The season is around the corner and transfers are being unveiled one after the other, bringing smiles on the faces of their respective fan bases. One such smiling cause for the Gaurs or FC Goa fans is the signing of Paulo Retre, their brand new midfield general, from Australia. The former Sydney FC player has joined FC Goa and has brought new hopes for the team, especially with the departure of Edu Bedia who was not just a fan favourite but also a key player in this FC Goa setup.
In this article, we try to shed some light on how Paulo Retre fits into Manolo Marquez’s set-up as well as what FC Goa fans can expect from the Australian midfielder.
Who is Paulo Retre?
Paulo Retre is a 30-year-old Australian professional footballer who began his senior footballing career in the 2014-15 season when he was promoted to the main team of Melbourne City FC from their U-21 division. Paulo has 3 international appearances for the Australian U-20 side where he scored 1 goal. Playing for Melbourne for a whole 3 seasons until the 2017-18 season when he attracted offers from one of the rival sides in the same competition, Sydney FC was positive in bringing in Paulo and they succeeded in their attempt.
After leaving Melbourne City FC Paulo joined Sydney FC where he started his scoring tally for his new club by scoring against his former club itself. He continued his journey with the team until the end of the 2022-23 A-League season, bagging a total of 4 goals and assisting 8 in 168 games.
Paulo has won two A-League titles with Sydney FC and was also a crucial part of his team playing 1580 minutes in the previous season. Paulo can play as a central midfielder and a holding midfielder which gives him an additional edge to fit in well in any given squad.
How would Paulo Retre fit into Manolo Marquez’s System?
We all know how Manolo Marquez likes his team to play an attacking and expressive brand of football as we had seen him do so with Hyderabad FC and we expect nothing less than that at FC Goa. Manolo mostly preferred a 4-2-3-1 or a variation based on a 4-5-1 where most of the time the key defensive midfield responsibilities were on Joao Victor.
With Goa having Rowllin Borges it is without a question that Paulo Retre would complement his partner and provide solidity in the Goan midfield. Along with that from a tactical point of view, Paulo is positionally very aware and has a decent enough vision to find a range of passes forward along with creating link-up play, quite perfect for Manolo and his style of play.
Paulo is also efficient in reading the opponent’s moves along with tracking back and provides a good amount of work rate. In addition, given that Manolo Marquez likes his full-backs joining the attack, Paulo would be key in not just supporting the defence but also acting as a passing option in wide and half spaces of midfield.
It might be seen that Paulo has been assigned as an immediate presser in the midfield and go chasing for second balls. Overall it seems like Paulo Retre will be quite a perfect fit in Manolo Marquez’s fancy style of football.
The Significance of this signing for FC Goa
In the past few years, FC Goa’s play has largely been centred around Edu Bedia and his departure from the club has been a thinking factor for the Gaurs. Hence the signing of Paulo Retre brings hope along with new dimensions to this FC Goa setup. He might be seen to start most of the games given the current look of the squad, especially with his experience and leadership abilities.
Paulo is versatile and adaptable, and as we mentioned above he can operate in different positions in the midfield which gives him an edge and brings a scope for tactical flexibility during a game. Manolo is a man-management master and he sure will leave no effort lacking in incorporating Paulo Retre’s strengths into the team’s tactics.
In the end, all we can conclude is that Paulo Retre might probably be a perfect fit to fill in the void left by Edu Bedia and has all potential to become the heartthrob of Goan fans.
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