Daniel Chaves: “We need to improve” | OneFootball

Daniel Chaves, coach of FC Porto’s women’s team, analysed the goalless draw at home to Racing Power FC in the third round of the league. The coach considered the result fair, lamented the points already dropped along the way, and pointed to work as the answer to the difficulties shown. Without dramatizing, he left one certainty: “We have to grow.”

The deadlock remained until the end of a match in which FC Porto struggled against the opponent’s more physical approach. Daniel Chaves acknowledged a less accomplished performance and focused his message on the need for the team to better interpret the different moments of the game, without giving up the courage to keep possession.

In his assessment of the match, the coach identified the duels, the use of long balls, and the difficulty of playing out under pressure as some of the problems that affected Porto’s performance. He also highlighted the number of fouls committed by Racing Power FC and the freedom Pamela had to stop dangerous moves.

“We knew we were going to face a more physical opponent looking for duels. We ended up having some difficulties, and we have to understand that in this league we have to improve in that area. We have to play backwards less often. We looked for a type of game we don’t know how to play, with a lot of long balls, and we don’t have players up front with the ability to contest aerial balls. It was a game that became more difficult for us,” he analysed. “We have to grow in that aspect, know how to read the game and have the courage to keep the ball when the pressure is more intense. On top of that, our opponent ended up killing all the plays with fouls and finished the game with 24 fouls, which says a lot about the match. The MVP award was rightly given to Pamela, who is a very good player, but who had the chance to commit six, seven or eight fouls to stop our dangerous moves. She will keep doing that until she is cautioned, obviously. We have to grow. It was a less successful game from us and we have to work for more.”

The reading was blunt: FC Porto allowed themselves to be dragged into a type of game that did not suit the team’s characteristics. More than looking for excuses, Daniel Chaves acknowledged the need to improve in a league that demands different answers.

Despite remaining unbeaten in their debut season, the Porto side have five points from three matches. The coach did not hide his dissatisfaction, although he considered the draw fair based on what the two teams produced.

“We are not happy. Even though we still haven’t lost in our debut season, we feel we could have more points. I had already spoken about that, especially after the game against SC Braga,” he admitted. “Today it was a fair result given what both teams did. It is better to keep picking up points than not to have them, but we are not happy with the number of points won so far.”

The unbeaten run offers stability, but it does not erase the feeling that there was room for a bigger haul. Between recognising the fairness of the result and the ambition to do more, the coach’s internal demands were clear.

With the League Cup on the horizon, Daniel Chaves immediately turned his attention to correcting the weaker aspects of the performance. Reviewing the match and daily work appear to be the chosen path to prepare a stronger response.

“We have to see what we can improve,” he said. “We already knew this opponent likes to play more toward their powerful forwards. We will have to review the game, grow, work, and arrive at the next one stronger.”

The final message offered neither shortcuts nor dramatics: analyse, correct, and improve. After a game in which FC Porto were unable to fully impose their identity, the next challenge begins in the work to find more consistent answers.

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