André Villas-Boas on top spot: “A good omen, but means nothing” | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas, FC Porto president, travelled to Trás-os-Montes to take part in the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of Dragões de Chaves and spoke about current matters surrounding the club. Between the growth of membership, the friendly against RC Deportivo and the challenges ahead, he left a message of confidence tempered by caution. On the team’s sole lead at the top of the league, he warned: “It’s a good sign, but it doesn’t mean anything.”

At a moment marked by the celebration of the Club’s connection to the Chaves region, André Villas-Boas spoke to the press about FC Porto’s present and near future. The executive highlighted the vitality of the supporters’ branches and the rise in the number of members, but also reviewed Francesco Farioli’s squad, the return of players and the demands of a schedule that leaves no room for euphoria.

The visit to Chaves served, above all, to reaffirm the importance of FC Porto’s branches as meeting points and as hubs for expanding the blue-and-white world. The president highlighted the work being done locally and anticipated new openings, including abroad.

“The branches are experiencing the same upward momentum as FC Porto’s membership movement, and we have a number of branches about to open, even outside the country, namely in Africa. We are very pleased to be able to reach the Portuguese-speaking African countries and spread Porto support across Africa,” he said. “The FC Porto branch in Chaves is celebrating its 25th anniversary thanks to the work of many people from Chaves, namely Mr. Lopes and his Board, who have done a good job of promoting FC Porto in this area.”

That expansion comes, according to the executive, alongside sustained growth in the membership movement.

“We are very satisfied with the momentum surrounding membership at FC Porto, which has been growing by around 20% a year since 2024. We are very close to reaching 190,000 members in different parts of the country and also abroad. We have a very clear goal of reaching 200,000 members as quickly as possible, and all of this without having innovated or launched campaigns to recruit new members,” he explained. “FC Porto wants to cement its membership position. We will soon carry out a renumbering, and that renumbering may rebalance the figures, giving a real picture of FC Porto’s number of members. In any case, that does not take our focus away from quickly reaching 200,000 members and then 250,000, which is our goal.”

The message points to a growth strategy that seeks to combine territorial reach, ties to communities and numerical ambition. In this context, Chaves serves as an example of a presence built over time.

On the sporting side, the friendly against RC Deportivo made it possible to keep up the rhythm during a long international break. Villas-Boas especially valued the absence of injuries and the chance for Francesco Farioli to draw conclusions before the return to league action.

“It is proving to be a long break, amid a radical change in the international-break model, and so far everything has gone well for FC Porto because we have managed to avoid injuries. From the clubs’ point of view, that is the most important thing. Yesterday we had a good test against RC Deportivo, the coach will surely draw the best conclusions from it, but it was a good test and I hope it helps us return strongly to the league, which is what we most want,” he said. “It’s a long break, three weeks, there are many people away and we want them to return quickly and without injuries. It was a good preparation test for the games ahead.”

More than the weight of the result in A Coruña, the president put the emphasis on preparation and the group’s physical management. The real value of the exercise will be measured in the team’s response once official matches return.

The sole lead at the top has not changed the restrained tone. Villas-Boas praised the start and the coach’s work, but refused to treat the beginning of the season as any kind of guarantee for what is still to be played.

“It’s a good sign, but it doesn’t mean anything. Feet firmly on the ground, it is all still far too early, and we have difficult away trips ahead, starting with Madeira, then Barcelos and Seville,” he recalled. “We’ve had a good start, a historic start as well, for which I congratulate our coach, and we hope that October proves to be as strong as August and September were and that this run continues until the next international break.”

Recognition of the team’s path thus comes with a warning against euphoria. October is presented as a new test of the consistency shown in the previous months.

Asked about the situation involving Cristiano Ronaldo and the national team, the FC Porto president defended the authority of technical decisions, without ignoring the player’s stature. The expectation is that those in charge will find an appropriate resolution.

