Vítor Bruno: “Seven months at FC Porto equal years elsewhere” | OneFootball

At his first press conference as Anderlecht’s new head coach, Vítor Bruno came across as calm and ambitious, stressing that the decision to accept the Belgian club’s offer was “easy,” given the size of the team and the project presented to him. Although he apologized for his English “not being perfect,” the former FC Porto coach expressed himself clearly and showed he knew a few words of French, a result of his spell as Sérgio Conceição’s assistant at Nantes.

Vítor Bruno admitted that expectations are high, but insisted he does not feel under pressure. “I know Anderlecht’s stature has diminished a little in recent years. I want to bring the club back to where it belongs,” he said, adding: “It will be a big challenge, but I like challenges.”

The Portuguese coach played down the idea of pressure in football: “Pressure? Pressure is when you get home and there is no food, or when you have to work in bad conditions. Here we have good conditions. We want to help everyone become the best version of themselves, and that way we get closer to our goals. That is good pressure. Pressure should be a challenge.”

Aware of the club’s long title drought, having not won the league since 2017, Vítor Bruno argued for gradual progress. “I know it has been a long time since Anderlecht won a title. The road is still long, but we cannot skip steps. I believe in taking it step by step. The first step is Hammarby, on July 23,” he said, stressing the importance of giving players freedom.

“I’m not a Waze guiding players from point A to point B, but I want to give them the tools to reach their destination. That includes making mistakes. That’s not a problem, as long as they learn the right lessons from those mistakes,” he explained.

As for the transfer market, sporting director Antoine Sibierski acknowledged that the process is moving slowly because of the World Cup, but reinforced the need to strengthen the squad in several positions. “Vítor’s presence will also speed up that process,” he assured, recalling the Portuguese coach’s spell in charge of FC Porto’s first team.

“Seven months in charge of FC Porto are worth two or three years of experience elsewhere to me. I didn’t know Vítor Bruno personally, but I gathered information through people in my network who had worked with him,” the official said.

Vítor Bruno also expressed confidence in the current group and made it clear he wants to keep young talent Nathan De Cat. “We are doing our best to keep him. We are counting on him,” he said. When asked about a possible return for Romelu Lukaku, the Portuguese coach reacted with humor. “Lukaku? You’re putting pressure on Antoine, not on me,” he smiled, turning to the sporting director. “We’re happy with Cvetkovic, Sikan and Bertaccini. But if you have Lukaku’s number, maybe I can call him,” he added jokingly. “Someone with his stats... is difficult for us. But if he comes, he will have to work hard like everyone else,” he concluded.

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