André Pereira: “We were the dominant team” | OneFootball

André Pereira, head coach of FC Porto’s futsal team, reflected on the winning debut in the Third Division, marked by a 7-1 home thrashing of Nun’Álvares B. The coach highlighted his team’s dominance, pointed to room for improvement in attacking efficiency, and praised both David Rodrigues’s return and the fans’ response. In the end, he did not hide his satisfaction and assured: “It is very good to feel that in such a vivid way.”

On the opening matchday of a project seeking to establish itself in the sport, FC Porto produced an authoritative display on the court, but André Pereira refused to focus solely on the result. The Porto coach focused on the finer details of the game, the team’s collective ability to react, and a path he believes is still far from complete.

Summing up the 40 minutes, the coach explained that the team had anticipated the type of opposition it would face and tried to find solutions to break down a deep defence.

“We were a dominant team. We studied the opponent and were already expecting to come up against a deep defence. We worked on our attack in the final third with different variations, but not all of them came off in the best possible way because these are things we still need to fine-tune,” he said. “In pre-season we did not face any challenge of this kind, so we had a lot of shots, but in some of them the decisions were not the best and our positioning was not ideal either. We have to improve in that area. Even so, I want to praise the team, because in defensive transition we showed great commitment and that deserves to be noted.”

The win did not, therefore, lessen the demands. Pereira saw a team capable of taking control of the game, but identified the precision of their attacking decisions as one of the areas FC Porto will have to work on.

The halftime talk had exactly that purpose: to give the attack more variety and turn attacking volume into goals.

“We had two or three worked moves to attack in the final third. We felt we needed a bit more variety, so we tried to add some attacking situations,” he explained. “We had 45 shots in the first half and only scored two goals, and we wanted to fine-tune that. We ended up scoring more goals in the second half, but even so I think the conversion rate has to increase considerably.”

The picture is clear: the second half brought more goals, but it did not change the diagnosis. For the coach, the ability to finish better will have to match the dominance the team has already shown.

David Rodrigues also earned a special mention after his return and goal. André Pereira framed that moment within a season he expects to be long and demanding for the whole group.

“I am very happy about David’s return. May it serve as encouragement for the other four players who are out, seeing David return and score a goal,” he acknowledged. “Their time will also come, it is a very long and demanding season, there will be time for everyone. I am very happy for David and eager for the others to recover.”

More than an individual return, the coach sees David Rodrigues’s case as a sign of hope for the players who remain sidelined. The message is one of patience, but also of confidence in a group that is likely to need everyone.

In the stands, the support from Porto fans made itself heard once again and forced the coach to adapt the way he communicated during the game. Even so, André Pereira took that backing as confirmation of the bond the sport is beginning to create.

“At the presentation game I realised that I have to manage to speak less during the game and find some strategies to still get through to the players. Today that happened again,” he said. “I am very happy to see Porto fans embracing the sport in this way. We had already felt their affection with the youth teams, but now it is about giving continuity to a project that is at the very heart of what it means to be Porto. It is very good to feel that in such a vivid way.”

Between the demands he placed on the team and the enthusiasm he found beyond the touchlines, Pereira conveyed a sense of continuity. Futsal began its journey with an emphatic win, but also with a connection to the stands that the coach did not want to leave unmentioned.

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