Miguel Coelho: “That hunger to win gave us something extra” | OneFootball

Miguel Coelho was the coach who once again won a domestic double in women’s volleyball for FC Porto, after having achieved it with Porto Vólei in 2014/15 and AVC Famalicão in 2015/16.

Last year you said FC Porto had had more time to prepare for the season and that the goal was to be in the finals. Not only were you there, you won them. Was it the perfect season?-It was a perfect season in terms of the final results. Very early on, we sensed that this squad would give us the chance to fight for titles. That’s how we went all the way, with a magical season in every sense, in terms of daily preparation, performances in the key matches and in these battles for trophies. It was an absolutely magical season in every sense.

For a team that wanted to be in the finals, was winning then mandatory?-Mandatory, no, because that would be hugely disrespectful to the competition, and I think this year we had the best League ever and, therefore, also the best Portuguese Cup ever. We saw it as a great privilege. After everything we went through, especially last season, and it wasn’t just us but also the group of players who arrived and had been through very similar experiences, being in those moments was felt as a privilege.

When you get there, what do you feel?-That it was deserved, because of everything I saw from the team from day one, from the very first contacts. I realized it was a team that was going to work well, was going to work hard, and when these results come, it is a sign of duty fulfilled, of meritocracy, of a lot of hard work involved.

Even before winning them, and going back to just being there, wasn’t “we’re going to win” already in your mind?-Yes, it was. And there are various levels within the club. It starts with the president, the board, then the people who work with us at the Arena, Fernando Santos [executive director of the sports departments], Mário Santos [general director of the sports departments], then it goes to the staff, to the players, and one of the good things we had was that almost everyone shared the same feeling, this will to win, almost this hunger to win, hunger in the good sense. That drive to win was deeply rooted in the team and comes from these different levels we have at the club. It gave us a little more in preparing for these triumphs.

From last season to this one, eight players left and eight came in. How do you manage to instill those values when eight players come in?-It is essential that they truly get to know the club and its people, the people of the city of Porto, the people who are FC Porto, even if they may be from other cities, but that they understand the context and realize that FC Porto is a club from the city of Porto, but also a national club, an international club, and a brand strongly linked to winning. This first part, this hunger to win, I insist, has to come from identifying with the club’s values. Visits to the museum at first, and then, naturally, walks around Porto, where they begin to realize that FC Porto is something very important in the city. On trips abroad they begin to realize that FC Porto is a global brand, and that brand, tied to this desire to win, starts to create a microsystem within the team that makes it want to win, win and win.

Do the coach and teammates also help with that identification?-In the preliminary talks we have during the negotiation process, we already speak a lot about the club. Even before they accept, a tour is given, even if online, especially with the foreign players, of the club’s facilities. We go through a bit of the club’s history, both recent and older, and it starts there. As soon as they arrive, it is essential that this adaptation already takes place within an FC Porto circuit. So the museum plays an important role, by conveying not only the history, but also what was done for that history to happen. Then the president’s words in pre-season were very important, words that will always remain confidential within the team, but which were decisive in this landing at FC Porto and, from there, in starting to build our own history within all of this.

How would you define the group you had under your command?-It’s a long answer, but I’ll try to sum it up. From the first day we realized we had talented, high-quality athletes. But that is not enough. One of the first compliments I have to pay to all the players has to do with their personality, character and work ethic, always with a smile on their face, which is also important. In long, demanding seasons, with opponents trying to reinvent themselves to beat FC Porto, all these characteristics are worth as much as, or more than, talent. This season is explained by how happy we were to meet each other every day, to really go at it with everyone throughout our working week. When I say “go at it,” I mean in terms of workload, in the sense of “we’re going to work very hard, we’re going to work well, we’re going to do this with a smile on our face.” More than anything, what we showed people was this capacity for hard work; we turned around difficult results largely because of this mentality we had during the week. Our day-to-day is the best way to describe how happy I was working with this team.

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