Rubens Junior says internship is a chance, not an edge for the derby | OneFootball

Hours after defeating Santa Clara and finishing the first half of the Primeira Liga unbeaten, FC Porto returned to the Invicta city and immediately headed to the Algarve, settling in at Quinta do Lago, in Almancil, for a training camp to prepare for the second half of the season.

Coach Francesco Farioli's plan includes a closed-door friendly against Farense on Friday. This break will be used to adjust dynamics and to integrate the winter signing, Brazilian Thiago Silva.

In statements to Portal dos Dragões, Rubens Junior – who has previously been part of the club’s staff – praised the mid-season camp, highlighting its usefulness in consolidating processes at a time when players had a few days off due to the League Cup final four in Leiria.

“First, I want to highlight FC Porto’s historic first half. It was the best ever, and that is a very important factor. Then, yes, it’s super positive to take advantage of the time, this space, this window, to be able to refine many things, improve, evolve, while keeping even more focused on the main goal, which is winning the championship,” the former player began by saying.

“If there’s a time when players can be together and completely focused, working with more intensity… We all know that, during a training camp, a player eats, rests, recovers, and everyone is together talking and adjusting. You can make better use of the time, recover some players, and integrate new players like Thiago Silva more quickly. I think it was an excellent and very positive initiative,” he added.

FC Porto’s next official match is against Benfica, in the Portuguese Cup – a clash that, up to the Clássico, could mean up to two games for each team. Rubens Junior rejects the idea that more rest time is necessarily an advantage for the Dragons.

“I think that, in a Clássico, there’s no benefit for anyone. Players who play for big teams are used to always playing important matches, whether it’s on Wednesday, Sunday, one or two per week, they’re used to it. I don’t think anyone has an advantage in that. What I do see is that everyone wants to win and is preparing themselves, one way or another,” he said.

“Benfica, in this case, who are FC Porto’s opponents, will have a special preparation, thinking about those two games they might have before, which FC Porto won’t. FC Porto will prepare without having a competition, they stop competing. Each has to do their best with that space. Now, of course, if there’s an injury or something, it can be harmful. But injuries can happen in a game or in training. We’re in the middle of the season, and I don’t think there’s any benefit for either side, it’s just about people or clubs knowing how to work with the schedule they have,” he further explained.

With a demanding schedule until the end of January – five games before the end of the month – Rubens Junior highlighted the importance of rest time for recovery.

“Of course, a tight schedule makes recovery harder. It’s always good to have more time off for the player, mainly to recover well, all physical and psychological aspects, you can prepare more. But I don’t see this as an extra benefit, because it’s not a benefit. If it were, we wouldn’t play and we’d win the championships. Imagine what it would be like to drop out of all competitions and play only the league to become champions. Does that guarantee anything? It guarantees nothing. There are clubs playing only in the Primeira Liga and they’re not champions,” he pointed out.

“I don’t see this training camp as an advantage, I see it as an opportunity to work on other things, to improve, to evolve, to breathe, to recover. I think you have to make the most of this time and FC Porto did very well to take advantage of the time off to work on these components,” he concluded.

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