined http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Total-c40747 of 75 goals last season.
But a lot has changed since http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Radamel-Falcao-c30276 to exit with him and
lead the charge for the Blues revival.
Manchester City, backed by the petro-dollars of their billionaire owners, are looking to entice http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hulk-c16436 to the City of Manchester Stadium despite a €100 million price tag on his services.
The tough-tackling http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603, and his departure is becoming more eminent by the week.
With such outflow of quality players, the newly promoted http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vitor-c36281 Pereira is facing a crisis even before the culmination of the season. His task, which was replicating the dizzying heights set by Villas-Boas, was a mammoth one on its own but without the likes
of Hulk and Falcao to aid him it’s now looking close to an impossible one.
The 42-year-old has never encountered a challenge with this level of difficulty, his previous managerial stints usually involved saving teams from relegation but this is a different ball game altogether .
Winning trophies on a consistent basis is not everyone’s cup of tea and the only few who have achieved this honour include greats like Sir http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and so on.
But all hope is not lost; in 2004, after guiding Porto to a UEFA Champions League title and the treble, Jose Mourinho left for Chelsea. His sudden switch left every supporter hopeless for their club and they did not expect to win another title so quickly.
But the arrival of Villas-Boas heralded the outpour of trophies and another treble. The two managers not only share uncanny winning records but their departures are almost identical.
After Mourinho’s move to Stamford Bridge, it took nearly 6 years for the Dragao hierarchy to find a suitable replacement for him, but the search paid off in the end and the dividends are there for everyone to see.
Chances of landing another ‘Special One’ at the helm so quickly remain slim at best and while Pereira has experience on his side, it would take a super-human effort to win back Porto’s crown, making the future of the Portuguese side as ominous as ever.
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