Relive Mourinho’s iconic 2004 FC Porto tactics in Football Manager 2026 with this detailed FM26 recreation, role breakdown and results.
Back in late January, 2002, José Mourinho was appointed as the new FC Porto manager, taking the reins from Octávio Machado.
In José’s first full season at the club, he guided the club to great success, as they beat Scottish outfit, Celtic, 3-2 in the UEFA Europa League Final to win the club’s first piece of European silverware since 1987.
José, and his Porto team, would go one better a year later, however, as they shocked the whole of Europe by winning the UEFA Champions League.
They would stunningly beat the likes of Manchester United and Deportivo de La Coruña on their way to the Final, where they would go on to dismantle Didier Deschamps’ AS Monaco, 3-0.
In this article, I’ll be providing my brief analysis of the system José employed to achieve such success, before demonstrating my recreation of their tactics on Football Manager 26, and showcasing the outstanding results said tactics achieved in testing.
Firstly, let’s break down the core principles of the system.
The Art of Pragmatism
Throughout his managerial career, José Mourinho has always been seen as the Godfather of pragmatism – and, considering his time at FC Porto, you can quickly understand why.
José would constantly adapt and alter his team’s approach and, more noticeably, their shape without the ball, all depending on the opponent in front of them.
FC Porto primarily set up in a narrow 4-1-2-1-2 formation, with an emphasis on getting one of the full-backs (traditionally the left-back) high and wide.
However, for big UEFA Champions League games (especially away at tough grounds/vs tough opponents), the team would drop into a vertically compact 4-3-1-2 formation without the ball; This shape contained three defensive midfielders, who could marshal the space between the lines, mark opposition attackers, and/or hassle anyone who would receive in this space.
The Terrifying Trident
Whilst the imposing back-four and industrious midfield three behind would primarily focus on defending and retaining a solid shape, the front three would work in tandem to consistently create and score goals.
As Porto would drop deeper, especially in big games, the front three would waive their defensive responsibilities slightly – rather, they would remain slightly higher in order to be in an optimal position to spearhead the team’s counter-attacks.
When Porto had the ball, you’d regularly see the three roaming and rotating positions with one another, causing mass confusion for opposition defenders who would try to mark them.
Sometimes, Deco would drop deeper as the side’s playmaker to conduct play and orchestrate attacks, before busting a gut to attack space in-behind or to crash the box as a tertiary crossing option.
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
In Possession:
When Porto had the ball, they showed their immense pragmatism and flexibility in games as they could situationally decide how direct their play would be – sometimes, they would use a range of shorter passes to control the game, whilst other times, they would go a bit more direct to try and put the opposition under more, immediate danger; In general, they would operate at a relatively high tempo.
José did give his players licence to be more expressive, as players would often roam and rotate with one another, whilst using tricky combinations to derail the opposition’s defensive exploits.
Another way they could unravel opposition defences would be to launch devastating counter-attacks as soon as they were to regain the ball.
From build-up, Vitor Baía would predominantly go long towards Derlei, who was particularly adept aerially and could flick the ball on to a team-mate in close proximity.
Finally, Porto would often try and exploit the space left in-behind by the opposition’s defensive line.
Out of Possession:
When Porto didn’t have the ball for prolonged periods, they would drop into a vertically compact mid-block, of which was focused on marking central passing options and forcing the opposition to play wide.
Despite primarily engaging on, and around, the halfway line, Porto could sometimes press slightly higher if they forced the opposition team back.
Additionally, José instructed his defence to hold a slightly higher line, compacting the space between the lines further, whilst encouraging his defenders to step-up and hassle opposition attackers.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper:
Vitor Baía’s instructions, in possession, were pretty simple: Go long and bypass build-up.
When Porto didn’t have the ball, however, his instructions were a bit more complex, as he was asked to regularly sweep up loose through balls in-behind the team’s higher defensive line.
Full-Back | Full-Back:
Both full-backs in this system were asked to move wider and provide the team’s width, considering the narrow nature of the side’s formation.
However, of the two full-backs, Paulo Ferreira was the least adventurous, as he would primarily stay deeper to provide the team with a solid base to defend opposition counter-attacks; However, this doesn’t mean that he didn’t move higher at times, particularly if his full-back counterpart dropped slightly deeper.
Centre-Back | Centre-Back:
Both centre-backs, in this system, were pretty conservative generally, both typically opting to focus on their defensive responsibilities.
However, there was a slight disparity between the pair…
Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back:
…and that was that Carvalho, on the left-side, would often take more risks in possession, as he could afford to do so, thanks to his fantastic passing range and pinpoint accuracy at times.