“I don’t think any Portuguese citizen is indifferent to what happened. First of all, I believe that all decisions made by a coach are sovereign, whether they have more or less justification. From the players’ point of view they always seem harder to understand, sometimes easier, other times more difficult, but the coach’s voice is sovereign, therefore all his decisions are sovereign. That is how it should be at clubs and that is how it should be in national teams as well,” he said. “Of course, in the case of a player of Cristiano Ronaldo’s stature, who has done so much for the country and the national team, the story cannot end this way, so I hope for a good resolution to the case from those responsible at the Portuguese Football Federation, chiefly its president Pedro Proença. The whole country’s involvement in this case is understandable, for everything Ronaldo has given the country and the national team. Ronaldo’s brand for Portugal is very valuable and I sincerely hope there will be a good resolution. In any case, in the dressing room it is the coach’s voice that rules, the coach’s voice must always be sovereign, so it is up to the player to accept what the coach decides.”

The position seeks to reconcile two ideas: Cristiano Ronaldo’s unique weight and the authority that should remain with the coach. Villas-Boas did not downplay the sensitivity of the case, but drew a clear line regarding hierarchy inside a dressing room.

On the arrival of Chris Smalling, the president clarified that the signing came in response to a direct request from Francesco Farioli. At the same time, he expressed confidence in the squad’s depth and in its ability to fight for the main objective.

“It was a specific request from the coach, which the Club accepted. At this moment we have the fullest guarantees within the squad to win the title, which is what we desire most,” he assured. “We have a squad with plenty of depth in attack, defence, midfield and in goal. The coach is satisfied with the squad, which was considered complete after a specific request of his that FC Porto accepted, ultimately strengthening the defence as a result of a transfer that is not related to any injury.”

The explanation rules out an emergency reaction to physical problems and frames Smalling as a technical choice. The squad is considered complete and is assessed internally with confidence.

The match in A Coruña also gave opportunities to players with fewer minutes. Gabriel Mec and Souza were highlighted by the president, who left the assessment of their performances to the coach and stressed the importance of their integration into the team’s collective dynamics.

“It is up to the coach to draw conclusions from that game. I think it was important to give minutes to some players, namely those who had not yet had the chance to play, such as Gabriel (Mec) and Souza. It is important for them to build team chemistry, to get to know the method and the playing model,” he explained. “Now there is almost full availability once we have recovered Gabri Veiga, Seko Fofana, Nehuén Pérez and Martim (Fernandes). From then on, we will have the whole squad available and I think that will be very soon.”

The friendly was therefore more than an exercise in maintaining competitiveness: it allowed the club to widen its options and speed up adaptation processes. The recovery of the players still unavailable should bring Farioli closer to having a full range of choices without limitations.

Samu’s return was given a particularly emotional reading. Villas-Boas highlighted the striker’s motivation and the way he experienced the win in the clássico against Benfica after a lengthy injury.

“Samu is extremely hungry for goals, he came back early and with total motivation. We saw the joy with which he celebrated the win in the clássico against Benfica and what that means,” he said. “Such a long and difficult injury is very complex for these athletes, there are many negative emotions associated with it, and so it was an outpouring of joy that we all witnessed, and I hope the rest of the season goes great.”

The president focused both on the physical recovery and on the emotional impact of the absence. The celebration in the clássico appeared as a sign of relief and of reconnecting with competition.

As for the trip to Madeira, the state of Marítimo’s pitch was acknowledged as a concern being monitored by the Club. Even so, Villas-Boas refused to make excuses in advance and recalled that the conditions will be the same for both teams.

“It is one of the poorest-rated pitches in the league; that is well documented and recorded. Marítimo has surely done everything over the last three weeks to recover the pitch in the best possible way. FC Porto has been in contact with Liga Portugal on that matter and we have received guarantees regarding its quality or improvement in quality. We hope that is the case,” he stressed. “In any case, it will be the same pitch for everyone and FC Porto has to deliver, whatever conditions it finds.”

Institutional monitoring does not remove the sporting demand. The president’s stance leaves no room for alibis: regardless of the scenario they find, it will be up to FC Porto to respond on the pitch.

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