João Afonso could start for FC Porto | OneFootball

Rádio Renascença published, this Friday, a lengthy interview with Petit, in which the coach addressed several topics, including the departure of João Afonso, the goalkeeper whom ‘his’ Santa Clara sold to FC Porto for 1.5 million euros, a figure that could rise to two million euros if certain targets are met.

“I see a calm kid, he plays very well with his feet, he is very composed and very reliable in the air, coming off his line, he gives the team confidence… He will make his mistakes, like everyone does, but I think he could be a future starter for FC Porto,” said the former Portugal international, emphatically.

“Besides working with the ten players who are out on the pitch, which is my role, we also analyse the goalkeepers’ development very closely, so that the team can also play out from the back. We saw that we had a quality product there, and that if we just backed him, we could believe he would be a solution for the future,” he continued.

“He played well against Nacional [2-0 win], and then had his trial by fire in the match against FC Porto [0-1 defeat], where he put in two great performances and ended up deserving it, because he is a quality kid, an Azorean, and I think he has a very bright future ahead of him,” he added.

Petit guarantees continuity at Santa Clara

In the same interview, Petit made it very clear that he intends to remain in charge of Santa Clara in the next 2026/27 season: “There is a major transformation under way, with a training centre that already has two grass pitches and one synthetic pitch. A few more things still need to be put in place, and that is part of our idea, which is to have a calm season, develop assets, play good football and try to sell players, so that the club can continue to grow.”

“What we have been discussing with the board is that there was a four-year cycle with many players who went down, then came back up and stayed here at Santa Clara for three or four years. Nowadays it is not easy to have a squad where 70% of the players stay for that long,” he reflected.

“We are trying to change things a little by bringing fresh blood into the team, young Portuguese players who can also come to the island. We are going to build a young squad, with some experience in other players, for a comfortable season,” he concluded.

“A lot of people say I’m a defensive coach, but…”

On a personal level, the 49-year-old coach recalled that, despite the “difficult challenges” he has taken on, he has always managed to achieve “the final objective, which was survival” and to “save teams”, so he downplayed the label often attached to him regarding a supposed preference for the defensive side of the game.

“To save teams, you also need quality, and a lot of people say I’m a defensive coach, but when you are bottom of the table, there is only one way, which is to win, otherwise you do not get out of that position. There is a label they put on us and that sometimes we try to change. I think I have already changed that label,” he said.

“I keep doing my job, I keep taking on difficult objectives and challenges, but by the end of the season I manage to achieve them, I manage to develop assets and that is what satisfies me, that development, always having work. If I stay idle for three or four months, they are already bothering me to go back to work,” he concluded, laughing.

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