“It’s hard to picture myself at any club but FC Porto” | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli gave a lengthy interview this Wednesday to the Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb, in which he once again assured that he has no intention whatsoever of leaving FC Porto, not even to return to Italy, where he had been linked, for example, with AC Milan.

“Honestly, as things stand today, it’s not something I think about much. The curious thing is that, this season, I haven’t gone back to Italy at all, not even during international breaks or on my few days off. My life revolves entirely around my work, and living abroad for so many years has been an incredible human and professional experience,” he began.

“Perhaps the real news is something else. I’m preparing to begin my second consecutive season at the same club. In Nice and Amsterdam, my experiences only lasted one season, by my own choice. Here, at FC Porto, I’ve built a very strong bond with the president, André Villas-Boas,” he continued.

“We are very much in sync in the way we understand football, in the way we develop a project, and in the kind of vision we want to build. That is precisely why, honestly, as things stand today, it is very difficult for me to imagine myself at any club other than FC Porto,” concluded the former goalkeeper.

“Jorge Costa was not just an FC Porto legend”

In the same interview, Francesco Farioli explained how he experienced winning the national title after the ‘catastrophe’ he went through in the 2024/25 season while in charge of Ajax: “It was a very intense feeling, difficult to describe in words. When you invest everything you have into a job, when you live for months under pressure, responsibility and high expectations, the moment of victory brings with it an enormous emotional release.”

“At the same time, I realized very quickly how fast football moves. Two days after the victory, we were already looking ahead, planning next season and searching for new ways to improve. The experience I had at Ajax certainly gave me many points to reflect on, but this season at FC Porto definitely had different dynamics and an extremely collaborative environment, always ready to give maximum support to the entire first-team staff,” he reflected.

“Sometimes, in football, people only talk about tactics or technique, but the psychological and emotional side carries enormous weight in managing a working group. Our season began with the tragic loss of Jorge Costa, who was not only an FC Porto legend, but also a point of reference for all of us within the club,” he added.

“Seeing how the entire Porto family, as I call it, came together and conducted itself in the face of this tragedy made me realize how the sense of belonging to a community is a very important aspect of our work,” concluded the 37-year-old coach, who, it should be remembered, renewed his contract with the Dragons in January until June 2028.

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