New FC Porto coach Francesco Farioli: “I know the challenge I’m taking on” | OneFootball

Porto today unveiled their new Italian manager Francesco Farioli. The Italian said he was fully aware of the challenge that he is facing and that he is fully in line with the thinking of President André Villas-Boas and the rest of the Porto staff regarding the changes that had to be made.

The 36-year-old also said that he already knows where the squad has to be strengthened and is working on targets in the summer transfer market, although all the current players would be given a chance to show what they can do.

“I know the challenge I’m taking on,” said Farioli. “Before signing for a club I study it in depth, and the president has been very clear since our first meeting. He gave me a thorough analysis of the season that has just finished, which was a tough one, and on this aspect we made a connection very quickly about what had to be done. We are all aligned.

“We have the market, the training, and everyone will be given a chance to show what they can do. I’m not going to prejudge anybody. I want to be honest in my assessment during the training sessions.

“The market? We have a clear idea of the positions we want to strengthen. In my recent experience I’ve had a lot of surprises in relation to players who couldn’t reach a certain level at first, but got there in the end.

“It’s not up to me to judge what happened before I got here. I’m a believer that the team should have possession of the ball, and control the game. More than imposing our idea, we have to make sure that the players believe in what we want from them.

“It’s important to be adaptable too. We should be flexible to make modifications when necessary. Some things will be the same, but we are open to adaptations and that will make the difference.”

André Villas-Boas promises reinforcements

Porto president André Villas-Boas says that the behind-the-scenes efforts to get the club’s finances in order has left Porto in a better position to bolster their squad, and promised big changes.

“Now we are able to work the market because we can pay for all the investments we will be making in the long term and because we strongly believe in the job we are doing from an organisational point of view.

“This will allow us to invest like we haven’t been able to up to now. We may even see the biggest transfer market in FC Porto’s history. We want a strategic vision that is in sync with the needs the coach will identify in the first few weeks, and based on that we will target the players needed for the club to have the success we want to achieve.”