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Portuguese coaches are in vogue.

While Jose Mourinho has been winning trophies for the best part of 15 years, a new generation are now following in his path.

Men such as Leonardo Jardim at Monaco, Paulo Sousa at Fiorentina and Andre Villas-Boas at Shanghai SIPG have achieved success across Europe and beyond.

Closer to home we have Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha himself, Watford and Wolves have appointed Marco Silva and Nuno Espirito Santo while Sheffield Wednesday already have Carlos Carvalhal in place.

(Image: Shaun Botterill) (Image: AFP)

What all these coaches have in common is their adherence to a coaching model developed by Oporto academic Vitor Frade known as tactical periodisation.

It's a complex, academic model that as Caixinha himself admits "isn't easy to understand".

We have done the hard yards to attempt to explain it and why it may have been a crucial aspect of the Portuguese boss' reign so far.