[FM 2015] Luis Figo - the return of the Golden Boy

Hello everybody, a long-time lurker and a first-time poster here. I've been following some of the careers and manager stories on SI forums for a long time but have inexcusably yet to post anything :o . I hope it's better late than never! Right now I find myself at a place in my life where I have the time and desire to share my adventures and I hope some of you will enjoy them as well.

I like having a bit of a backstory to spruce things up a bit, so some of these posts may contain a lot of pictures and some crappy photoshop editing. If that's okay with you, hop along and let's enjoy the ride together!

Born in Almada, on the opposite side of the river Tagus from Lisbon, Figo joined Sporting CP at the age of 11. Figo enjoyed a succesful youth career in Sporting and was soon called up to represent Portugal in various international youth tournaments. His first big breakthrough came in 1989, when he scored in the final of the European Under-16 Championship, helping Portugal to a 4-1 win over East Germany. In 1991, Figo played a large part in the FIFA World Youth Championship (now known as the U-21s World Cup) winning Portugal team, which also had won the tournament in 1989. The core of those championship-winning teams were touted by the media as Portugal's Golden Generation and Figo as the Golden Boy. Alongside Figo; Manuel Rui Costa, Vitor Baia, Sérgio Conceição, Fernando Couto, Abel Xavier, João Pinto and Ricardo Sá Pinto were just some of the talented youngsters also to achieve international fame.

In 1994, Portugal lost to Italy in the final of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, but Figo was chosen as the tournament's Golden Player. Later same year, Figo won the Portuguese Golden Ball, awarded to the best player of the year in the Portuguese League and by now it had became clear that Figo was one of the most promising young players in the world. He eventually joined FC Barcelona, with whom he twice won the La Liga and Copa del Rey titles; the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and La Liga Foreign Player of the Year. Figo then transferred to Real Madrid for a then world record of £37 million amidst raging controversy (you very well might remember

). During his spell as a Galáctico, Figo finally added the Champions League winning medal to his trophy collection, alongside two La Liga titles, a Supercopa and UEFA Super Cup winning trophy. 2000 and 2001 were Figo's best in individual terms, as he won the Ballon d'Or and World Soccer Player of the Year in 2000 and FIFA World Player of the Year in 2001. Figo finished his career in Inter Milan, a club about which he later said: "I am leaving football, not Inter...I hope to be able to help this club to become even greater also after my retirement. I will certainly work for Inter in the future in the club board. What I will never forget is the love that I have received since my first day here."

Unfortunately Figo wasn't able to reproduce his superb club career on a national level, although he did captain the Portuguese side to the final of the 2004 European Championship played in his native Portugal. After ending his career in 2009, Figo remained on the sidelines for Inter Milan... and after careful consideration, has finally decided to return to the beautiful game as a manager

This save is me trying to follow a reasonably realistic career path of a former Portuguese international - that means I'll probably start from Portugal and work my way up from there. Ultimately, I'd like to fill the one big dusty spot in Figo's trophy cabinet - an international trophy with Portugal. On the rules front, nothing really certain, because I feel that setting myself too many restrictions and limitations in this particular career might become a hindrance and interfere the fun, so I'll keep some ideas for a next save game

Nothing very interesting until the end of September, when this popped up in my inbox:

This is really interesting, because Belenenses is based in Lisbon. They are shadowed by the capitals two big teams, Sporting and Benfica, they are languishing in the bottom of the Portuguese Primeira Liga and seem to have a decent enough squad to (at least) not get relegated. This would be a perfect start for Figo's career.

This came relatively quickly... I was prepared to wait long into winter for our first chance at the no.1 job, but luckily (for us) Belenenses has had an appalling start to the season. Here's to the start of something great!

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15

Luís Figo

Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses

Founded: 23 September 1919

Nicknames: O Belém; Os Azuis do Restelo (The Blues from Restelo)

Ground: Estádio do Restelo

Capacity: 12 614

Restelo is probably most known as a concert venue, hosting Smashing Pumpkins, Mando Diao, The Killers, Queen + Paul Rodgers and Duffy amongst others; not to mention Pearl Jam, who recorded a live album at Restelo in 2000. Hopefully there's some magic left in the grass from those performances and the players find some much needed inspiration

The Club

Nice training facilities, but the lack of good youth setup is disappointing. I was hoping to bring some talented youngsters into the first team as soon as possible, but now it seems we might have a couple of years of below average intakes. Fingers crossed, though.

The Portuguese Primeira Liga is incredible in the sense that since its inception in the 1934/35 season, only five teams out of 70 who have competed there; have won the title... and Benfica, Sporting and Porto have won all but two titles (Boavista in 2000/01 and Belenenses in 1945/46). We have, however, quite recently made it to the final of the Portuguese Cup, Taça de Portugal. Reaching the latter stages in that competition definetely seems a more realistic objective than to end the dominant spell of the Big Three, so maybe we should focus our interests on that.

Oh dear. Bleeding more profusely than a pig on Christmas Eve (You'll see one of the main reasons soon).

Absolutely loving the kit! On the whole, I find the design-y part of the club really well done, the crest is elegant and that red cross is perfect on those kits, especially on the away one. Can't wait to see them in action

The Players

It's much better than I feared it to be, some real attacking options on the wings and in the centre attacking midfielder positions, strong fullbacks and a good central defender. If you look closely, however, you'll see one thing that made me audibly sigh when I first saw it - Nelson is on £21,000 a week contract! Seriously, how the hell does that even happen? He basically makes more than everyone else in the team together par maybe Carlos Martins, but his £8000 a week is somewhat fine by me, just because he's a Portugal international, whereas Nelson definetely doesn't justify that abnormally large contract. Offloading him is going to be my number one concern, because his contract is really hurting us in the long run. (How on Earth can someone even offer him that? Beautiful piece of management right there )

Goalkeepers

Matt Jones

Decent goalie, I was a bit surprised to see an English player here, but he looks good enough to be our starter this season.

