Pitchside

Pre-season.

All six players reported back for training with no injuries or specific cause for concern. As you would expect after an end of season break the profiles of each player were largely full of red arrows indicating a losses in many of their attributes (the exception to this being Rogério who had maintained the vast majority of his attributes and even improved on three of them). (more…)

Draws, draws and more damned draws.

No match against Grêmio in the first Group Stage of the State Championships for a change, though we were drawn with perennial champions Internacional. A poor start saw us take just one point from the first three games which included a frankly humiliating 4-1 thrashing by São José (they would also beat us 2-1 in the return match). Winning five of the remain seven fixtures saw us scrape through to the next stage, however there was no masking the fact that once again we had under-achieved in the early stage and only progressed due to a degree of luck. (more…)

Today marks the start of a new series of articles which will take a look at six of my first-team squad over the course of an entire season. This will include looking at the condition the players are in when they return from the short end of season break in Brazil and at the end of each subsequent month. The idea of the project is to look at how the players’ attributes change over the season and hopefully to assess how much impact injuries, training and the number of matches played can make on the players. (more…)

A close shave.

The State Championships saw us grouped with Grêmio (again) and four other teams who should have been there to make up the numbers. It didn’t quite turn out that way as Gaúcho beat us home and away to take some of the gloss off our first victory over Grêmio. Ultimately, we finished third in the group and were disappointed not to have topped it. (more…)

Tiers – Primera A and Primera B.

Cup Competitions – None.

Other Competitions – None.

Overview.

The current system of play in Colombia was introduced in 1999, though many systems have been used over the years (the 1996-97 season actually lasted 18 months due to the strange system used) . The current system is by no means popular with coaches, players or clubs and has received criticism for being unfair (America de Cali topped the league for four consecutive stages over two seasons yet failed to win a trophy on any occasion) and overly complex. Taking a closer look at the league suggests otherwise as it’s certainly no more complex than most other South American leagues. (more…)