Bednarek: FC Porto’s success down to full trust in Farioli’s ideas | OneFootball

Bednarek admits to being enchanted during his first months in those colors. In an interview with the Polish Football Federation’s website, in a conversation with the other two Polish players in the Porto squad, the defender detailed curiosities about Francesco Farioli’s methods and confided that the demanding culture in Invicta surprised him.

Before addressing the tactical component, the Polish international highlighted the dedication of the fans and the club’s care for its legacy. “I had no idea, before coming here, of the ‘religion’ the club is for the locals. They live this intensely,” he began, praising the aura that surrounds the institution.

“The successes with Mourinho, the Champions League… the club takes great care of its history. When we arrive at the stadium, we go through that tunnel with photos of the legends. We want to be there one day, holding a trophy. The training center is also named after Jorge Costa, which shows the care for people who have served the club,” he emphasized.

The core of Bednarek’s remarks, however, focused on the work of coach Francesco Farioli. The defender explained some of the automatisms the coach introduced, which justify the defensive cohesion observed this season.

“There are many details, the coach really focuses on that. For me, it was new to treat the build-up from the back as a set piece. It’s interesting,” he revealed. The low number of goals conceded, he added, results from the team’s solidarity: “Our attacking players have many defensive tasks, so we concede few goals. It’s harder to beat 11 players than seven or eight.”

Curiously, the emphasis in training is not mainly on defense. “In training, maybe 30% is defense and 70% attack, but the system demands a lot of attention to interdependencies. The automatisms are already starting to show,” he explained.

Regarding match preparation, Bednarek praised the accuracy of the information presented: “The coach shows us tactical animations on a touchscreen, and then, in the game, it happens exactly the same way. It’s incredible. The team fully trusts his ideas.”

As for the reason for his signing, the player highlighted his leadership profile: “They did their research, they knew what I could bring. I try to help everyone, I speak up, I give instructions. At the start of the season, we didn’t focus on promises of trophies, but on working hard to show the fans that we are a good team. We have a mix of youth and experience. We’ve shown that we are a team that can handle pressure.”

Regarding strategy, the defender explained that the team feels comfortable when the opponent pushes forward. “At the start of the season, teams pressed us more, and for us, it’s easier that way, because we find spaces. We try to ‘invite’ the pressure and then exploit the free space. If the opponent is closed off, we have to play long or circulate more,” he analyzed.

When asked about aspects to improve, he pointed to the final third as a priority. “Sometimes we lack patience, we want to finish the play too quickly. As a defender, if a forward makes a move and doesn’t get the ball, the second or third time my concentration might drop. We need to have that calm to tire out the opponent,” he cautioned, stressing that the squad has “a lot of quality up front to finish better.”

Set pieces, however, have proven to be a well-tuned weapon at Olival, with “about 15 offensive variants” regularly practiced. “We dedicate a lot of time to that and it pays off. In England, they used to say that 25% of goals came from set pieces. We’re at 23% this season. We need to improve to reach 25%,” he concluded, laughing.

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