Ventura

Solid backup, I might need to trim his contract a bit, as £925 a week seems a bit too much.

Filipe Mendes

Probably looking to offload him and bringing in a youth player as a third choice goalkeeper.

Defenders

Gonçalo Brandão

Our first-choice central defender. Confident on the ball (as most Portuguese CBs are), solid in the air, he's going to be an integral part of our season.

Fernando

A young Brazilian wing-back on loan from Fluminense. Looks brilliant on paper, backs his great attacking stats up with good defensive ones. I'm already really looking forward to extending the loan for the next season or maybe even making the move permanent.

Nelson

The main talking point himself. Just look at that punchable face, he bloody well knows the contract he's on And he's already 31. I'm hoping for a great half-a-season from him and then somehow getting rid of him in January. Stats-wise he's not bad, but I can certainly get someone much cheaper with similar stats.

Filipe Ferreira

Judging by his abilities he looks like a perfect multitalent.

Andre Teixeira

Another talented youngster who might become useful during the long season. Has to improve on his crossing and passing if he wants to break into the first team.

Daniel Martins

Similar to Andre Teixeira, useful player, but lacking techical prowess to be a starter.

Joao Afonso

Veteran defender, who lacks confidence on the ball, but is good in air and reads the game well.

Joao Meira

Fairly good central defender who can also start counter attacks from the backline.

Midfielders

Miguel Rosa

Great option on the attacking midfielder front, a set-piece specialist with good movement.

Rodrigo Dantas

Good all-around central midfielder with the eye for a spectacular pass. What is more, he's on a really affordable contract.

Rodrigo Dourado

Another youngster on loan from Brazil, a real team player. He's going to provide extra defensive options sitting right in front of the defensive line.

Carlos Martins

The midfield maestro with exceptional mental stats. Somehow out until the start of the next year - I wonder what he's done? He played two games this season before getting the suspension. He's going to be instrumental when he returns.

Fabio Nunes

The young winger has already made two appearances for the Portugal national team, but he has a lot to prove to make it into the first team here. His somewhat weak technical abilities are compensated by world-class speed.

Fabio Sturgeon

Mop-headed and quick, he's hopefully going to slice defenses with surgeon's precision.

Bruno China

A veteran defensive midfielder from the joker-of-all-trades school of Portuguese outfield players (think Miguel Veloso, Custodio etc). Probably a great locker room presence, so I'll definetely keep him around.

Fredy

Fast and skillful, but low decision-making and positioning need to be improved. Maybe one of the players to depart during the January window.

Pele

Not quite as good as his slightly more famous namesake, but might be one to watch for the future. We'll see what Milan says at the end of his loan, we might want to keep hold of him.

Tiago Silva

He looks really promising and I'm looking forward to giving him some playing time right away. Hopefully he'll take over the main playmaker role from Carlos Martins after he slows down.

Forwards

Tiago Caeiro

Our go-to target man in the box. Tall and powerful, he'll pose a threat to any defence.

Mailo

At his size, he really should be better in air. Barring major injury crises, can't see him starting any games.

Deyverson

Another tall striker, who, funnily enough, is much better on the ground. I think he'll be a good fit alongside Caeiro (providing we play with two strikers)

Abel Camara

A poor man's Bafetimbi Gomis.

League table

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15 | October

Luís Figo

Benfica match stats

Welp, what an atrocious start. I was prepared for a tough opening fixture, but Benfica were better than us in every department. Figo went into the game trying to catch Benfica offguard with an attack-minded tactic, but it backfired and Belem found themselves 0-2 behind after 20 minutes. After that, we dropped much deeper and it payed off at the end of the half with Fabio Sturgeon finishing off a misplaced pass from the Benfica defenders. However, we were chasing shadows for the entire second half and Benfica managed to add three more (it could have been five). Probably the worst start possible, at home, non the least.

Our second league game was much more promising, we managed to keep possession and create some really good chances. Fabio Sturgeon was the man of the match with two goals, defender Gonçalo Brandão headed in a corner and we came back from Setúbal with a much needed victory.

Although we managed to win at Setúbal, other results around the league sent us to the bottom of the league. It doesn't really matter, of course, as Figo has been at the helm for only two league games.

We were so fortunate to beat second division Atlético CP in our first Portuguese Cup game after going behind 0-2 in the first half. Miguel Rosa scored a stunning free kick and then added a curling shot from the edge of the box four minutes before the end of the game to give us a 3-2 lead, but Atlético managed to equalize in the stoppage time. It looked like it was going to go to penalties, but João Meira scored a header off a Miguel Rosa corner (what a game he had) and we scraped off a laborious victory.

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15 | November

Luís Figo

Although we only played two league games in October, it was enough for Fabio Sturgeon to score three goals and get the third place in the Player of the Month voting.

The month didn't start off well when we visited Moreirense and somehow lost a game which we dominated for the large part. Deyverson hit the post twice right at the end of stoppage time, but it wasn't enough as we came home with a disappointing loss. We then welcomed home an underachieving Academica side and had much better luck in front of goal. This was the first time this season when Figo played two strikers up front and even if neither of them scored, they managed to create enough opportunities for us to score three unanswered goals. Miguel Rosa then continued his good form in our last league game of November, when he scored a direct free kick against Maritimo. The team from Madeira equalized through a nice team goal, but defensive midfielder Rodrigo Dourado scored his first of the season after Camara's header came back off the post to give us two wins out of three in November.

