Farioli: "Ajax’s culture is like a religion, Porto’s is almost carnal" | OneFootball

How did you start your journey as a coach? "At 22, the coach told me: 'you're too weak a goalkeeper to continue, but you could stay in football in another role.' It would be nice to blame an injury, as happened with others who started early, like Tuchel and Nagelsmann. But no: I was always very physically fit. However, the idea of becoming a coach quickly won me over and I'm good at learning. I learned from each experience; at first I was a bit radical, but then I freed myself from rigid ideas. Now I try to be complementary."

Club identities: "Ajax's culture is positional, cold, and organized football, a religion. I added team spirit and a taste for battle. FC Porto's culture is almost carnal: sacrifice, sliding tackles, a fiery crowd. I am introducing some coded plays to make the show more open and complete. At Nice, I asked for a technical midfielder, a mix between an 8 and a 10, and the journalists mocked my hyper-offensive tendency. At Ajax, I proposed a pair of players capable of withstanding shocks and they said I was the typical defensive Italian. I work on contrasts, I try to fill the gaps. The best identity is not to have an immutable identity."

Changes are happening faster: "Luis Enrique surprised me. In Paris, at a certain point, on a set piece, I order a play that we had only tried once in a summer friendly, he saw the first movements and jumped off the bench to warn: 'they're doing that play I showed you!'. Once, in a friendly, and he already knew it. In the past, you lived half the season with a good tactical idea; now, they neutralize it right away during a hydration break."

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