Experience the thrill of the game

By Eduard Banulescu

From 2024, Vítor Bruno will have one of the most difficult but potentially most rewarding jobs in world football – he is the coach of FC Porto, one of the most legendary teams in Europe. After Sérgio Conceição was surprisingly sacked by new club president Andre-Villas Boas at the end of last season, it will be up to Bruno’s tactics and leadership style to bring Porto back to the top of the Portuguese football pyramid.

How is everything going? And are the club’s fans right to miss Conceição? I’ll try to get to the bottom of the matter by analyzing FC Porto’s Vítor Bruno’s tactics.

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Career before managing FC Porto

Vítor Bruno was a promising right-back and occasional midfielder. He spent his short career representing lower-class Portuguese teams such as Marialvas or Gandara and retired at the age of 25.

Bruno quickly developed an interest in working behind the scenes. He earned a degree in sports science at the University of Coimbra in 2009 and worked for Sérgio Conceição at little Olhanense in 2011. He then followed Conceição when he became coach of FC Porto, rising from the position of fitness coach to assistant coach.

In 2024, it was reported that Bruno and Conceicao had argued over the latter’s contract situation. Conceicao’s surprise departure from the club at the end of the 2023/24 season, in which the team won the cup but failed to win the league title, left a void.

The new club president Andre-Villas Boas, a man with a flair for footballing talent, decided to entrust his beloved FC Porto to Vítor Bruno for two years.

It goes without saying that Vitor Bruno contributed to Sergio Conceicao’s success at FC Porto. Conceicao’s methods also appear to have greatly influenced Bruno. The team’s current manager was ultimately part of a team that won eleven trophies, including three league titles.

Porto defends with a high defensive line. The four defenders play in a flat-four formation. This all means that they have to constantly be alert to strikers running behind them or missed offside traps.

Bruno’s FC Porto is trying to play a cutting-edge, high-energy game. The team presses tirelessly despite sitting in a high block, their attacking form is flexible and Bruno will rely on the players’ skills to deliver deadly balls or score goals in otherwise difficult situations.

Vitor Bruno has shown himself at his best as a new manager who already has plenty of knowledge and experience. His substitutions and slight tactical changes in the game often had a big impact.

However, the team cannot often rely on being a few goals behind. FC Porto’s attempts to get back into the game against tougher opponents resulted in further mistakes. And while FC Porto are currently in second place and have often played convincingly, defeats against rivals Sporting and Benfica have increased the pressure on the new coach.

Formations and adaptability

Vitor Bruno has relied almost exclusively on a 4-2-3-1 formation in games this season. This formation can easily change to a 4-2-2-2 when in possession of the ball. In defense, FC Porto can play in a 4-4-2 formation.

When talking about Bruno’s flexible tactical approach, it is important to emphasize that the manager is keen for his players to rotate frequently. This is a tactic that was used in Hungary’s Golden Generation of the 1950s, but has not been seen as often recently. This leaves opposing defenders confused and not knowing when to follow the player they need to push and when to sit back.

FC Porto in defense

As mentioned earlier, Porto’s players tend to resort to a 4-4-2 formation in defense. The team presses aggressively and purposefully. If it works, it can lead to great opportunities on the counterattack. However, this is still a work in progress as FC Porto are currently still allowing their opponents far too many chances to score.

FC Porto’s defenders try to limit the space and position themselves as compactly as possible. The attackers are instructed to apply pressure and prevent the opponents from building up from behind. Meanwhile, the movement of defensive midfielders Alan Varela and Stephen Eustaquio is intended to eliminate spaces between the lines where a clever false nine could operate.

Porto currently has the third-best defensive record in the league, just behind Benfica and Sporting. Part of this is due to the partnership of centre-backs Ze Pedro and Otavio. The former in particular had a strong season with 1.3 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game.

Porto on the attack

Vitor Bruno is fortunate to be working with a group of players he already knows and who have already incorporated many of the manager’s preferred tactics well.

Bruno’s Porto relies on many smart tactical decisions to secure scoring opportunities. The goal is largely to create numerical superiority in advancing the ball.

That’s why FC Porto is trying to overload, especially in other areas. The team achieves this by incorporating the full-backs into the attack. Together with the wide midfielders, they must create 2v1 opportunities against the opposition full-backs.

Most of the team’s goals were scored through attacks from the wing or through clever use of half spaces. When using half spaces, the wide midfielders tend to push inwards and make underlapping runs past the full-backs. From this point, Porto’s players have the option to pass the ball back for a cutback or cross it.

Working without the ball is also crucial for FC Porto’s attacks. The players change often. When an attacking player makes a run, another acts as an opponent and drops deeper. Sometimes players try to overcrowd the central part of the field. All of this gives opposing defenders a lot of decisions that they have to make quickly or risk conceding a goal.

FC Porto’s biggest goal threat this season was 20-year-old Spanish attacker Samu Aghehowa. The versatile left full-back Galeno also contributed numerous goals. The attacking talents of 24-year-old Ivan Jaime have not gone unnoticed either.

What’s next for Vitor Bruno and FC Porto?

Many of Vitor Bruno’s FC Porto players are very young. Bruno himself is the new manager. Although Porto lost games against Sporting and Benfica at the start of the season, there is a feeling that the team can grow under his guidance.

Hiring him as manager was certainly a bold decision. However, Villas-Boas may have observed qualities in the team’s training that normal fans might not have seen.

Vitor Bruno’s tactics suggest he can have a bright future as a manager. However, if he fails to overcome rivals Sporting and Benfica en route to the league title, he may have to look elsewhere.

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