Farioli: “There are times when this can be used as fuel…” | OneFootball

After the cup match in Alvalade, Sporting’s president made some criticisms aimed at FC Porto. He said Villas-Boas felt his team was not playing much football and that he was afraid. How was that handled in the dressing room? Did it serve to protect the players or as extra motivation?

-There are moments and moments… As a coach, I have the responsibility to be well informed, to follow the narrative around us and the comments being made. There are times when this can be used as “fuel” for motivation, and that was the case, especially at the start of the season. It was a moment when the race was no longer with anyone else, but with ourselves, trying to maintain our standards and keep motivation at the right level. And, of course, as is normal in competition, we are attacked directly or indirectly, whether through the media or through statements, because, in the end, communication is part of the business we are involved in. In this respect, I believe what we did well was to shut ourselves inside a bubble, where our focus was only on ourselves, on doing things well, competing and fighting against everything outside that bubble, without allowing anything or anyone to get into it. It is naturally very demanding work, but that was what we tried to do… and I think it was done well enough for us to achieve this important objective.

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