Six points out of possible nine move Figo's side up to eight in the league. We have, however, conceded as many goals as bottom-of-the-table Arouca and that's a bit worrying. Our main goal in the next few months will be figuring out a way to improve our defending, especially as next month we'll face Porto away with Boavista and Guimaraes at home in our toughest test yet!

Another laborious victory nearly identical to the one in the previous round against Atletico CP. Fabio Sturgeon was the main man again with the winning goal, but it was difficult as heck. We are conceding goals from seemingly everywhere on the pitch, with Matt Jones not having the best start to the season. Figo's mentality seems to be "no matter how many they score, we will score one more"... and it's kind of working thus far

Next up in the cup:

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15 | December

Luís Figo

Absolutely gutted. Not the greatest performance against Estoril, but it was mostly rotten luck, because we hit the post several times. They took advantage of their chances, we only managed to break through in stoppage time thanks to youngster Tiago Silva, who's had a couple of good performances in a row. We had absolutely no chance against Porto, who were so overwhelming they could easily have had 10. We played 4-2-3-1 with two DMs and a CM, but it was a lost cause after the first half. I was hoping to get us up and running again with a win against Boavista, but the players probably had their minds on the upcoming cup game against heavyweights Sporting and it turned out to be a rather forgettable affair... as did the last league game of the month. We fell behind 0-2 in the first half, but two nice team-goals from Daniel Martins and Rodrigo Dourado made it 2-2 after the hour mark. I then took out our other DM Bruno China for some fresher legs in Rodrigo Dantas and our defense just imploded . We conceded three in the space of ten minutes, Deyverson's long-range effort near the end of the game offered us no more than consolation. Not at all happy with our performances in the league this month.

The sixth round is also known as the Quarter-finals, and after knocking out Sporting in the fifth round we are only one step away from playing in the Semi-finals!

Mata has been absolutely phenomenal this season and rightfully deserves his World Player of the Year award. Our former international team-mate and the heir of the Portuguese captain's armband Cristiano Ronaldo has also had a good season individually, but I doubt his team's performances have made him happy...

Only four points from six games knock the mighty Real Madrid out of the group stages of the Champions League for the first time since the group stage was introduced in 1995-1996!

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15 | January

Luís Figo

2015 starts with instant frustration. Only fifteen minutes into our opening league match of January, our main striker Deyverson has to come off with a serious ankle injury. We've settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation with Deyverson as the sole striker, because none of the other strikers (Mailo, Camara nor Tiago Caeiro) have shown anything remotely close to consistency. Worrying bit of news heading into the toughest part of the season with important games in both league and cup ahead.

However, things might look better than feared with three very pleasing victories in the league. After Deyverson came off against Arouca, we found an unexpected saviour in his replacement Filipe Ferreira, who clinically put away two one-on-one situations and led us to a comfortable 3-1 victory. We played really well against Sporting and in my opinion, were unlucky to not get anything from the game. We managed to keep them at bay for 80 minutes, until fatigue finally got us and they scored from a corner kick. Overall, however, I'm happy with the performance (at least we didn't concede five, as per usual ).

The home game against Nacional was great, as we kept our heads cool and managed to control the whole 90 minutes. Fabio Sturgeon added his fifth of the season and Abel Camara scored his first in as many starts, granting him a place in the next week's squad against Penafiel, as well. He thoroughly provided, scoring a neat finish after an hour of play and securing us a 2-0 win. Much better performance in the league, let's hope we can step it up a notch in 2015 and finish the season strongly.

Benfica match stats

Usually not too bothered with the league cup competitions, which I use to give younger lads and fringe players some playing time with the big boys. This approach has worked well this season, however, as we have played some good football and managed to work our way into the Semi-final Great game against Benfica, in which we had 17 shots and committed 14 fouls against Benfica's 23 - they just couldn't catch us. Tiago Silva was masterful in the Advanced Playmaker position, he's played himself well into the starting line-up and pushed Miguel Rosa to a wide role. If he keeps this up, there might be a big contract extension coming up for him in the offseason (or more likely a big move, but let a man dream).

Game stats

We did it! We were second-best for 89 minutes, but delivered when it was needed most. The quarter-final marked the return of talismanic midfielder Carlos Martins, who was suspended for the latter part of 2014. He was lacking match fitness and I decided to only give him the last 15 minutes, but it was enough for him to score a beautiful shot from the edge of the box and send us through. Fabio Sturgeon sealed it in stoppage time and leaves us waiting for the Semi-final draw!

Fantastic! We managed to land possibly the weakest opponent out of Benfica, Boavista and Gil Vicente. The time has come to lead Belem into the Cup final for the ninth time in their history!

We've been lucky again as we get Rio Ave instead of Sporting or Guimaraes, who will play in the other Semi-final.

Yay, Luis's first award nomination as a manager!

A relatively quiet January only sees second-placed Porto making some real moves on the transfer market. Although we went into the window with high hopes of moving some of our deadwood (and ridiculously overpaid Nelson), we couldn't find any suitors. Luckily, Nelson is having a pretty good season, which makes his wages a little more bearable. Although Carlos Martins is still a substantial part of our team, his contract will expire at the end of the season and I'm slowly getting the feeling he's not returning for 2015-16. We could also make use of the £8000 a week he's currently on, as we are £1400 over our weekly wage budget

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15 | February

Luís Figo

The first game of February saw us host struggling Gil Vicente and it turned out to be tougher than expected. We were sloppy with our passing throughout the whole affair and gifted Gil Vicente the lead on the 50th minute. Twenty minutes after that, Tiago Silva scored his fifth goal of the season after a goal-mouth scramble, but in the end we had to settle for a draw. Away days at Braga are difficult for all teams so we decided to mix things up a bit. We started the game with two wing-backs and three centre-backs, something we hadn't tried before. In the end the risk payed off, we had many counter-attacking opportunities and managed to scored from one of those. The full-time whistle saw us coming back with a point, which I was happy enough with. Another away game at Paços saw us storming to a 2-0 lead by the 7th minute, but we couldn't hold on to it. We let them get back into it with a goal before the end of the first half and failed to cope with the pressure. We have to learn how to maintain a lead, because this was not the first time we threw away a probable victory. We finally got back to winning ways in our last league game of February with a nice home win against Rio Ave.

