He sold two stalwarts of the old regime Bruno Alves and Raul Meireles for a combined amount of over £30million and built the side around the axis of Argentine Belluschi and former Sporting Lisbon star Joao Moutinho.
Villas Boas at 33 is the youngest manager in the Portuguese top flight and learned his trade under one Jose Mourinho who had him as part of his backroom staff at Porto, Chelsea and Inter. Just like his mentor he is an excellent man manager as well as a tactician.
When asked about some of the fringe players he responded "Every player in the squad is an important player. They all have a place," he said . "I have praised both Andre Castro and Ukra (Andre Monteiro) publicly and privately. I don't want to lose them. James has incredible potential and I intend to make him realise it. He will have opportunities (in the Portuguese Cup and Europa League) against Juventude Evora and Sofia, which will be good opportunities for him and they won't be his last, that's for sure." Following these comments youngster James Rodriguez went on to put in two excellent performances helping Porto beat Sofia and Juventude de Evora in the Portuguese Cup.This is just one example of how Villas Boas gets the best out of even his players.
In his side Moutinho acts as the "Xavi", he keeps the game ticking and opens up space for his team mates with his accurate passing. He also brings ball winning industry to the midfield which he needs to have being in a midfield with one holding player. One well known football site when looking at him form this season has said "Given his performances this season, it seems inconceivable that he was not selected for the World Cup this summer, but it is true."
The full backs for Porto are the Romanian Sapanaru and Portugal man Pereira who both like to get forward but are nothing special. What its spectacular about this team are the front five, the midfielders I mentioned earlier and the trio of Hulk, Varela and Falcao.
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| Hulk (left) and Falcao (right) celebrate another goal |
The thing with the attacking trio which is most notable is the fluidity of their play with especially Varela and Hulk switching positions. Varela is a left winger and has been described by IMScouting as a " fast player, with great overall technique and excellent dribbling skills." He is the only natural winger out of the trio but still manages to get on the scoresheet, this season he's played 16 games scoring goals and providing 1 for his teammates.
This side plays in a 4-3-3 formation which has been compared to the system Jose Mourinho played in his early seasons at Chelsea. Hulk is considered their best player and plays in the inside right position where is explosive shot and powerful runs can cause some serious damage. When describing him a Portuguese commentator said "With all due respect to the other professional footballers playing in Portugal, Hulk does not belong in our championship. He's too good." His statistics this season are amazing in 15 appearances he has scored 16 goals and provided 8 for his teammates, he is a one man defence wrecking machine.
His link up play with Belluschi has been key this season and was the main talking point in their 5-0 victory against rivals Benfica, in which all the goals came for the Porto right side both players occupy.
To top of this trident is Colombian hitman Radamel Falcao. He is what Arsene Wenger would call a "fox in the box" if there is a chance more than likely he'll be at the end of it. He's scored 8 goals in 14 games and can be seen scoring from a brilliant back heel in the clip above.
I have chosen this side more for their attacking flair than its defensive attributes which I haven't spoken about for good reason. But people in England say that Arsenal are a good team to watch, I think Porto are far more aesthetically pleasing due to the intensity, pace and power at which they attack.
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