Farioli: “We must keep the same underdog spirit, it’s FC Porto’s DNA” | OneFootball

“It’s the second pre-season at FC Porto, so there is already mutual understanding. Will the demands be different? What can you say? “It’s a mix. Having already spent a year here working is an advantage. We know the players in detail. We can move forward more quickly than last season, although back then we also had to do things quickly. This year is different in that respect. But there is also the challenge of maintaining the high standard and raising it even further. When we know someone very well, there is a risk of going on autopilot, and we want to avoid that. It was good to go back to basics and then rebuild our processes, adding a few things that will be important for next season.”

FC Porto have kept a sense of continuity, Benfica changed coach, Sporting had many changes… Do FC Porto start with an advantage? “I’d say we are starting from zero again. The past is the past. Last season should serve as a warning. When I arrived here, nobody expected us to be able to get results so quickly. It proves that if you work well and are able to connect all the dots, you can make up for any possible disadvantage. We are starting from zero. What we achieved is history. The trophies are in the museum. We have added responsibility because we are champions, but we have to keep the same underdog spirit, the spirit of a team that wants to challenge. That is our DNA, FC Porto’s historic DNA. That’s what we are going to do again this season.”

He came, he saw, and he conquered, becoming national champion. Is the bar even higher now with the Champions League? Do you have even bigger goals? Have you spoken to the president about it? Are you following the Club World Cup? Diogo Costa has been one of the standout figures. Ready to lose him? “As for Diogo Costa… I disagree. His performances haven’t been nearly as good as you say (laughs). Joking aside, we know how good he is. It’s no surprise at all. He is our captain and he will continue to be our captain. I spoke to him a few days ago. He was fully focused on the national team. Now he will have a few days off and then he will return to help us. Everything we did, the records and the trophies, is part of the past. If we make comparisons, last season we won 49 points out of a possible 51. It will be very difficult to do better, because the margin is very small. We cannot gain any advantage through comparisons. In a way, forgetting what we achieved has to be our mantra, but also remembering how we achieved it. All the players came back in fantastic shape. We set the bar very high and they returned in very good condition. That shows they had a good break to recover their energy, but also that they worked very well for this pre-season.”

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