Looking Back Part 1 - Off Season

The season has been over for almost two weeks, and the inevitable withdrawal has already set in. After tomorrow's Champion's League final, there will be 17 days of anxiety, towards the next "fix".
There's still plenty of soccer going on all around the globe, but I'm very particular about the soccer i watch. Sure i will occasionally watch a match from the Brasileirao, or from the Argentinean Apertura or Clasura(whatever they have going on at the moment), I might even dabble on a little MLS (if it holds my attention for long enough), but my true passion has always been the European game. So, while the Euro doesn't start, I'd like to spend a little time revisiting Benfica's season.
Why, you may ask? I have asked myself that question many times before deciding to write about it; after all, it was a disastrous season, the worst in many years, but just because it was an God awful season, it doesn't mean that it should be wiped off everyone's memories, on the contrary, a season like this past season, should remain vivid in a lot of minds, especially the minds of Benfica's administration, who should look at this season, and single out every single mistake, and shortfall and learn from it, so the nightmare does not occur again.


Off Season

The off season, like all other off seasons, are always marked by the exits and entrances of new players, this revolving door process, is a process that serves as the foundation for the new season, and in Benfica's case the "ins and outs" proved to be the very first tell tale sign of things to come.

First Team Exits: Moretto, Beto, Karagounis, Paulo Jorge, Simao Sabrosa, Anderson, Miccoli, and Manu.

Out of these 8 players, 3 players really made a dent on this years squad.

Simao, who had been on the verge of a transfer for the past two years, was finally "allowed" to leave. Luis Felipe Vieira cited that Simao's exit was based on a personal promise to the player, based on the services Simao had done to Benfica. Simao was the heart and soul of Benfica, team captain, and club symbol; he was singlehandedly the player with the most influence on Benfica since Benfica acquired him from Barcelona after the 00/01 season. Although his exit was inevitable, the lack of a worthy substitute really put Benfica at a loss, and maybe DiMaria will, at one point, be a worthy substitute, but Benfica really needed someone to come in and hit the ground running and take Simao's spot.

Karagounis, another starter, had publicly manifested the desire to return to Greece, claiming he could not adapt to Portugal. The story, like many others, was a bit sketchy, and in my opinion, Benfica was too soft and gave in too easily to the players desires. Even if the Greek, was not as influential as Simao, he was an important player to the team and brought a certain degree of balance to the team, something that was lacking this year.

Miccoli who had been on loan to Benfica for the past two years, also manifested the desire to return to Italy, Benfica failed to act on the Italian's option clause, and the "little bombardier" ended up saying arriverdecci to the supporter mass who had fallen in love with him.
As another sketchy story unfolded, Benfica's ex-sporting director Jose Veiga, divulged in his book that Benfica could have very well kept the Italian, and that his cost was very accessible to the Benfica coffers. Micolli had been Benfica's attacking reference. While he struggled with injuries his first season, and in the beginning of the 06/07 season, Miccoli flourished in the middle of the season, and was one of the main reasons for Benfica's success.


First Team Entrances: Marc Zoro, Fabio Coentrao, Oscar Cardozo, Bergessio, Sretenovic, Andres Diaz, Angel Di Maria, Jorg Butt, Freddy Adu, Cristian Rodriguez, Maxi Pereira, Edcarlos, Manuel Fernandes, Binya and Luis Felipe; along with Juniors: Romeu Ribeiro, Miguel Victor, Yu Dabao. GK - 1,DF - 5, MF - 8,FW - 4, 18 all together, an authentic truck load of players, when you compare it with 8 players that were exiting.
With this many players coming in, the first thought has to be that the squad will be not only balanced and deep, but also competitive, and competition for positions can always be beneficial to the team.
At the time, team president Luis Felipe Vieira called it the best Benfica squad of the past 10 years(or was it 20?), stating that a coach with this type of squad, runs the risk of being league champion. From the coaching side, Fernando Santos, lamented Simao's exit, and claimed that Simao's exit would deeply affect the team. Santos suffered another blow when 1 week before the pre-qualifier for the Champion's League, Manuel Fernandes was sold to Valencia. Fernandes who had been on loan in England, after a dispute with Benfica's medical staff, returned to Benfica, after Everton failed refused to pay Benfica's asking price.

Out of the group of players coming in, Cardozo was the most expensive at 9mm(80% of the pass), the Paraguayan international forward, came from the Argentinean league where he was highly referenced, and was brought in to fill the gap Miccoli left. Another player from the Argentinean league was Bergessio, who was labeled as a multi purpose forward, with physical strength being one of his biggest attributes.
Freddy Adu was perhaps the best known player for Benfica fans, fresh off a stellar U-20 world Cup for the US, Freddy Adu had been a promising talent ever coming into the public eye at 16. He had been hailed as the savior of American soccer, and earned comparisons to some of the world's greatest, and Benfica fans knew this and saw his signing as a great signing.

For the defense, Marc Zoro was obtained on a free from Italy's Messina, and was meant to reinforce the center of the defense. Edcarlos was another central defender, that was bought from Sao Paulo. Also for the center of the defense, but in more of a trial run was Sretenovic on loan from Servia's Lubin. Luis Felipe was bought from Braga for the right side of the defense.

For the midfield, winger Fabio Coentrao was seen as a promise for the future, and Benfica did not want to lose his talent to the competition. DiMaria, who had been part of the Argentinean U-20 world cup winning squad, was referenced as Simao's substitute, despite of his young age. Along with DiMaria came Andres Diaz, on a 2 for 1 deal, also a member of the U-20 world champs.

Jorg Butt was brought in on a free, to add depth to the goalkeeper position, which had been marred by injuries in the past season, a time in which Benfica was forced to use a junior goal keeper in champions league play as well as domestic play.

Juniors Romeu Ribeiro, Miguel Victor and Yu Dabao, were given the opportunity to "tryout" for the senior squad.

Making their way into the squad were also, Rodriguez, Maxi and Binya, the first two were chosen by new coach Camacho, while Binya, who already had his bags packed for Estrela da Amadora, was recalled by Camacho to add depth to the defensive midfield position, after Manuel Fernandes left.

A lot of new faces, and 3 important first team players exiting, marked Benfica's off season. Vieira had given fans a reason to dream, with his inflamed speech. It was time for Fernando Santos to get to work, as Benfica played a very important match early, which would dictate whether or not they would participate in the Champion's League group stages.


Part 2 - Early Season