Brilliance outside Portugal’s Big Four | OneFootball

Portuguese football is highly asymmetric in that the top three clubs are always several levels above the rest thanks to their budget, squad value, fan bases and historical pedigree. In recent years Braga have made tremendous strides to get closer and closer to challenging Benfica, Porto and Sporting.

This does not mean, however, that the rest of Portugal’s teams should be ignored. This season has showcased several superb collective and individual displays across all the other 14 Primeira Liga clubs.

In the latest edition of the brilliant No Princípio era a Bola podcast, journalists Tomás da Cunha and Rui Malheiro highlighted the players from outside the top clubs who have impressed in the first half of 2023/24. PortuGOAL summarises their analysis.

Estoril packed with talent

The club that featured the most players was Estoril, who have been in sensational form since new coach Vasco Seabra took over, flying up the league and beating FC Porto twice. Cunha and Malheiro were unequivocal about nominating the top individual performer in the league outside the Big Four.

Rafik Guitane (pictured above) is “undisputedly the best player outside the Big Four. In Estoril’s 3-4-2-1, occupying the right midfield position, the way he carries the ball forward, dribbles, scores goals and his understanding with Rodrigo Gomes is outstanding.”

Rodrigo Gomes himself, the converted winger who is now playing at wing-back for Estoril, is described as “an express train flying down the right flank who can beat his man and score goals.” Also worthy of mention is the “absolutely notable displays” of free-scoring midfielder João Marques, and centre-back Bernardo Vital, who “improved greatly with the appointment of Vasco Seabra and shows much more capacity in a formation with three centre-backs than in a 4-man defence.”

To round off the Estoril praise, Malheiro also flagged up the midfield duo of Jordan Holsgrove and Mateus Fernandes, saying the Scot “has built on the excellent potential he showed at Paços de Ferreira last season” and the Sporting loanee is “showing the ability to justify a place in Sporting’s first-team squad next season.”

Without doubt Estoril are a fun team to watch this season, and with their next two games against leaders Sporting (tomorrow) in the Primeira Liga and Porto (Tuesday) in the Portuguese Cup, Seabra’s side could be in the headlines again in the coming days.

Handel comes back stronger than ever

For Vitória, Cunha highlighted the strides made by midfielder João Mendes and left-back Ricardo Mangas, as well as the two midfield Silvas, Dani Silva and Tiago Silva, with the reemergence of former Portugal U21 midfielder Tomás Handel (pictured right) also commented upon. “Handel is in the best form of his career since breaking into the first team and is having a great season after getting over his terrible injury. He deserves it,” said Malheiro.

Moreirense are a team that have exceeded expectations, and according to the journalists it is in no small measure down to midfielders Gonçalo Franco and Alanzinho, and in several editions of the podcast they have opined that striker André Luís is arguably the best header of the ball and hold-up striker in Portugal. “Unfortunately it seems he’s off to China, and this is a problem for Portugal’s smaller teams. It’s tough for them to keep hold of their stand-out players.”

Also mentioned was right-back Fabiano, “who failed at Braga but is now flying at Moreirense, and he is perhaps a player who performs better with less pressure on his shoulders.”

As ever, Famalicão have a sprinkling of extremely talented players, with French midfielder Zaydou Youssouf singled out, in addition to centre-back Otávio, “a centre-back with a big future at a higher level in front of him.” Also mentioned was young midfielder Gustavo Sá, the 19-year-old catching the eye with “his quality of passing, and he can improve further by being played nearer the opposition box as he’s an excellent finisher.”

Boavista have had an up-and-down season but one player who has impressed throughout is forward Tiago Morais, “a winger who can hurt the opposition out wide but also by cutting infield.”

Andrew’s Olympic dream

According to Rui Malheiro the best goalkeeper outside the big four is Gil Vicente’s Andrew (pictured left). “Gil is one team with Andrew between the sticks, another team without him in goal. That is why they are trying to stop him going to Brazil’s pre-Olympic team, although for Andrew himself he may get more visibility going to the tournament because he will be Brazil’s first-choice goalkeeper.”

Andrew’s teammate Maxime Dominguez is also flagged up, the Swiss midfielder “catching the eye with his elegance.”

After talking at length about the above teams and individuals, Rui Malheiro listed more players who have stood out this season position by position:

Defenders: Kialonda Gaspar (Estrela da Amadora), Costinha (Rio Ave) and Francisco Moura (Famalicão) – “the best left-back in the league”

Midfielders: Carlinhos (Portimonense) – “he plays for a team that doesn’t play the best football, but when he gets the ball it’s a different story; he has tremendous quality,” Beni (Casa Pia), Pablo Roberto (Casa Pia) – “he started the season brilliantly, dipped in form, but has now come back strongly,” Matheus Oliveira (Farense) – “at almost 30 years of age he’s playing the best football of his career.”

Forwards: Cristo González, Rafa Mujica and Jason Remeseiro (all Arouca) – “under Daniel Ramos, Jason was not given enough trust/chances. Now with the new coach he is coming to the fore, and in Spain he had already showed his great quality and he’s very experienced,” Héctor Hernández (Chaves), Mohamed Belloumi (Farense), Jota Silva (Vitória), Puma Rodriguez (Famalicão) and Samuel Essende (Vizela) – “when Essende gets going he’s an extremely difficult player to stop.”

There you have it. As Cunha noted, “it’s easy to pick out players from practically every team in Portugal who have stood out,” which is proof that the league has far more to offer than just the title race, with dozens of high-quality players showcasing their ability from north to south of the country.

@tomasrdacunha and @ruimalheiro respectively. To listen to their weekly podcast on Portuguese football click here: No Princípio era a Bola.

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