Bengaluru FC: How does Raphael Augusto fit into this Blues side? | ISL 2019-20
Many heads turned in the off-season, when defending Indian Super League champions Bengaluru FC announced the signing of Raphael Augusto after he left Chennaiyin FC to become a free agent.
On the face of it, it was a coup. In landing one of the best midfielders in the league, and prising him away from their biggest rivals, Bengaluru had people talking in-depth about their new Brazilian acquisition.
The Bengaluru FC manager was surprised, if we are to believe his own words.
But, how does he fit in Carles Cuadrat's system? Does he fit in at all? The manager himself has no such worries about the Brazilian adjusting to his ways when he addressed the press during Bengaluru FC's media day on Friday.
"You know how much Raphael loves to play with the ball, and you know how much this club loves to keep the ball so I guess everyone's happy!" Cuadrat said.
Obviously though, from a tactical standpoint, there's going to be a lot more to do for Augusto than just to keep the ball.
The midfield was one of Bengaluru's weaknesses last season, with Harmanjot Khabra the only senior Indian available for that position. The likes of Ajay Chhetri and Boithang Haokip did play a few games there, but they didn't make any impact. Even Khabra is seen as a utility player, deputising in the full-back positions very often.
This season, Bengaluru seem to have addressed that depth issue with the acquisitions of Augusto and Eugeneson Lyngdoh, who returns to his old stomping ground. With Dimas Delgado and Erik Paartalu staying on with the Blues, where does that leave Augusto?
Last season, Cuadrat didn't show too much of an intention to veer away from a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Xisco Hernandez mostly taking his place as the No.10, behind the lone striker (Sunil Chhetri or Miku). There is a case to be made for Raphael being a straight swap for Xisco, who has left for Odisha FC, but that might not be his best position.
Augusto's biggest strengths are his ability to use his body to shield possession, and then use his skill to advance the ball from midfield. Would those strengths be better suited to playing a deeper midfield role?
In 62 ISL games so far, the Brazilian has made 3507 passes at an accuracy of 77%, while only managing to muster six assists. Dimas, on the other hand, has eight assists in his ISL career, despite playing 800 minutes less than the Brazilian.
Augusto has also made 285 successful tackles, and 82 interceptions, in addition to 80 blocks - all of which suggest that he won't be a fish out of water in a deeper midfield role.
The Spaniard in Bengaluru's midfield also has the advantage of having played with Chhetri and Udanta Singh for two years now and would be able to more readily link-up play on the same wavelength as the attackers.
It's pretty obvious that neither Dimas nor Augusto will be the perfect No.10. So Cuadrat's decision will probably have to be based on what he sees as utilising the pair's strengths the better. One solution could be to move away from the 4-2-3-1 and move to a 4-3-3 system, where Paartalu is the deepest-lying midfielder, and both Dimas and Augusto have the freedom to shuttle back and forth from midfield.
A 4-3-3 is not an alien system to Bengaluru, even though it has very rarely been used under Cuadrat. His predecessor Albert Roca largely played a 4-3-3 system, especially in the early part of the 2017-18 ISL season. At that time, it was Edu Garcia and Dimas who played as the two No.8s in the system.
Bengaluru's squad now is not too different to what it was then, with continuity being a huge factor in their recruitment policy. So, there's a fair argument to be made for it to be given a try.
Last season, with Paartalu injured, and Alex Barrera not arriving till late, Cuadrat's hands were tied in moving Dimas to the deepest midfield role, and he couldn't impact the games as much.
In a 4-3-3, it would be ideal for both Dimas and Augusto. Paartalu can clean up doing the dirty work behind them, and allow the two ball-players to get their feet on the ball and set Bengaluru going.
It also helps Cuadrat that Dimas and Augusto are very contrasting players. While the Spaniard is more from the pass-and-move school of football, Augusto has often enjoyed taking matters into his own hands and dribbling with it, and even sometimes getting in advance of the strikers at Chennaiyin FC.
That's what Bengaluru will need from their midfielders, especially if Chhetri starts as the lone striker. The Indian captain is never one who is going to play on the shoulder of the last defender. He will drop deep to get touches of the ball, and in those times, it's going to be imperative for the midfielders to get in advance of him.
Augusto can do that from the deeper role, and being younger than Dimas, he's definitely got more legs than the Spaniard, too.
To get the best out of both Dimas and Augusto, Cuadrat might need to make a slight tweak to his system, and the manager has said he has tried different systems and patterns in pre-season.
We'll get to know on Monday evening, when Bengaluru take on NorthEast United at their Fortress Kanteerava, but one thing's for sure, in Miku's absence, they're going to have to spread the goals.
Augusto has happy memories of scoring at the Kanteerava, he'll be looking for a lot more final third involvement again this season. For Bengaluru's best, it might be that he does it from a slightly withdrawn role than he has done for Chennaiyin in the past four seasons.