With ten games yet to go, Benfica have taken a four-point lead with a game in hand and look strong favourites to win the title now. Estoril are having a stormer of a season thus far, I couldn't have predicted them to be so near the top when we took over in the start of October. We are smack in the middle of the pack with three other teams on 32 points as well. March sees us going against Academica, Setubal and Moreirense, so maybe we'll have a chance to catch up with the top six.

Argh! I really thought we had a great chance of appearing in two cup finals for the first time in the history of O Belém, but it wasn't to be. Rodrigo Dantas didn't have the best of times, giving away a penalty which, in the end, proved to be the winner. Putting it simply, they deserved it more than us. All our efforts are now focused on the Taça de Portugal Semi-final, which will be played in two legs.

The squad harmony is great, our finances not as much

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15 | March

Luís Figo

What a return from the main man up front. He played for 75 minutes for the reserves four days before the game against Setubal, the first time he had done so in seven weeks, and looked sharp enough for Figo to give him a starting spot in his return game. He repaid the faith almost instantly, scoring an absolute beauty after 18 minutes and making Setubal run rings around him for the rest of the game. He assisted Miguel Rosa's goal fifteen minutes from the end and rightfully earned the player of the match nomination.

I rested most of the first-team players for the Benfica match after playing in the Taça de Portugal Semi-final on the fourth of March, so I wasn't really looking to come away with anything from there. However, we should have done much better against Academica, but we followed a familiar route of taking the lead, but not being able to defend it. We played much better in the home game against Moreirense, comfortably finishing the game after scoring four goals in the first half. How about Fabio Sturgeon though, he was on absolute fire with four goals in the last two games of March and is now our top scorer in all competitions.

I didn't realize at the time, but I accidentally included the game against Setubal on the first of March in the league table of our February update. This one includes the other three games from March and is now correctly synchronized. Sorry about that!

Incredible, what a game from us. We were prepared for a tough match both mentally and physically, because our last encounter against Gil Vicente a month ago ended in a 1-1 draw. This time around we shot out the blocks with a goal after forty seconds and never looked back. We had possession, we had chances, we had goals. Barring a complete meltdown, this astounding first leg sees us take a huge step towards the final. Força Os Azuis do Restelo!

He's from another planet now - the goals and assists are flowing naturally. It's great to have him tied up to the club for a long-term deal as well, so even if he decides to take a step forward in his career, we are to look forward for a large transfer fee.

C.F. Os Belenenses 2014/15 Youth intake

Nélson Santos (DC)

He has the highest potential of this year's youth intake with mental and physical stats to back up the hype. His raw technical attributes, however, need instant work and dedication. Might get his chance in the league cup next season.

Gabriel Mendy (DM, MC)

An aggressive and quick defensive midfielder, he has great first touch but a player at his position could really benefit from having better leadership skills. We are going to focus his training on stamina and passing at first.

Luís Coelho (MC)

A more attack-minded central midfielder than Mendy, Coelho is arguably the most complete player of the three at this very moment. His physical side needs a lot of work if he is to fight for a first-team place in the future.

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15 | April

Luís Figo

Thoroughly deserved. He has become an instrumental part of our offence, scoring and assisting equally well.

In our first match of April, Estoril took control in the 20th minute after they scored from a free-kick situation. We upped the ante after the break and finally got a breakthrough when Rodrigo Dourado blasted in a long shot from 30 yards. Tiago Silva gave us the lead with a little more than a quarter of an hour to play and as Estoril were chasing the equalizer, Fabio Sturgeon hit them on the break with a great solo goal. In the next game, Miguel Rosa scored from a direct free-kick (for the fourth or fifth time this season) and Dourado added his second in as many games from a penalty spot after their center back was sent off. Unfortunately we couldn't capitalize on having an extra player on the field and had to settle for a two-all draw. We once again threw away the lead in the last match of April against Boavista, who are third from bottom in the league. Fabio Sturgeon scored once again, after which we controlled most of the game, but couldn't find a way through for the second time. Boavista were patient and pounced on our moment of inattentiveness, scoring late to give them a much needed home draw. We left Porto frustrated and disappointed.

Benfica are all but certain to win the league, but only because Sporting and Porto have both had a season to forget. We are hoping to leapfrog Estoril and finish eight with four games to go, but ninth wouldn't be the end of the world, neither.

After winning the first leg comfortably, we took our foot off the pedal and just rolled over the finish line. The loss doesn't matter though, as we are through to the final and are starting preparations for the toughest match of the season right away. We will play Benfica in the Final, which will be played on 31st May.

