Camacho Resigns

Following today's home tie against last place Leiria, Camacho announced that he was resigning. The announcement came in the press conference that followed the game. With Luis Felipe Vieira by his side, Camacho mentioned the fact that he can no longer do anything else for the team, that he doesn't know how else to motivate the players, and for that reason he was resigning.

I have to say that i found some of Camacho's body language a bit peculiar during this Sunday's game, his posture and facial expressions gave away a certain conformism, a certain acceptance of Benfica's current situation, and the fact that the squad isn't capable of much more. Long gone are the days in which we saw Camacho screaming from the touchline, with incessant instructions to the players on the field. That was the behavior that Camacho was known for and supporters identified him with during his first spell coaching Benfica. He was a coach whose fighting spirit and "never give up attitude" fell in the graces of Benfica supporters, naturally when Camacho was announced as the man who replaced Fernando Santos, many fans, myself included, rejoiced. But the Camacho that took over for Fernando Santos after the first game of the season was a different Camacho, while some of his usual speech was still coming out of his mouth, his behavior on the bench was far from what supporters remember him for. A quieter more laid back Camacho, was now the man on the bench, and he caught some slack for that, often times the media has pointed out that Camacho's posture and behavior on the bench was a far cry from the Camacho who led Benfica to their last Portuguese Cup. It's true that the past week hasn't been the greatest for Camacho, with the passing of his father, but I'd have to say that this decision of his has been a short time coming. Camacho always said that he would leave when he felt he could no longer be useful to the team, and apparently he feels that's his current situation.

So now what?

Fernando Chalana will take over as interim coach and will most likely remain at the helm until the end of the season. The league title is far gone, and Benfica's realistic goal continues to be 2nd place. The Uefa Cup and the Portuguese Cup are still competitions in which Benfica is in, but much of Benfica's success in these 2 competitions will depend on how the team will respond to Camacho's exit.

A New Cycle

After much talk from Luis Felipe Vieira about the start of a new cycle, here we are the start of a new cycle. It's tough to say what the mood was like in the Benfica locker room, certainly as a team, Benfica seems like a close knit group, off course, i base this on how the team leaders have come out and defended players in times where these players were being highly criticized by the supporters, most recently, Rui Costa speaking out and defending Cardozo for his red card. In several occasions players have spoken about how the team is together and united.

How will Camacho's exit affect the team? With several experienced players and leaders on the squad, the team shouldn't be negatively affected by his exit, especially when there's 3 months left on the season. I have often thought the team is capable of playing an attractive soccer and maybe they will. That remains to be seen, there is the possibility that the squad was unhappy with Camacho, which would explain their motivation, or lack thereof. It will all be seen in the course of the next 2 weeks how the team will behave, that behavior will be a true indicator of the affection the team had for Camacho.

With Chalana taking over the team, it's possible the team will steer away from the 4-2-3-1 but not entirely, there's the possibility that the positioning will be a bit different.
With Camacho's exit, it will also mean a new chance for certain players to prove themselves. Freddy Adu for one, has probably been the biggest victim of Camacho's stubbornness, he should get a almost fresh start with Chalana.
Many questions to be answered in the next upcoming weeks. In the meantime, the team will need to focus on this Wednesday's game in Madrid where they will have to try to turn around a 1-2 result from the first leg against Getafe.