João Brandão on the up: Building a winning Porto mentality | OneFootball

With the fourth victory in five matches and the third win in the last three games at Olival (1-0), João Brandão stated that this was the outcome he wanted to “create this habit of winning in order to develop players in the Porto way.” Aware that “winning is part of FC Porto’s DNA,” the coach praised the “very communicative, dynamic, and compact block” that the “B team” built defensively, pointed out areas to improve “in offensive transitions,” and, when asked about the movement of players between the Club’s different levels, assured that the cohesion and alignment between the coaching staffs “are unequivocal”: “There is only one FC Porto and we always seek the ideal context for the players’ development process, without forgetting the collective ability of all teams to play to win at every level.”

Fair and Desired Result“This was the victory we wanted, we wanted to create this habit of winning so we could develop players the Porto way. Winning is part of FC Porto’s DNA. It was a tough match against a Paços de Ferreira side with a lot of offensive mobility, we expected that and it was very important for our block to be very communicative, dynamic, and compact. That’s what we did and, as a result, we were defensively stable for much of the game and won the ball to exploit spaces. We lacked that offensive transition; it was the moment of the game where we didn’t do so well today. Considering the opponent’s mobility, if we had been more precise in our offensive transitions and managed more passes out of the pressure zone… that’s what was missing from our game today, but otherwise we managed to create chances and settle in the opponent’s half, which wasn’t easy due to Paços’ attitude of pressing immediately and jumping on the ball. There was a great goal in a beautiful play and the effectiveness right at the start of the game, which was an internal challenge for us and we managed to achieve it.”

Perfect Harmony“It’s unequivocal. We had under-17 players training with us during the week who went to play in Alcochete, others who were and are with us and went to play in Seixal for the under-19s, our players in the first team who played this morning, and even some who trained with the main squad during the week and played for us. There is only one FC Porto and we always seek the ideal context for the players’ development process, without forgetting the collective ability of all teams to play to win at every level.”

Upcoming Challenges Against the Leaders“These are the challenges that make us grow and give our all every day. I never tire of emphasizing that these are the same players, the same coaching staff, and the same staff who have been in this process for months. Now we have this reward of points and a different position in the standings. It’s an evolutionary, continuous process in which we remain very alert so they don’t lose focus, especially since the road is long for them and for the team.”

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