By Kidjr Go To PostGood sir LF, what's the deal with Porto this season? Are they good? Who should we watch out for?Porto's season feels like the final days of a great empire with everything crumbling down.
Things aren't good on the pitch but they are even worse off the pitch so let's start there.
OFF THE PITCH
Porto have been having a few financial troubles due to players leaving on a free, absurd agent and transfer fees that benefit the President's son and other people connected to the club, paying their board members more than double of what Benfica and Sporting pay together, suspicious ticket revenue numbers (more on that later).
Taremi was close to AC Milan in the summer in a deal worth 15M€ that supposedly fell through due to ridiculous agent fees that AC Milan would have to play and now he is leaving in the summer for free. Francisco Conceição, the son's manager, was sold to Ajax in the summer of 2022 for 5M€ but barely paid for Ajax's main team and Porto loaned him back with a 10M€ buy fee that's automatically going to be triggered after a certain number of games that he is close to reaching.
This poor management has caused the squad to become weaker and Porto fans started to turn on Pinto da Costa who has been the elected President of the club for the past 42 years. André Vilas Boas, the former Chelsea and Spurs manager, has become the first candidate in decades that could take over Pinto da Costa but going against Pinto da Costa is extremely dangerous.
Porto's ultras have been threatening AVB and his family for months, sending pictures of his kids with threats, drawing graffitis outside of his house and even beating up the security guard that was outside the building.
The threats have extended to anyone publicly supporting AVB, the most serious case came in November when multiple people were beaten up by Porto's Ultras for speaking against Pinto da Costa in a general assembly of the club .
This led to a big investigation that arrested the leader of Porto's Ultras, his wive, 10 members of the Ultras and two Porto employees. In the leader's house the police found 50.000€, drugs and hundreds of tickets for upcoming Porto matches, they make a lot of money selling tickets for Porto matches which explains why Porto only made 12M€ in ticket revenue last season when they have a bigger stadium and sell it out more than Sporting, but we made 20M€ last season.
The case is still being investigated but there have been reports that they found out that the ultras and employees of Porto had talked about beating up Pinto da Costa's critics before the general assembly, that the club never called the police when the beatings started and that the security cameras had been moved to point away from the confusion.
So, a complete mess and things on the pitch aren't looking good also.
ON THE PITCH
Porto haven't been playing well. They are 7 points away from first place that would become 10 points if we win our game in hand. 7 points is a lot in the Portuguese League, Sporting only lost 8 points in the first half and that was all from the most difficult away matches.
They've lost points against some easy opponents and things could be way worse if it wasn't for some late minute goals and having one of the best goalkeepers in Europe.
They qualified second behind Barcelona in a group that also had Antwerp and Shaktar Donestk but they were actually the only team in the group that lost both matches to Barcelona.
GK - Diogo Costa is probably already one of the Top 5 European GKs right now. He has been Porto's savior in most games.
LB - With Zaidu's season ending injury, Wendell is the only LB available and he is very average, nothing special.
CB - Pepe is still Porto's best CB but that's more of a testament of how bad Porto are on the part of the field than Pepe's current quality. The 40-year-old has started to feel his age and is having his worst season in a while. He has been making a few mistakes and is starting to struggle against mode pacier adversaries. His partner will be either Fabio Cardoso who is the perfect definition of a below average CB or Otavio, Porto's January transfer deadline panic buy for 12M€ who has shown some quality in Famalicão but was absolutely terrible in his debut in the weekend.
RB - João Mário is one of Porto's best and youngest players. A very offensive LB that is also good at defending, decent pace.
CM - Alan Varela has been their best midfielder this season but a downgrade from Uribe. Definitely the midfielder who will try to block Arsenal's midfield. Nico Gonzalez had a rough start in the club but has become a more consistent starter in the past weeks, he is the more creative of the two midfielders.
LM - Galeno greatest strength is his pace, he is very quick but doesn't have the best decision making. Don't give him space to run and he is pretty much nullified.
RM - Francisco Conceição is a very good dribbler and technically. Will dive a lot, complain even more and try to pick fights.
AM - Pepê is Conceição's multi-purpose tool. Mainly a winger before he came to Porto, he has played in both wings, was used as RB when João Mário was injured but lately has been playing behind the striker since Taremi went to the Asian Cup.
ST - Evanilson is Porto's best striker with 19 goals in all competitions. A goal threat that was linked with bigger clubs in the past but his various injuries have kept him from jumping to a better league.
Arsenal should have an easy match.
Podcast of a post there Mr Martin's. 🤙🏼
Speaking of, the athletic did 40 minutes on Ashworth yesterday that was pretty informative.
Speaking of, the athletic did 40 minutes on Ashworth yesterday that was pretty informative.
By LFMartins86 Go To PostPorto's season feels like the final days of a great empire with everything crumbling down.
Things aren't good on the pitch but they are even worse off the pitch so let's start there.
OFF THE PITCH
Porto have been having a few financial troubles due to players leaving on a free, absurd agent and transfer fees that benefit the President's son and other people connected to the club, paying their board members more than double of what Benfica and Sporting pay together, suspicious ticket revenue numbers (more on that later).
Taremi was close to AC Milan in the summer in a deal worth 15M€ that supposedly fell through due to ridiculous agent fees that AC Milan would have to play and now he is leaving in the summer for free. Francisco Conceição, the son's manager, was sold to Ajax in the summer of 2022 for 5M€ but barely paid for Ajax's main team and Porto loaned him back with a 10M€ buy fee that's automatically going to be triggered after a certain number of games that he is close to reaching.
