Part III — Bringing the threads together

10 | THE WORKSHOP OPENS

There’s a limit to what can be learned from the outside. I’ve spent weeks trying to understand the neighbourhood and the footballing world into which Atlético belongs. But research can only take me so far. I haven’t seen the squad, analysed the staff, or learnt how to setup a training session at Tapadinha, let alone even got my hands on a version of Football Manager.

For now, Atletico is a collection of histories, possibilities, and unanswered questions. The game will supply the answers, although not necessarily the ones I expect.

It’s time to meet the club.

11 | DAY ZERO

The research is done, at least for now. I’ve spent weeks exploring the history of Atlético, the neighbourhood it calls home and the ideas that will shape this save. I’ve written about what I believe football should be, what a club can mean to its community, and the traditions Santiago Bentancur will carry with him to Lisbon. Now it’s time to stop imagining the job and start doing it.

Today, 6 July 2026, I take over at Tapadinha. I don’t yet know what the squad looks like in practice, where the finances stand, or how much work lies ahead. I have ambitions for Atlético, but ambitions are only useful when they’re grounded in an honest understanding of where you’re starting from. My first task is to listen, observe and learn; the plans can follow once I know what I’m working with.

I want to build something here that lasts beyond a good season or a handful of promising players. That doesn’t mean arriving with all the answers, and it certainly doesn’t mean pretending the journey will follow a script I’ve already written. The game will have its own demands, its own setbacks and, I hope, a few surprises. I’ll have to respond to them as they come.

For now, there is a club to meet, a squad to assess and a new season to prepare for. The notebook is open, the save has begun, and the next chapter belongs to what happens inside the game. The following posts will matter little in the long run but will allow me to baseline where I am and begin my work feeling immersed with the squad, staff and current picture at the club.

Day zero. Let’s get to work.

12 | THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PROJECT

A football club is rarely just the eleven players who walk onto the pitch, or even the manager who decides how they should play. Behind every team sits an organisation of people with different ambitions, different understandings of the game and, occasionally, very different ideas about what success should look like. Before Ican begin shaping Atlético CP in Santi’s own image, it is worth understanding the people who have already shaped the institution I have inherited.

The Boardroom

The club’s latest chapter began in 2024, when an investment group led by American businessman Gifford Miller acquired control of the senior men’s football operation, bringing with it ambitions to strengthen the football structure, improve the Estádio da Tapadinha and build a more competitive organisation without severing the connection between the football company and the wider club.

Miller’s background is unusual for a football owner. Before moving into real estate and investment, he built a career in New York City politics, serving on the City Council from 1996 to 2005 and becoming its speaker in 2002. His experience was in public administration, negotiation and the construction of political coalitions; football is a different world, certainly, but the ability to bring competing interests together around a common objective is hardly irrelevant. His son, Marshall Miller, also appears within Atlético’s senior management structure, creating a family dimension to the new ownership. The involvement of both generations raises an interesting question about the project’s long-term character: whether Atlético will become a conventional investment vehicle, a family-led enterprise with a sporting ambition, or something that can reconcile commercial growth with the identity of an institution that long predates its new benefactors.

Alongside that investment sits Ricardo Delgado, the club’s president and a figure associated with its recovery from a difficult period. Delgado led Atlético through years in which the institution sought to rebuild its sporting structure, restore confidence and reconnect its ambitions with its community. The club’s subsequent return to national prominence, culminating in the 2023 Campeonato de Portugal title, provides a measure of that work. His presence is a reminder that the current project did not begin with the arrival of American capital; there was considerable repair to be done before the club could contemplate a different future.

Between the boardroom and the football department sits João Leite de Carvalho, whose professional background offers a glimpse of the organisation Atlético is trying to become. Educated in law, with interests in business development, brand and culture, Carvalho represents a more contemporary approach to football administration, in which commercial partnerships, public identity and relationships beyond the pitch are treated as part of the sporting project rather than distractions from it. Together, these figures embody the tension at the heart of the new Atlético: an old Lisbon institution seeking a more ambitious future, supported by new money and modern business thinking, but still carrying the history and expectations of the neighbourhood from which it emerged.

The Training Ground

The coaching staff is functional, if unevenly equipped. João Machado brings authority and a strong youth-development profile to the assistant manager’s position, while Francisco Figueiredo offers a useful combination of general coaching ability and an aptitude for working with younger players. Hugo Trincalhetas, meanwhile, gives the club a foundation on the academy side. There is something appropriate about that starting point for a manager whose philosophy owes as much to education as it does to tactics. Bentancur does not need to arrive with a complete staff of celebrated specialists; he needs people who can help players understand their responsibilities, improve their decisions and learn to function within a collective structure. That is the work of The Teacher, and it will matter whether Atlético are playing in front of four thousand supporters at the Tapadinha or travelling to a difficult away fixture in Liga 3. The immediate weakness is depth. Goalkeeping, fitness and set-piece coaching have dedicated appointments, but the wider group has limited specialist coverage. There is room to improve, although the first task is to establish what the existing coaches can contribute before deciding where the next investment should go.

Recruitment

The recruitment structure presents a similar picture. Pedro Henriques provides a starting point in scouting, while Dani and Rodrigo Moreira occupy important positions within the football administration. Their responsibilities, alongside those of the technical director and recruitment analyst, will determine how effectively the club identifies players and converts its ambitions into a squad. This is particularly important for a project built around development rather than constant replacement. Bentancur’s ideas require players who can learn, adapt and understand the relationships between positions; identifying those qualities is not always the same as identifying the best player available today. For now, the manager must work within the existing structure and build a clearer understanding of how decisions are made. Over time, the objective will be to develop a recruitment process that recognises both immediate ability and the potential to grow, with the club’s financial circumstances and footballing identity informing every decision.

Medical and Sports Science

The remaining departments are less visible to supporters, but their contribution will become increasingly important as the project develops. The medical team must help maintain availability, the fitness staff must prepare players for the demands of the season, and the analysts must provide information that helps the coaching team distinguish between a genuine tactical problem and the inevitable fluctuations of football. The baseline suggests that these areas deserve attention, but not immediate disruption. We need to observe their work, understand their specialist responsibilities and identify where better provision would produce a tangible improvement.