However, for the most part, he was just as reserved as his defensive partner, in possession.
There was also a slight difference in how the pair fared when Porto didn’t have the ball too, as Carvalho would often drop slightly deeper to be able to cover the space in-behind – although, this did often see him needlessly keeping opposition attackers onside.
Wing-Back | Full-Back:
As explained earlier, the left-back was, typically, the more advanced and adventurous of the two full-backs.
In this system, Nuno Valente would move higher and wider, offering overlapping runs and crosses into the penalty area.
Defensive Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder:
Costinha was, simply put, the ‘watercarrier’ for this team, simply retaining and recycling possession with the ball at his feet and putting out fires without the ball.
All four of the midfielders, in this system, would mark the closest opponent to them very tightly, making life for the opposition very difficult in central areas.
(MCR & MCL) Central Midfielder | Central Midfielder:
Both Pedro Mendes and Maniche had similar roles in this system.
When Porto would regain possession, both could carry the ball as a means of progression, surging their team forward during counter-attacking situations.
And when Porto would have possession of the ball for prolonged periods, both players could take it in turns to make untracked runs into the penalty area to crash the box when crosses were put in.
Additionally, both central midfielders were given licence to roam – although, they would primarily move wider to link-up with the full-back on their respective side.
Attacking Midfielder | Attacking Midfielder:
Deco was the creative hub of this side, constantly orchestrating attacks, and was at the heart of everything the side did when attacking – whilst often being on the receiving end of creativity from one of the two strikers ahead of him.
With the ball at his feet, Deco would regularly take players on and was obsessed with creating goalscoring opportunities – for himself or team-mates.
As such, he was given almost complete licence to move wherever he please to get on the ball and/or impact play.
A true, creative genius.
Channel Forward | Centre Forward:
Benni McCarthy’s impact on this side was, and still is, heavily underrated, as he would often peel off to create space for the likes of Deco and Pedro Mendes to exploit.
Additionally, whilst Derlei would sometimes drop deep to link-up play between the lines, Benni McCarthy would make the threatening runs in-behind to attack the space left by opposition defenders stepping up.
Centre Forward | Centre Forward:
Whilst Derlei’s aerial proficiency was certainly useful for the side, he wasn’t restricted to just a ‘Target Forward’ role, or a role of the sort.
Rather, his role was very flexible, as he could drop deep, spin in-behind, or even run the channels on the left-side.
He was very complete.
Results
Liga Portugal:
We dominated the league in testing, winning 30 of our 34 league games, whilst drawing 3, and losing just 1 game all season.
In total, we accumulated 93 points from a possible 102 achievable, displaying our complete dominance in the league.
Additionally, we were the league’s top scoring team, scoring 95 league goals (2.7 goals per game), whilst being the league’s meanest defensive outfit, conceding just 16 league goals (0.47 goals per game) all season.
Domestic Cups:
We secured our first piece of silverware for the season by winning the Allianz Taça da Liga, beating C.D. Tondela 3-1 in the Final.
On our way to Taça da Liga success, we beat rivals Sporting 0-4 in the Semi-Finals, following a convincing 5-1 win over Vítoria S.C. in the Quarter-Finals.
We followed this up with further domestic success, as we won the Taça de Portugal, beating rivals Sporting (again!) 3-0 in the Final!
On our way to the Final, we beat the likes of Benfica (6-5 AGG) and C.D. Santa Clara (0-4).
UEFA Europa League:
We repeated the famous, European success of ’03, rather than 04’, by winning the UEFA Europa League, following a tight 1-2 victory against Italian outfit, Bologna, in the Final!
On our way to the Final, we overcame AS Roma (5-0 AGG), SC Freiburg (4-1 AGG), and Olympique Lyonnais (2-4 AGG), after topping the League Phase with a 100% win rate.
Read Also
- FM26 Tactics Hub
- FM26 Best Youth Academies
- FM26 Wonderkids by PA, Price & Position
- FM26 Transfer Budgets
Conclusion
Not many knew it, way back when in 2002, but José Mourinho’s appointment as Manager of FC Porto would prove to be revolutionary, changing the tactical landscape and leading a generation of pragmatists, as he mastered every challenge.
José’s FC Porto side of ’04 will go down in history, not least because of the sheer shock of their European success – but, also the fact that such success would be the beginning of a managerial dynasty that would echo in football for years to come.
If you want a taste of this devastating tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and make sure to follow FM Blog (@fmbIog) and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials.
I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves!
Thanks for reading!