This poor management has caused the squad to become weaker and Porto fans started to turn on Pinto da Costa who has been the elected President of the club for the past 42 years. André Vilas Boas, the former Chelsea and Spurs manager, has become the first candidate in decades that could take over Pinto da Costa but going against Pinto da Costa is extremely dangerous.
Porto's ultras have been threatening AVB and his family for months, sending pictures of his kids with threats, drawing graffitis outside of his house and even beating up the security guard that was outside the building.
The threats have extended to anyone publicly supporting AVB, the most serious case came in November when multiple people were beaten up by Porto's Ultras for speaking against Pinto da Costa in a general assembly of the club .
This led to a big investigation that arrested the leader of Porto's Ultras, his wive, 10 members of the Ultras and two Porto employees. In the leader's house the police found 50.000€, drugs and hundreds of tickets for upcoming Porto matches, they make a lot of money selling tickets for Porto matches which explains why Porto only made 12M€ in ticket revenue last season when they have a bigger stadium and sell it out more than Sporting, but we made 20M€ last season.
The case is still being investigated but there have been reports that they found out that the ultras and employees of Porto had talked about beating up Pinto da Costa's critics before the general assembly, that the club never called the police when the beatings started and that the security cameras had been moved to point away from the confusion.
So, a complete mess and things on the pitch aren't looking good also.
ON THE PITCH
Porto haven't been playing well. They are 7 points away from first place that would become 10 points if we win our game in hand. 7 points is a lot in the Portuguese League, Sporting only lost 8 points in the first half and that was all from the most difficult away matches.
They've lost points against some easy opponents and things could be way worse if it wasn't for some late minute goals and having one of the best goalkeepers in Europe.
They qualified second behind Barcelona in a group that also had Antwerp and Shaktar Donestk but they were actually the only team in the group that lost both matches to Barcelona.
GK - Diogo Costa is probably already one of the Top 5 European GKs right now. He has been Porto's savior in most games.
LB - With Zaidu's season ending injury, Wendell is the only LB available and he is very average, nothing special.
CB - Pepe is still Porto's best CB but that's more of a testament of how bad Porto are on the part of the field than Pepe's current quality. The 40-year-old has started to feel his age and is having his worst season in a while. He has been making a few mistakes and is starting to struggle against mode pacier adversaries. His partner will be either Fabio Cardoso who is the perfect definition of a below average CB or Otavio, Porto's January transfer deadline panic buy for 12M€ who has shown some quality in Famalicão but was absolutely terrible in his debut in the weekend.
RB - João Mário is one of Porto's best and youngest players. A very offensive LB that is also good at defending, decent pace.
CM - Alan Varela has been their best midfielder this season but a downgrade from Uribe. Definitely the midfielder who will try to block Arsenal's midfield. Nico Gonzalez had a rough start in the club but has become a more consistent starter in the past weeks, he is the more creative of the two midfielders.
LM - Galeno greatest strength is his pace, he is very quick but doesn't have the best decision making. Don't give him space to run and he is pretty much nullified.
RM - Francisco Conceição is a very good dribbler and technically. Will dive a lot, complain even more and try to pick fights.
AM - Pepê is Conceição's multi-purpose tool. Mainly a winger before he came to Porto, he has played in both wings, was used as RB when João Mário was injured but lately has been playing behind the striker since Taremi went to the Asian Cup.
ST - Evanilson is Porto's best striker with 19 goals in all competitions. A goal threat that was linked with bigger clubs in the past but his various injuries have kept him from jumping to a better league.
Arsenal should have an easy match.
God damn my man. You should ask money for this type of quality content. Mes que un write up.
Jota definitely ruled out for 'months', who knows if we'll see him this season. Guess we have to start rotating Elliot in that position 🙄
Sounds like Porto is having their first Sporting-like season in many years, down to the violent ultras, although in Sporting’s case the ultras actually invaded the club’s premises and assaulted the players in the locker room IIRC. Another apparent difference is that even in a bad season Porto still made it to the Champions League ro16. Their finances sound tough, I am sure if the banks could forgive them like 100M in debt it would go a long way.
By Patriotism Go To PostSounds like Porto is having their first Sporting-like season in many years, down to the violent ultras, although in Sporting’s case the ultras actually invaded the club’s premises and assaulted the players in the locker room IIRC. Another apparent difference is that even in a bad season Porto still made it to the Champions League ro16. Their finances sound tough, I am sure if the banks could forgive them like 100M in debt it would go a long way.
Yeah I remember those sporting shenanigans. Bas dost was actually one of the victims. Think he even refused to play a cup game or something. Pretty horrific shit
By Lego Go To PostI heard it was Bruno Fernandes' fault somehow
Alright, chill out Bold.
Must be hard when your dream club actively despises you and wants you gone. No doubt some of the stuff in the media is coming directly from Laporta.
Eternally greatful LF, that was incredible. I'm going to share that in a few what's app groups but want to credit you. What's your twitter handle.
By Kidjr Go To PostEternally greatful LF, that was incredible. I'm going to share that in a few what's app groups but want to credit you. What's your twitter handle.https://twitter.com/LuiFMartins
By Kidjr Go To PostEternally greatful LF, that was incredible. I'm going to share that in a few what's app groups but want to credit you. What's your twitter handle.https://twitter.com/1913parmacalcio
By Meier Go To PostFucking hell, he took off Bobb who has been our brightest player. What are you doing, Pep?Giving Liverpool and Arsenal an even better chance at the league title.
