Francisco J. Marques slams Villas-Boas: “FC Porto have fallen” | OneFootball

Francisco J. Marques took to social media this Wednesday to publish an extensive text about the current phase of FC Porto, focusing on the fall of the Invicta city's team in the UEFA ranking, especially since the transition from Pinto da Costa to André Villas-Boas – a change heavily criticized by the club’s former director of communication and information – at the helm of the blue and whites.

“Today I continue with another of the things they don’t tell us, which I also addressed at the General Assembly, and that is the abrupt decline in the strength and international prestige of FC Porto. PdC handed over FC Porto in 18th place in the UEFA ranking and qualified for the Club World Cup (plus the 18.6 million euros in revenue). What happened after that was a shameful participation, without a single victory, in the Club World Cup and a drop to 28th place in the UEFA ranking and, for the first time since 1977/78, we are in third position among national teams,” he began writing on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

“Yes, for 48 years Sporting had not been ahead of us, which has now happened as a result of us finishing last season in 63rd place, with 9.750 points, the same as APOEL Nicosia and behind giants such as Shamrock Rovers or Jagiellonia Bialystok – this year, for now, we occupy a modest 49th position, behind Braga, Benfica, and Sporting, but with the expectation of climbing many positions in the coming rounds – it seems impossible, but the points from the preliminary rounds and a simple victory in the league phase plus the bonus for qualifying allow Benfica to still be ahead of us in this season’s ranking alone,” emphasized the former director of communication and information for the blue and whites.

“But the worst part is that they don’t tell us that in 2029, when the second edition of the Club World Cup will be held – which is even rumored to be organized by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, as a sort of rehearsal for the following year’s national teams’ World Cup – we will not participate and run the risk of seeing Benfica or Sporting, or even both, in our place. Honestly, in my humble opinion, this is not a minor detail, this is FC Porto very quickly abandoning the elite of world football, where it arrived with much effort and sacrifice, and being replaced by our rivals,” lamented Francisco J. Marques.

Criticism intensified further

The former head of the club’s communications once again insisted on the points he raised at the last FC Porto General Assembly – a session that approved the accounts and resulted in the exclusion of Sandra Madureira as a member – and directly pointed to a “blunder” by André Villas-Boas, raising several reflections on the club’s future.

“No, not everything is fine, there are many things wrong, many things worse than before, especially on the sporting side, which is the reason for FC Porto’s existence, as I once again demonstrate with facts, not with propaganda or empty talk. While the hatchet is dug up and buried with Sporting, projecting an image of weakness, since it was Varandas who threw the first stone, while members who made mistakes are being pursued but should not simply be excluded (there are less definitive ways to punish), because this only increases the feeling of division, we see others accumulating points on the ranking path. There are four years left and we already know that our only chance to participate is to win the Champions League in the spring of 2027 or 2028, which seems unrealistic – the explanation is a bit complex, the qualification period goes from last season to the 27/28 season, in Europe the only one already qualified is PSG, for being European champion in 24/25, but if anyone has doubts just search the internet (if really necessary I’ll explain),” said the former official.

“When I spoke about this at the General Assembly, I got the impression that the FC Porto board was unaware, or else pretended not to know. I don’t know, only they can say, but I do know that less than two months ago in the editorial of Dragões magazine, president André Villas-Boas showed a complete lack of knowledge on these matters, as demonstrated by the following excerpt: ‘After being overtaken by the Netherlands in the UEFA country coefficient ranking, we now see Belgium approaching quickly and dangerously. Our League faces the real risk of maintaining the poor position it occupies or even losing another spot, which would have serious consequences for all national football. If Belgium overtakes Portugal, only the national champion will participate in the main European competition, compromising fundamental financial revenues for the sustainability of the clubs…’”, he then highlighted.

“Portugal is currently in seventh, which is far from being a poor position, and can qualify two clubs for the Champions League, the champion directly and the runner-up through the preliminary rounds and play-off. If it drops to eighth place, as is very likely to happen next season, Portugal will continue to have exactly the same number of teams in the Champions League. In other words, what AVB wrote is false and it would have been enough for the president of FC Porto to note that Belgium is currently in eighth place and has Saint-Gilloise and Club Brugge in this year’s Champions League to avoid such a blunder. Furthermore, Portugal’s drop in the ranking is due more to FC Porto than to any other club, because it is FC Porto that has abruptly dropped in performance,” concluded Francisco J. Marques.

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