Villas-Boas on the pull of excellence: “I wanted to understand Guardiola” | OneFootball

What truly sets the best in the world apart from everyone else? In an excerpt from the podcast ‘Primeiro Toque’, the president of FC Porto reveals his more introspective side and shares a long-standing curiosity: understanding how those who operate at the limits of excellence think.

“I’ve always been fascinated by trying to understand the minds of the best in the world. Everything related to ‘peak performance’, basically,” he explains. His search for answers takes him beyond football, into a kind of cross-disciplinary analysis of elite competition. “The Michael Phelpses, the Tiger Woodses, the Michael Jordans, the Phil Jacksons… I’ve always been interested in understanding Pep Guardiola. What goes on in the minds of people who pursue ‘peak performance’? Why is it that we, the average ones, can’t get there?” he asks.

“What is it that separates second place from first place?” he says, leaving a question hanging in the air that may be answered on Friday, when the full conversation about these topics and the club’s current situation is shown in full.

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