André Villas-Boas: Farioli a top manager, now available after setback | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas lavished praise on Francesco Farioli, FC Porto’s coach, this Friday. Speaking at the Portugal Football Summit, at the City of Football, the president explained the reasons for hiring the Italian.

“Fortunately, we hired a great coach. He became a free agent because he had his disappointment, as we all know. He missed out on the title with Ajax on the final matchday. He motivates squads, but also structures. He communicates well, knows how to carry himself, has ideas, knows what FC Porto’s values are. The carnal relationship between members and the team is very important,” said the president, who has also served as a coach.

Emphasizing the “umbilical relationship between coach and team,” Villas-Boas also shared his view on the title race.

“The league is very long, Sporting are solid, well built, well coached, and have kept talent. Benfica made a very strong investment, somewhat like us. We did it out of necessity, they added quality to what they already had. The battle will be tough. We have this points cushion, but after eight rounds it’s all very premature,” he commented.

Villas-Boas also warned about the impact of injuries: “We need to avoid injuries. FC Porto had a two-month injury [Martim Fernandes] and another for nine months, to Nehuén Pérez. These challenges are what undermine title bids. Another serious injury could affect our objectives and we may have to turn to, or not, the January market,” he admitted.

In summary, Villas-Boas said these have been “16 intense months of profound transformation at FC Porto.” “My first year was tough and we fell short of our goals. FC Porto generated 416 million euros in revenue, and that’s what saved it as a members’ club,” he explained.

“We were helped by members in an initial phase and then we also had a major financial operation [Ithaka], which will certainly be replicated by the other two big clubs in the future. This capital injection served to save FC Porto,” the president summed up.

Villas-Boas took part in the Portugal Football Summit this Friday, unlike Rui Costa, his Benfica counterpart, who canceled his attendance.

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