Francisco J. Marques slams Villas-Boas: “FC Porto fell off a cliff” | OneFootball

Francisco J. Marques took to social media this Wednesday to publish an extensive text about the current phase of FC Porto, focusing on the fall of the Invicta city team in the UEFA ranking, especially since the transition from Pinto da Costa to André Villas-Boas—a change heavily criticized by the club’s former director of communication and information—at the helm of the blue and whites.

“Today I continue with another of the things they don’t tell us, which I also addressed at the General Assembly, and that is the abrupt decline in FC Porto’s strength and international prestige. PdC handed over FC Porto in 18th place in the UEFA ranking and qualified for the Club World Cup (plus the €18.6 million in revenue). What happened after that was a shameful participation, without a single victory, in the Club World Cup and a drop to 28th place in the UEFA ranking and, for the first time since 1977/78, we are in third place among national teams,” he began writing on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

“Yes, for 48 years Sporting hadn’t been ahead of us, which happened now as a consequence of us finishing last season in 63rd place, with 9.750 points, the same as APOEL Nicosia and behind giants like Shamrock Rovers or Jagiellonia Bialystok—this year, for now, we occupy a modest 49th place, behind Braga, Benfica, and Sporting, but with the expectation of climbing many positions in the coming rounds—it seems impossible, but the points from the preliminary rounds and a simple win in the league phase plus the bonus for qualifying allow Benfica to still be ahead of us in the ranking just for this season,” emphasized the former director of communication and information for the blue and whites.

“But the worst part is not telling us that in 2029, when the second edition of the Club World Cup will be held—which is even rumored to be organized by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, as a sort of rehearsal for the following year’s national teams World Cup—we won’t be participating and we run the risk of seeing Benfica or Sporting, or even both, in our place. Honestly, in my humble opinion, this is not a minor detail, this is FC Porto very quickly abandoning the elite of world football, where it arrived with much effort and sacrifice, and being replaced by our rivals,” lamented Francisco J. Marques.

Criticism intensified further

The former head of the club’s communications once again insisted on the points he raised at the last FC Porto General Assembly—a session that approved the accounts and resulted in the exclusion of Sandra Madureira as a member—and directly pointed out a “blunder” by André Villas-Boas, raising several reflections on the club’s future.

“No, not everything is fine, there are many things wrong, many things worse than before, especially on the sporting front, which is the reason for FC Porto’s existence, as I once again demonstrate with facts, not with propaganda or empty talk. While the hatchet is dug up and buried again with Sporting, projecting an image of weakness—since it was Varandas who cast the first stone—while members who made mistakes are pursued but shouldn’t simply be excluded (there are less definitive ways to punish), because that only increases the feeling of division, we see others adding points on the ranking path. There are four years left and we already know that our only chance to participate is to win the Champions League in the spring of 2027 or 2028, which seems unrealistic—the explanation is a bit complex, the qualifying period runs from last season to the 27/28 season, in Europe the only one already qualified is PSG, for being European champion in 24/25, but if anyone has doubts just look it up online (if really necessary I’ll explain),” said the former official.

“When I mentioned this at the General Assembly, I got the feeling that the FC Porto board was unaware, or pretended to be. I don’t know, only they can say, but I do know that less than two months ago, in the editorial of the Dragões magazine, president André Villas-Boas showed a complete lack of knowledge on these matters, as the following excerpt demonstrates: ‘After being overtaken by the Netherlands in the UEFA country coefficient ranking, we now see Belgium approaching quickly and dangerously. Our League faces the real risk of maintaining its poor position or even losing another spot, which would have serious consequences for all national football. If Belgium overtakes Portugal, only the national champion will participate in the main European competition, compromising crucial financial revenues for the sustainability of the clubs…’”, he further stressed.

“Portugal is currently in seventh, which is far from a poor position, and can qualify two clubs for the Champions League, the champion directly and the runner-up through the preliminary rounds and play-off. If it drops to eighth place, as is very likely to happen next season, Portugal will continue to have exactly the same number of teams in the Champions League. In other words, what AVB wrote is false and it would have been enough for the FC Porto president to notice that Belgium is currently in eighth place and has Saint-Gilloise and Club Brugge in the current Champions League to avoid such a blunder. Furthermore, Portugal’s drop in the ranking is more due to FC Porto than any other club, because it is FC Porto that has suffered an abrupt drop in performance,” concluded Francisco J. Marques.

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