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15 | May

Luís Figo

Porto match stats

This is it, our last four league games of the season! We'll take some time and review the season as a whole in one of the following updates, but let us concentrate on the month of May for now. We welcomed Porto on the opening day of the month and definitely played well enough to deserve a win. We had 20 shots against their 12, not to mention our 14 corners against their 5. Fabio Sturgeon had to come off in the 18th minute with an injury scare, but luckily it wasn't anyhing serious (he went on to play in all of our remaining matches). Fernando gave away a silly penalty and Trigueros scored from the spot, but Tiago Silva put us back level after 32 minutes. Jackson Martinez then made it 2-1 to Porto with a carbon copy of Silva's goal. With frustration growing, Gonçalo Brandão equalized from a one-on-one situation after having stayed up front following a corner kick. Now, I've been harping on and on about Fabio Sturgeon (and to a lesser extent, Miguel Rosa and Tiago Silva), but I have undeservedly left Gonçalo Brandão's name out of nearly every monthly report. They say that if a centre-back remains invisible through the game (throughout season, even), it's been a good one for him, as he's not made enough mistakes for people to remember them. It's hard to see his impact from the result sheet, which only shows goals, but he has been the absolute rock at the back and the foundation to the relatively good season we've had. His average rating is through the roof and I really hope he decides to stick around for another season with us.

After the game with Porto, which we felt we should have won, we lost to Guimaraes who are having a brilliant league season. They've been fourth for pretty much the whole of 2015, so the loss wasn't a huge disappointment for us. The penultimate league game of the season saw us thrash bottom of the league Arouca 5-1 with Fredy scoring two and Gonçalo Brandão, Filipe Ferreira and Miguel Rosa all bagging one. We lost the last league game of the 2014-2015 season to Nacional, another club a few steps above us in the table. Next season must bring a shift in our mindset - we have to start winning games against Nacional, Guimarães, Braga etc, as they are matches against teams that are, like us, trying to finish in that sweet-spot between fourth and seventh.

I think we can be pleased on the overall. We finished right in the middle of the table and I think it was a reasonable expectation to have for Figo for his first year as a manager. The big three once again share the top three spots, but Porto looked occasionally out of place this season and Guimarães weren't far behind. I still think it was an anomaly and with some new additions to their team, Porto will be back next year as a much stronger title contender. Estoril played some good football and deserved their 8th place, Arouca, on the contrary, were awful and obviously not yet cut out for Primeira Liga.

We need every damn possible penny coming our way, so for the love of God, keep signing dem checks:D.

We talked about him a bit, and as I said, he has been irreplaceable. Well deserved, big man!

Coming up:

Taça de Portugal final

End of season review

2015/2016 preseason

End of season review

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2014/15

Luís Figo

League table | All Fixtures | Finances | Board confidence

Luís Figo's first season as manager sees his Belenenses finish 9th in Primeira Liga, make it to the Semi-final of the Portuguese League Cup and qualify for Europe through a great Portuguese Cup run, which culminated in an infamous Final walloping at the hands of Benfica. All in all, as debut seasons go, it was, in my opinion, definetely positive. We scored a lot, we also conceded a lot, but still ended up right about where I thought we might. No overachieving in the league, but also no disappointment of finishing lower than expected. We played free-flowing football, characteristic to Figo's own playing career and scored freely, but unfortunately a bountiful attack also meant conceding an awful lot in our case. Next season will see us try and retain the attacking prowess with tightening up at the back. Easier said than done, obviously

Highlight of the season

Great Cup run, featuring a 2-1 win against Sporting and a 4-0 thrashing of Gil Vicente in the Semi-Final first leg.

Low point of the season

We conceded five or more goals four times this season, most notably in the 0-6 Cup Final drubbing. More consistency is needed from our defense next time around.

Player of the year

Gonçalo Brandão (DC, av. rating 7.23)

Overview and stats

Great season from Brandão, who returned to Belenenses at the start of the season after a six-year stint in Italy. He scored some important goals, but his defensive presence and leadership were indispensible to our season. A vice-captain in 2014-15, he might get the armband next season as current captain Bruno China isn't a starter any more.

Young player of the year

Fabio Sturgeon (AM RL; ST, av. rating 7.10)

Overview and stats

Sturgeon was essential to our great cup run, scoring six and assisting as much. His eleven goals in the league made him third joint top scorer and also saw him making his first three appearances for the Portugal U-21 team. Good breakthrough season and I hope he'll build on it, coming back in autumn even hungrier.

An obvious choice for the fans, as Brandão came back to his boyhood club still in his prime and had a great season.

A well-known fact is that defenders don't sell shirts, that's why we don't see neither Nélson nor Gonçalo Brandão in this list. Great to see Sturgeon topping at least something. He's young, explosive and a good dribbler - obviously his is the most sold shirt. Carlos Martins is probably the biggest name we have on our team right now, but he's almost certain to leave us during the offseason.

Around the league

Absolutely great to have two of our players selected to the Team of the Season, especially as we finished 9th!

Preseason

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2015/16

Luís Figo

Confusing as ever - what do 'be competitive' and 'respectable league position' even mean?

Summer transfers

Ronaldo Alves (DC, Brazil)

Just one transfer in during the offseason - the Brazilian centre back Ronaldo Alves, who will hopefully form a dominant pairing with Gonçalo Brandão. We explored other options as well, including a number of strikers and a goalkeeper as Matt Jones didn't have the greatest of seasons, but in the end went with only Alves. I thought the teamwork was coming along well enough by the end of last season and adding many pieces to the puzzle might just disrupt the harmonious group of players we have now. This also means that our youngsters will get more games in the first team and will develop faster. We did, however, extend the loans of Pelé, Rodrigo Dourado and Fernando for yet another season.

We chose not to extend contracts with five players, most notably former Portuguese international Carlos Martins, who set us back £8000 p/w last season; as well as substitute striker Tiago Caeiro, who failed to impress during his handful of appearances for the club.

Preseason friendlies

We gave Bombarralense an absolute walloping - these are some of the largest numbers I've ever seen on my save games. How is it even possible to get off 53 shots in 90 minutes? Alcanenense were greeted with much of the same. Our last preseason friendly was meant to give Ronaldo Alves and Gonçalo Brandão some work against a sterner opponent ahead of our Europa League qualifier, so naturally they didn't click and conceded three off the bat. Early days still, many games and training sessions yet ahead. Tiago Silva ended preseason with seven goals from five games, Deyverson had six in four.

