January 2017
As discussed in the previous post (if you haven’t seen it click here) I will be writing three Youth Development posts per season with Porto. Each January update will be an update on how our under 19’s and our B-team are progressing in their leagues.
We’ll be taking a look at several homegrown players who may soon make the step up to the first-team plus we’ll have a brief update on our first-team.
Under 19’s
We’ve managed to thin out our under 19’s to solely include homegrown players by releasing those who do not fit into our ideology. Some of our most promising youngsters in the under 19’s include:
- Diogo Costa (17), GK
Diogo Costa has appeared on the bench for the first-team but has yet to make an appearance. It is far too early for him to be considered for first-team action in the league and with two goalkeepers the cup matches should be used as gametime for our backup. But Iker Casillas has been away due to homesickness leaving Costa to sit on the bench, meaning that Costa could be one injury away from a first-team call up.
- Diogo Queiros (17), DC
- Victor Ferreira (16), DM / MC
- Afonso Sousa (16), MC / AMC
- Miguel Magalhaes (16), AMRL / ST
- Leandro Campos (16), AML / ST
I am very excited about Leandro Campos. His 20 determination will help him to develop faster (I hope) and he looks set to be a very promising player for our series.
Best Performers
U19’s League Table
Just the one defeat for our under 19’s so far this year. Of our youngsters Miguel Magalhaes has peformed the best, averaging a rating 7.79 per match. He’s topping both the goals and assists charts which is an impressive return for the 16 year old.
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B-Team
Our B-team compete in the Second Division in Portugal, therefore it would not make sense to rid the side of all of those players who do not fit our homegrown criteria.
However over time the B-side will gradually become homegrown through the progression of our under 19 squad.
Here are some promising youngsters from our B-team, including those who have made first-team appearances.
- Diogo Verdasca (20), DC. Appearances: 10 (2)
Diego Verdasco has made several first-team appearances so far this year. With just three senior centre-backs Verdasco has often been one of our first-choice defenders when others were unavailable.Â
- Fernando Fonseca (19), DR. Appearances: 9 (1)
Fernando Fonesca is currently our second choice right back after Mexican Miguel Layun. Maxi Pereira, despite being superior to Fonseca, will remain backup due to both his age and because he isn’t part of our future.
- Francisco Ramos (21), MC
- Rui Pires (18), MC. Appearances: 2 (7)
Rui Pedro came in as a back-up after our star midfielder Ruben Neves damaged his achilles tendon. However he will be heading back to the B-team upon Neves’ return.
- Ruben Macedo (20), AMRL
Best Performers
Second Division League Table
Our B-team are performing very well in the Portuguese Second Division. We currently sit in second place behind Portimonense, with Ruben Macedo outperforming the rest of our second squad.
FC Porto First Team
Our first-team have had an average start to the year. We are sitting in fourth place and are nine points behind Benfica with a game in hand.
The expectation of the board is that we win the league however my hope is for a third place finish at least. This will secure Champions League football (although we failed to qualify through the playoffs this year).
Ruben Neves, the future of this save, injured his achilles tendon back in Septemeber and has been out injured since. Hopefully this doesn’t hinder his development too much. We’ll have to cross our fingers!
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Thanks for reading our second Youth Development post with FC Porto. Our next post will be out in March of this season and we will be looking at our youth intake.
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