João Brandão: “This new generation is always in a rush” | OneFootball

João Brandão, coach of FC Porto’s B team, believes that a winning culture plays a decisive role in the development of the Dragons’ young players. The coach also highlighted the principles he considers “non-negotiable” for everyone who represents the club.

Speaking on the 351st episode of the The Pitch Invaders podcast, by Footure, the coach explained that the reserve team must replicate the level of demand that exists in the first team squad. “It is essential that we create an environment and a setting that are very close to what the first team is,” he said, arguing that this closeness depends on “having the demand to win.” Among the essential principles, he pointed to “resilience, the way we push ourselves every day, and the way we know we have to do twice as much as others to get the same result.”

Brandão also praised the work carried out by the Board led by André Villas-Boas. “Above all, the president brought a vision. Beyond that vision, the president brought what is an organization and a structure that allows players to have all the conditions to develop their game,” he said. As proof of the progress made, he recalled last season’s results: “The results are there to see; last season we managed to make all of FC Porto’s football teams winners.”

The Porto coach also referred to the specific demands of competing in Liga 2 with a B team. In his view, it is a rather unusual and particularly demanding competitive reality. “We compete in a professional league and we can be relegated. It is the same as imagining an under-20 team competing in Brazil’s Série B,” he explained.

In the interview, João Brandão also spoke about the deep bond he has with FC Porto. “My passion for football and for FC Porto comes from birth, literally,” he confessed. The coach revealed that his father was involved in football for 50 years and that, from a very early age, he experienced the atmosphere of “the dressing room from a very young age.” Realizing that he was not “particularly gifted at playing the game,” he decided to follow the technical path, beginning his coaching career at the age of 20.

As for the type of player he looks for, he was emphatic: “Passion and competence are fundamental.” Even so, he criticized the way the new generation approaches football, saying they “are in too much of a hurry and live too much off expectations, off tomorrow; they place too little value on today.” It is the coach’s role to “make them understand the context and the reality,” giving young players confidence and integrating them into the process so that they understand the purpose of each task.

The work with the B team therefore involves developing the players’ resilience and ability to overcome challenges, preparing them for difficulties that many face for the first time. It is a level where demands are high and the collective interest outweighs the individual. “The team always comes first,” he stresses, reinforcing one of the club’s main principles.

The “Porto-style” player profile

Among the “non-negotiable values” for anyone who wears the FC Porto shirt are resilience in the face of difficulties and the conviction that “we have to do twice as much as others to get the same result.” The sense of belonging to the club, the city, and the northern region also plays a central role. The academy aims to produce players who are physically and mentally prepared to take center stage and always seek victory, regardless of the opponent.

“We have been developing our players for a more aggressive, faster-paced game that gives opponents no room to breathe.”

Betting on youth and the challenges

The reduction in the B team’s average age is a direct result of the strategy defined for the future. In an “increasingly aggressive” market, the reserve setup has also become a space for observing and developing 16- and 17-year-old talents. The goal is to give them “the ideal context and the necessary time so they can perform in the first team in the future.”

The coach admits, however, that this policy brings “growing pains in the team’s competitive capacity.” Even so, the Board remains committed to the project and convinced that this is the path that must be followed, especially “in defeats and in moments when doubts are raised about this project.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.