“We've got the right energy and spirit for this run-in” | OneFootball

The main team’s goal at FC Porto is to give the Club and the fans what they deserve, and Francesco Farioli guarantees that the group reaches this decisive stage with “the right spirit and mindset for this final stretch” in order to “approach in the best way and with the best attitude” a match in “a difficult environment” against Estrela da Amadora, “a team looking to pick up points” (Sunday, 6pm, Sport TV1).

Convinced that “no one is above the interests of the Club and what is needed to win,” the coach stresses that the squad lives in a “blue bubble,” which it only leaves “to see what the Porto family is saying,” and assures: “When we see a team fighting with all this desire, doubling the opponent’s effort and running more than the opposition in 49 matches, we can clearly say that we are on the right path to return FC Porto to the place where it belongs.”

“Martim Fernandes will be back” and is a “strong option for tomorrow’s game and for the rest of the season,” while Zaidu “is partially recovering and today will be partially with the team.”

Expecting difficulties in Reboleira

“It is a very important away game, historically complicated and difficult also because it is against a team looking to pick up points at this important stage of the season. I really like the patterns they have, there are some similarities with us and there is a lot of very good work being done there, as well as players with individual quality. It is a game we have to approach in the best way and with the best attitude in the face of a difficult atmosphere that we are going to encounter.”

Terem Moffi

“What happened between Terem Moffi and OGC Nice is known, and I think there is a clear desire from both parties for a separation, so we will see what happens. We have an option to buy and we are willing to hear the terms.”

Thiago Silva

“It is the Club’s wish, the wish of all the players, and my personal wish that Thiago Silva goes to the World Cup. It is one of the goals he stated when we first spoke; he returned to European football with certain demands and intensity. He has the right rhythm, has already played more than a thousand minutes, which is a big number halfway through the season, he has already featured in European matches, and he will give us important help in the remaining league games, but we must never forget that the priority is FC Porto. FC Porto is above me, Thiago Silva, or Diogo Costa. The interests of the Club and what is needed to win... no one is above that. In recent games, I made a strategic decision, not because Thiago was out of form, but because I felt we needed different characteristics in those moments. He is working very well, with a very strong commitment to the Club and the team, he is in a good position to be included in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad, and he has already shown that he can give a lot, on and off the pitch. It is one more moment to celebrate the career of a legendary player.”

Ignoring any outside noise

“It is an important game. After the match with CD Tondela, I said we were going step by step; we are in our blue bubble, and the only time we come out to hear what is being said outside is to see what the Porto family is saying. They deserve our attention and motivation. We go step by step and then we will see what the future brings.”

The incidents from the cup match

“If we go back to the cup match, there is a game before and after the fifth minute. The footage is clear, there are three referees close to the incident, two with monitors, so I think the two minutes the game was stopped because of the injuries to William Gomes and Gonçalo Inácio were enough to see what had happened. Everything that happened afterwards, even setting aside the three possible penalties, was conditioned by that; it could have changed the dynamic of the game. That is the only comment I have to make about last Wednesday’s match.”

The commitment to the Club and the fans

“The result was not what we wanted, but the performance was very good. The voice of the Dragão was heard loud and clear; it is something common to feel this support from the fans after bad outcomes such as the two recent eliminations. We are fully connected with our work, with what we have to do. Our commitment is to give the Club and the fans what they deserve; we are at a very important moment in the season and with the right spirit and mindset for this final stretch. That is what we have to carry into tomorrow’s match.”

Still on FC Porto-Sporting

“I have already been very clear. My comment on the last game ends in the fifth minute. If we go back over all the incidents, our list is longer than everyone else’s. We are not happy to see players injured, but it is part of football. When the ball is involved, it is football, but we have already seen some episodes this season in which the ball is very far away. I saw Morten Hjulmand’s foot and I am curious to see Gonçalo Inácio’s foot as well.”

“FC Porto are back”

“My phrase is related to the team’s spirit. When we see a team fighting with all this desire, doubling the opponent’s effort and running more than the opposition in 49 matches, we can clearly say that we are on the right path to return FC Porto to the place where it belongs.”

The performances of Deniz Gül and Terem Moffi

“I am very confident. The numbers speak loudly, we cannot deny what they say, but if we talk, for example, about Deniz Gül, he scored a goal against FC Famalicão that was ruled out by 13 centimeters. It is not his luckiest moment; the performances he produced in Estoril, against Nottingham and against Sporting were good. Of course, part of the evaluation of a striker is his contribution in goals, and in that regard the numbers are missing, but he has made a great contribution. He got an assist against CD Tondela, and Terem Moffi’s introduction against Sporting was also very positive; he nearly scored in a move where the goalkeeper made a great save. They have to keep working, keep believing that the goals will come, and maintain the level they have shown.”

Martim Fernandes and Zaidu

“Martim Fernandes will be back. He already improved this week, but before the last game he had only completed one training session with the team. Yesterday and today he has been with the team and he is a strong option for tomorrow’s game and for the rest of the season. Zaidu is partially recovering and today will be partially with the team.”

Managing the workload throughout the season

“We have managed the group very well. The proof came in the last few games, even with ten players. If we look at the game in Nottingham and the last 15 minutes against Sporting and analyze the fuel the players had in their legs and the lungs they had to run, we can only see that the team is at a high level. The work has been well done in terms of physical management and workload planning, without forgetting that the team played in the Club World Cup and had a short preparation and rest period for the season. That gives credit to everything that has been done and to the work of the players, who continue to play with great intensity. Fifteen minutes ago I mentioned this: when you have 49 matches and in all of them you run, on average, five kilometers more than the opponent, it says a lot about the effort the team has made to represent the spirit of the Dragão.”

Competitive overload

“In my previous experiences, I have always been very concerned about the health of the players. In a schedule like this, with more than 50 matches in the season, it is not only fatigue that matters, but physical and mental wear, the amount of travel we have, the little rest we get between games. I believe that before long, a FIFA rule will emerge to regulate players’ minutes throughout the season. Reaching the end of a season with players totaling more than 5,000 minutes, without considering national-team commitments, is unsustainable in the long term. Rodri is one of the best examples of what I am talking about; he has just returned from a very serious injury. We have to take better care of the players, with a better calendar and better weekly planning in order to extend their careers.”

Planning for the final stretch

“We are always in the rhythm of playing every three days, with the whole team involved. You said we used 18 or 19 players who could feel like starters; that can now be eased by the schedule. We are only going to play once a week, with more time to train, and we have to be very precise about the points we want to improve without overloading the players. I am convinced that everyone feels so much a part of this group that, whatever decisions I make, 99.99% of them will involve 11 starting players and five coming on, so 16 players will be involved. This is not a moment for anyone to complain; they have to think about making the most of the minutes they will have, not the ones they will not have because of my decision. We have a group that is mature enough to understand that and to approach these final weeks with the spirit that is needed for us to achieve our objective.”

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