I genuinely believe that I haven't seen a kit as beautiful as this before. When you have a god damn double headed golden eagle on a blood red shirt, it must have at least a slightly intimidating effect on your opponents. The eagle is apparently from the flag of Rijeka and its amazing. The city itself isn't too shabby, either, with nearly 250 000 people living in Croatia's third-largest metro area. Rijeka's home stadium, Kantrida, is situated right by the Adriatic Sea.. and when I say right by it, I mean right by it how cool is that? Croatia is a beautiful country and Rijeka with its Stadion Kantrida is a great example of the case.

The game

We let the golden eagle, the location and the occasion get to us. We committed many fouls during the first half and generally looked a bit too willing, as everyone knows that the key to a difficult away game is patience. We let them take the lead through a counter-attack - Ronaldo Alves was the culprit in his first official game, as he passed the ball right to Rijeka's forward in an absolutely random situation. Not the best way to begin your career at a new club. We hit Rijeka back right at the stroke of half-time with Miguel Rosa curling in a nice free kick. We would have been okay with this being the final score, as it would have meant that by not conceding at home we'd be through; but Rijeka once again went in front after their key player Kramaric outclassed our back line by dribbling past two players and slotting it home. Frustration grew, especially as we kept hold of the ball well and created some chances, but couldn't find that extra pass or touch in their box. Kramaric's second goal was a real sucker punch and we weren't able to answer. The last ten minutes saw us tire and we had to work hard not to concede in the dying minutes. Some mixed feelings from the match - we had some opportunities and held the ball nicely (and in my opinion, looked slightly better than them), which gives me hope of defeating them back in Lisbon. On the other hand, defensive slip-ups have become a calling card for this club and we know that if we gift them an away goal, it might become difficult.

I love the smell of Restelo in the morning...

We made it through to the Europa League Playoff! Sometimes, when you lose the first game of a two-legged affair, the team and fans find it hard to get themselves back in to the fight and the leg might already be physchologically lost even before the final whistle has gone. In this case, it was the complete opposite. We felt robbed by the result of the away game and managed to channel our anger and frustration onto the pitch perfectly. We took the lead after ten minutes through Deyverson, who took advantage from some poor defensive play. Five minutes later, Rijeka made another mistake and Miguel Rosa was there to slot it home. Thanks to the goal we scored in Rijeka, this scoreline would have seen us through, but I was pleased to see that the players only got hungrier. We hit the post two times during the first half and continued the onslaught in the second, controlling the game and getting some great chances thanks to our marauding full-backs Nelson and Fernando. Fabio Nunes put the game away in the 80th minute and Deyverson added his second from the penalty spot three minutes from time. I feel like the loss from the first game acted as a catalyst for the team and we bounced back much stronger and more determined.

A much, much more difficult opponent will be waiting for us in the Playoff. Though Villarreal were relegated a couple of years ago, they are now back and made it to Europe once again - it will be the most demanding undertaking for this group of players thus far.

We met Benfica at one of the most unique stadiums in the world, the Estádio Municipal de Aveiro. It was built for the EURO 2004, cost €62 million and is the fifth-largest stadium in Portugal. Municipal de Aveiro is most known for its outrageous color schemes, both on the outside and on the inside.

The game itself was more or less of the same which we are used to when facing Benfica. Even though Deyverson and Fabio Sturgeon scored for us, we let them have too many opportunities and also gave away two penalties. We weren't able to delight our supporters who had travelled the 140 mile distance between Lisbon and Aveiro and came away with a 2-5 loss. No time to sulk over the defeat, as an Europa League Playoff double-header against Villarreal is next in store for us.

Vila-real is located in Castelló province, a couple of miles from the Mediterranean Sea and five miles south from the province's capital Castelló de la Plana. Local rivals Valencia are located 40 miles south. Villarreal is also known as The Yellow Submarine (El Submarino Amarillo). El Madrigal was greatly renovated at the start of the 21st century to meet the demanding criteria of European competitions and is known for its electrifying atmosphere. I bet Figo can't wait to return to Spain as a manager!

If there ever is a comment that will fire up the players, the fans and the manager, it is a condescending one. They do have better players than us, but in the end, it's the character of those players that decides the outcome. A side with less technical prowess can win a game with grit and perseverance and that's exactly what we'll be aiming for.

So close, yet so far. I felt we were more in control and felt the benefits of having a full house of home fans egging us on, but it was Villarreal who took the lead through Eduardo Vargas. We then had to play the chasing game and finally got something out of the match right before it ended thanks to a nice header from Camara. We definitely weren't inferior, though, and Marcelino will have a tough match on his hands at El Madrigal to keep up to his words!

Good night and good luck, Marcelino!

Also, eat it

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2015/16 | August

Luís Figo

Benfica match stats

A great start to the league season sees us go on top of the Primeira Liga after three games. We managed to take a small revenge on Benfica after losses in Taça de Portugal and Supertaça finals thanks to Deyverson and his two goals. A beautiful afternoon for the Belenenses faithful was capped by Fabio Nunes scoring the goal to put Benfica down in the 90th minute. We faced Moreirense in our second league game of the season and continued where we left off against Benfica. This time it was Fabio Nunes scoring two and Deyverson one, as we took control of the game in the first half and never looked back. August ended with a dynamic performance away at Setúbal, 30 miles south of Belém. Deyverson ended a prolific month with another goal, taking his tally up to four league goals in three appearances. Fabio Sturgeon and substitute Fredy scored their first of the campaign and even though we conceded three in three, we were dominant in all of the games which leaves us in anticipation for what's left in the barrel.

