Looking Ahead - January Preview

The new year is just around the corner. "Ano Novo, Vida Nova" is a Portuguese expression that means - New year, New Life. For Benfica it's no exception, having "cut" 9 players from the squad, Benfica is looking to get a fresh start with the new year. There's a lot of anticipation around the January transfer window and what players will be coming in, Benfica needs at least 3 players to strengthen the squad, in order to be competitive in the 3 competitions they are still in - Bwin, Portuguese Cup and Uefa Cup. With that being said, i wanted to look ahead at the month of January, a month that will prove to be a momentum builder for the rest of the season.

Benfica starts off the new year playing the very last game of the first half of the season. Having cut the Porto lead to 7 points, Benfica needs to start off the year strong, as they need to continue their pursuit of first place. January is a very important month, not only because Benfica fans will get a chance to see how the new additions will fit in and how much stronger they will make the team, but also because Benfica has a chance of gaining more points on Porto.

Here's Benfica's Schedule for January:

1/5 - Away at Vitoria de Setubal
1/13 - Home against Leixoes
1/20 - Home against Feirense (Portuguese Cup)
1/27 - Away at Guimaraes

The first and last games of the month are the more difficult ones. Setubal has only lost one game for the Bwin and are currently 5th. Setubal eliminated Benfica from the League Cup and they are having a very good year. If Benfica can get past Setubal, they will definitely send out a message - the championship is far from over.
The second game of the month brings Leixoes to Lisbon, Leixoes tied Benfica in the first half of the season, a game that dictated Fernando Santos' sacking. Benfica is a very different team from the team who played Leixoes in the beginning of the season, will prove that at home.
A week later Benfica will play Feirense, a second flight Portuguese team, for the Portuguese Cup in a game that will most likely see some of the less used players getting a start. The last game of the month will be another tough game, Guimaraes. Guimaraes is currently 4th place and is having a hell of a year after just being promoted from the Vitalis League. If Benfica can win these games they will be in a very good position to gain on Porto.

Porto has a couple of complicated games in January, hosting Braga and coming to Lisbon to face Sporting. Definitely an opportunity there for Benfica to win some points.

Looking right below, Sporting has an even more complicated schedule in January, playing 2 more games than Benfica and Porto. Those 2 games are part of the Carlsberg Cup, a competition that Porto and Benfica crashed out of.

So, as you can see, January is a very important month for Benfica. Coming out of January on a high, will also give the team momentum, as February will bring back European competitions, with Uefa Cup.

Obviously the biggest thing in January will be the new players. Luis Felipe Vieira has told the media that Benfica are only interested in players that have the ability to break into the starting 11. Benfica will not buy players just to buy them.

In my opinion, Benfica needs the following positions to be strengthened - Forward, Right Mid/Winger and a Left Back, maybe an attacking midfielder with "9-slot" characteristics. Here are some of the players that have come to light as Benfica targets:

Soldado - The very seldom used Real Madrid striker, was one of Benfica's targets before the season started, but his acquisition/loan never really materialized. With a new window of opportunity, and the player's mind set on getting playing time at any cost, Benfica might be able to get Soldado, if Real gives their okay, as the player might be too expensive to buy.

Dica - The Romanian attacking midfielder has been talked about for a while now, the best player of the Romanian league would love an opportunity to play at a better league, but as of right now, there are no developments in the negotiations.

Fred - The unsettled Brazilian forward has been made aware by Lyon's coach that he is not part of the teams second half of the season plans, and is currently looking for a club where he can play. He has expressed that Benfica would be an interesting option but so far there hasn't been anything concrete.

As far as the left back position goes, there hasn't been any word from the Benfica camp or the media as far as a target. There were news about Hertha's Gilberto, but they seemed to have died down since Hertha gave the player what he wanted. Jorge Ribeiro's name has been in much of the media's speculation, but there hasn't been any indication from Benfica that would confirm these rumors. I've been following Guilherme, a Brazilian left back who was playing for Vasco(see the post below this one).

On other fronts, Gremio has until Wednesday to come up with an offer for Diego Souza.
Benfica is asking for 4mm for Souza's pass and Gremio has only been able to come up with 3.5mm . There's a possibility that Benfica might agree to the deal if some of Gremio's young talent is included in the deal. For the first time this week, i read Diego claiming that he would consider returning to Benfica, in my opinion we should have another look at this player. He had a great year, which earned him an Olympic team call up, I think he would be very useful playing the box-2-box role.

January is also CAN 08 month - the African Nation's Cup will take place between the middle of January and February. Benfica will most likely lose Binya to the competition. Camacho has brought up Fellipe Bastos from the Juniors to have a good look at him. If you recall, Benfica bought Fellipe Basto's a month ago, and being that he is only 17 years old he was going to play for the juniors, but because of Petit's injury and Binya's one game suspension, Bastos has been working out with the Senior squad.

Exciting month coming up, no doubt.