Farioli on Pietuszewski: Young talent, could make the list | OneFootball

The FC Porto coach spoke about the signing of Oskar Pietuszewski, a young 17-year-old Polish player.

Oskar Pietuszewski is registered, will you count on him for tomorrow? “Oskar was registered just a few hours ago and had his first team training session this morning, being exposed to real situations. It’s possible that he’ll be on the list tomorrow. He’s a player of great quality, young, and he needs to develop and adapt to a new country and a new league with new demands. Jakub [Kiwior] and Jan [Bednarek] will help speed up that process, but even though he’s a great talent, he needs time to adapt and connect with the team.”

This is your first game after renewing your contract. Is your experience at FC Porto going better than you planned? Does this renewal increase the pressure to become champion? “It increases the responsibility to continue the work we’ve been doing. I’ve already said that the renewal meant a lot, it was a step that the president and the club took in our direction, for my technical staff, and it’s not just about me, but about everyone’s work. When I came back from training yesterday, I thanked the players, because if we got this renewal, it was due to their work and effort over these six months. And it came at a special moment, after the Algarve training camp it feels like the end of one cycle and the beginning of another for the future, with the steps we want to take together. We are completely aligned on several matters – it’s January and there’s talk about the transfer market – but it’s about the desire to take the right steps and build on what we’ve done over these six months. I think we have a future full of challenges.”

When you arrived, it felt like the club needed a new identity and you achieved that quickly. What were the key factors for that, and did the victories over rivals help? “I think I have to correct you, in the sense that we are still in the process of fixing things. We can’t forget where we came from and the gap to our rivals – we have a 29-point difference over the last two seasons compared to Sporting and only one win and one draw in the last five games against Benfica. There’s still a distance to cover, but the trajectory is positive and the desire to keep working and extend that commitment is heading in the right direction. But nothing is done here and we are in the middle of a race, with many games left to play. We know how quickly football changes and tomorrow is a game where one team will be eliminated from the competition, that’s why all our focus is well aligned, also for the next games. As for the second question, results help, but what matters is the work, the attitude, and the daily desire to try to add something to what we’ve been doing, and I believe that by doing so, it will be easier to win. The games and results, not all, but most of the time, are a consequence of what we do during the week, that’s what we stand for and what we’ve been doing.”

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