Metalist overview | Udinese overview | Freiburg overview

I love doing these for some reason - really adds that extra spice to the European games

The Group Stage Draw pots us together with Metalist Kharkiv, based 2300 miles east from Lisbon on the opposite side of Europe. Metalist plays on the Metalist Stadium, which was a venue for Euro 2012 and seats 40 000 people. Freiburg was the former club of current Germany manager Joachim Löw during his playing days; Löw scored 81 goals for Freiburg and is still their all-time top goalscorer. The club is based in Freiburg im Breisgau - the warmest and sunniest city in Germany. Udinese is of course more familiar to Figo, having played at the Stadio Friuli several times during his Inter career. Udinese is the second oldest football club in Italy (the oldest being Genoa) and is probably the toughest opponent of the three - but for us, obviously, all six games will be difficult at this stage.

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2015/16 | September

Luís Figo

A great September also won us our first Manager of the Month award.

Deyverson continues his great form with a hat-trick in the first 30 minutes against Pacos Ferreira. Fredy also got on the scoresheet and added two more in the next match against Nacional in a match that saw eight goals overall. We were up 2-0 and 4-1 but let them back into the game. Disappointed, but not disheartened, we then met Sporting in the northern part of Lisbon and had a pretty good game until we conceded two late goals to give us our first defeat of the season.

We are scoring by far the most in the league, but once again, conceding becomes a problem early on.

FM15 isn't exactly known for its low-scoring matches and the point is proven once again in an absolute barnburner of a game against Metalist. I don't even know what to say about the match, except that we were lucky to score four times out of five shots on goal and they gutted our defensive line like a fisherman guts his daily catch. A great one for the fans, I guess...

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2015/16 | October

Luís Figo

The month of October begun with a jaw-droppingly bad performance at home against Maritimo. We never got our foot in and let them control the match from start to finish. Fabio Nunes scored a consolation goal for us after having come off the bench. The other league game of the month was also much more difficult than expected, as we scored two in the last twelve minutes to come back from being 2-3 down to clinch it 4-3.

We got three points from a possible of six, which isn't bad per se, but the performances were not good enough. I think a tactical alteration is in order, because we seem to be in need of a much more defensive midfielder than we have used now. Until this point, Rodrigo Dourado and Rodrigo Dantas have both been playing as DMs, but they aren't dropping deep enough and I think it leaves a bit too much space behind them and in front of the defensive line. We'll play around with the two DM and the AMC positions a bit and we'll see if it changes things for the better.

Contrasting opening months of the season from Porto and Setubal - one with a dream; the other with a nightmare start. Thanks to Benfica dropping some points we are still ahead of at least one of the Big Three - but it will be difficult to keep it going until the end of the season.

We were better in the Cup, winning a comfortable match against Alverca, another Lisbon club, which used to be a feeder club to Benfica 10-15 years ago and at various points at their career has been the home to Maniche, Deco, Nuno Assis and Akwa among others. This was a nice opportunity to let some of our youngsters get playing time and the team delivered nicely.

We had two good games in the Europa League in October and had it not been for an amazing hat-trick by Udinese's Edenilson, might have come away with four points. Not really any point in that discussion, though, as we took a long time to finish off Freiburg ourselves. A good news is that after making that mistake at Rijeka on the last day of July, Ronaldo Alves looks like he has born again. He scored three goals in October and although we keep conceding goals from seemingly all positions, he's been great in our attacking corner situations. New Belem captain Gonçalo Brandão looks a bit more complacent this season and I've decided to let him sit a few games out with youngster Nelson Santos taking his place in the starting line-up - nothing serious though, maybe it will help him recharge his batteries and come back stronger than ever.

We are still in a shout, but will face both Freiburg and Udinese away in our remaining fixtures. We're keeping our hopes up, but the world won't come to an abrupt end if we failed to qualify from the Group Stage.

Nani has been the rather unexpected hero of a slightly underwhelming campaign highlighted by a 0-3 loss to Denmark and draws against Albania and Armenia. At least the team provided when it was needed the most with a 4-0 victory in the last qualifier against Serbia and qualified automatically.

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2015/16 | November

Luís Figo

Two tidy performances and a hiding give us six points from a possible nine in November. Tiago Silva scored a wonderful long range goal against second-from-bottom Penafiel with Miguel Rosa adding a goal straight from a free kick. I'm very pleased with the away win at Rio Ave - beating the teams also gunning for a place in the top 6 was something we knew we had to do in order to close the gap with the Big Three. Not counting the loss against Maritimo the previous month, we've started the season strong and the objective now is to keep our good league form going.

A free-scoring game against Guimaraes sees rotation player Fredy start and instantly score two as we struggle to put them down. Every time we scored they answered back and it took until the dying moments to finish the game off. We will face Porto in the next round and hopefully put up a better fight than in our last league game against them.

Two games from the absolute opposites of the spectrum. Udinese were much better than us and scored two beauties to justify the result with grand master Di Natale putting the nail in the coffin. We showed something completely different in our home game against Metalist, as we flew seemingly effortlessly past the group leaders. We held the ball nearly 60 per cent of the game, created scoring opportunities and capitalized on some shoddy defense on their part. Metalist pulled one back in the 69th minute, but Disljenkovic conceded an own goal ten minutes from the end to give us a much needed and satisfying victory.

We are still in fighting chance - but it doesn't depend on us now. We need to win against Freiburg in our last match, whereas Udinese must lose against Metalist.

Three very important messages before the start of 2016. We had long and exhausting negotiations with both Fabio Nunes and Rodrigo Dantas, who wanted to move to bigger clubs. I consider them to be essential to our plans of reaching Europe once again, so we needed to take care of the situation before the January transfer window opened. We probably overpay Dantas a little, but he's been really good as a holding midfielder recently and we decided to take the gamble. With Fabio Sturgeon tied down until 2020, the future looks bright for the core of this team.

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2015/16 | December

Luís Figo







We manage to end 2015 on a high after collecting seven points from a possible nine in December. Ronaldo Alves once again got on the scoresheet, this time against Gil Vicente, after Miguel Rosa had given us the lead through a (you guessed it) free kick from 20 yards out. We then faced Guimaraes away and as always against them, had a tough match that really could have gone either way. Guimaraes went ahead thanks to some great passing movement, but Miguel Rosa was once again at hand to give us an equalizer. Deyverson picked up a small injury before the final whistle and has to sit out for at least until the start of 2016, which is a nuisance, but I think we'll cope.

The last league game of the year saw us host Braga, who have been phenomenal in the league and had a record of 11 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses before facing us. We had an electric start and were already up 3-0 after 24 minutes. Fabio Nunes, who has blossomed into a key player this season, scored the opening two and Fabio Strugeon added another one after a neat one-two with Miguel Rosa. We then slowly deflated like a balloon and Braga kept coming right back at us. They scored two in the second half, but luckily were unable to equalize, as we came away with a great result against this season's surprise package.



We're doing well in the league, as we finish 2015 in fifth place, only a point behind Benfica and two points off Sporting. A game in hand leaves us the opportunity to go seven points clear of Rio Ave, should we win our next league game in January. Porto are scary good - they have only conceded three times in fourteen games, which is absolutely astounding. Braga have also been great, but somehow I can't see them finishing second by the end of the season. At the other end of the table, Setubal have somehow managed to get their first win of the season, but still look destined to be relegated alongside Penafiel.





A disappointing loss in a game which was evenly matched from start to 67 minutes, when Filipe Ferreira was sent off for a cynical, needless tackle. Aboubakar scored straight from the free kick 40 yards out - probably meant as a cross, but they all count when they end up in the back of the net. No great Cup run this year - if we want to get to Europe again, we have to do it the hard way.





Well, we needed a victory, but it wasn't to be (and as Udinese won, it doesn't matter anyway). The Europa League games have been crazy this season, we have scored and conceded more than we can count, but it has been a great experience. We were able to give some young players a go in the first team and we need to build on it and come back next year stronger and better prepared. All in all, it would have been great if we had qualified for the Knockout Round, but we played some good games and were maybe a bit short on luck as well. Hopefully it gives extra motivation to players for next season

Messi taking the plaudits this year with Mata having another great one, establishing himself as the current third best player in the world. Ronaldo didn't make into the top three in World Soccer Player of the Year award voting, which is a bit surprising.

A little extra for y'all backstory lovers - normal service resumed after this

C.F. Os Belenenses | 2015/16 | January

Luís Figo







Benfica match stats

We've cracked it into the top three! January was absolutely packed with fixtures as we played six games in the league and two in the league cup. However, we were able to fight off any tiredness and won four out of those six league games, including a famous victory against Benfica. 2016 didn't start off well, as we failed to come off with anything against Estoril. We then hosted Beira-Mar at the Restelo and thankfully had learned from the Estoril game. A great goal from Fredy gave us confidence to fend off any comeback attempts from them and we managed to take some momentum with us to a tough match against Benfica. We were lucky to stay in the game against the title holders, as they started well and came at us with real venom. We held our ground and steered clear of conceding in the first half. Three minutes into the second half Nelson Oliveira gave them the lead. We didn't let that get to us, though, and Fredy equalised five minutes later. We kept fighting for possession and creating chances, and were finally rewarded in the 87th minute, when Andre Teixeira clinched us a late winner. A great performance from the lads!

I thought we had succumbed to fatigue when we lost our next league game to Academica, but the players proved me wrong with winning the last two matches of the month, scoring seven goals in the process. Defensive midfielder Pele was the unlikely hero with three goals in two games; Deyverson added two, Miguel Rosa and Tiago Silva both one each. We have now scored the most goals in the league - an achievement in its own right.







After a dire loss in the first League Cup game against Benfica, we knew that we were essentially out of the competition. I started four youth players in our both remaining fixtures and we won both of them - maybe we should have played the youngsters against Benfica, as well Anyway, no more cup competitions this year - we must now solely concentrate on the league and keep the momentum going.

Great to see Fredy being nominated, especially because he's normally a bench player. He got his chance in January and thoroughly delivered, but as Fabio Nunes, who sat some games out with an injury, is now back, Fredy must keep up his great form to stay in the first team.





C.F. Os Belenenses | 2015/16 | February

Luís Figo







Sporting match stats

We make up for a sorry loss at Madeira with two absolutely banging performances at home against Pacos Ferreira and Sporting. Miguel Rosa scored the fastest goal in Belenenses history, thumping in a long shot against Ferreira after 20 seconds. Tiago Silva, Deyverson and Pele also got on the scoresheet before Miguel Rosa put the nail in the coffin with another long-ranger five minutes before the end. He's been racking up the assists this season and it's good to see him scoring, as well. Tiago Silva was the man of the match in a famous victory against Sporting with a goal and an assist. Matt Jones saved a penalty near the end of the first half, which gave us strength to hold on to the win until the end. However, we can't be pleased with the draw against Maritimo, as we should have scored more than just one. Thanks to two victories we are still holding on to fourth place, though!

Luís has got his first job offers off the back of some good performances in the league this year. It's interesting to see what teams are after us, but I'm not going to attend any interviews for at least until the end of the season. Figo's contract ends after the 2016-17 season and I probably won't be extending it, but for now, we still have a job to do with Belenenses.