Portimonense is close to guaranteeing the return to the Primeira Liga that Vítor Oliveira, coach of Alvinegros, has set as a goal since taking office. The Portimão team is quietly in first place, but, with only nine games to play, the "king of climbs", in an interview with Sul Informação, says that nothing is won and even takes a break in the second round.
Vítor Oliveira, who started his coaching career at Portimonense, also drew comparisons between the reality of football in the Algarve now and what he knew when he “hanged up his boots”, and talked about his future, which may include returning to the Primera Liga. commands from Portimonense.
Sul Informação (SI)- What assessment do you make of this return to Portimão, to coach the club where you started your career?
Vitor Oliveira (VO)– I have a very positive assessment so far and we think that it will be maintained until the end of the season. It's been a good comeback, the adaptation was easy.
Knowing the city and a lot of people here, knowing the club, made this entry easier, after so many years.
Therefore, I make a very positive assessment at all levels, mainly, and most importantly, at sport level.
SI – Is Portimonense's promotion guaranteed? There has been a very cautious speech, but the truth is that the team is in the first place with nine points ahead of the second placed and 16 for the third, with nine games to go…
VO - [Interrupts] I can see that we're very close to the goal, but it's not in good spirits, nor is it wise to say it already is, because it isn't!
The [Desportivo das] Aves was already there for six rounds. It was practically taken for granted by everyone who would be Portimonense and Aves ascending. But in six games they made a point or two. If the other teams had won, they could have questioned the positioning of Aves.
We know football is unpredictable. Not long ago, Barcelona, which is a “top” team, lost three straight games. This always causes some imbalance in less experienced teams and this situation must be prevented.
Now, we are not pessimistic to the point of saying that it is still very difficult. It's not too hard, it's hard. While it hasn't been completed, we understand that it is difficult, but we know that we are on the right path and that, more game, less game, we will achieve our goal.
However, it would be too presumptuous to say that it already is, because it isn't. As long as it is mathematically possible for one of the other teams to reach first or second place, we cannot “flag in arc”.
All climbs have a very special flavor and this one is no exception.
SI – If you win this promotion, it will be the tenth on your resume. Does this have a special flavor for being at the club where you started your coaching career?
VO - Climbs always have a special meaning. It's clear that this is a club that says a lot to me: it was here that I started as a coach, that I ended up as a player, in a brilliant season for Portimonense that took the club to Europe, then coached by Manuel José.
I met a lot of people here, I have a very good relationship and that, in the affective aspect, always gives us some comfort. But the climbs are always very special, regardless of the club you are at.
Moving up a division is very difficult, very difficult, and all the climbs have a very special flavor and this one will not be different from the rule.
I'm not interested in the Premier League at any price.
SI – With each division rise, there is talk of the return of Vítor Oliveira to the Primeira Liga. Is Portimonense the ideal club for this to happen?
VO - I don't know if it will be the ideal club, because honestly I haven't worried about it yet. I talk to people, they talk to me about it, not only here but in other clubs, and my answer is always the same: when it is decided to move up Portimonense, we sit down, talk and see what the conditions are on one side. and another. If there is a good understanding, I have no problem continuing.
If that doesn't happen, I have no problem leaving either. That's why, throughout my career, I've always been on one-year contracts. This allows you to reach the end of the year, discuss and find out what is best for the coach and the club. What is best for just one is not enough.
It's like a marriage and there has to be the consent of both parties. It is too early to discuss this situation. When we have to discuss, we will discuss quickly and also quickly decide whether to continue or not.
I've never been worried about what's going to happen next year, I'm worried about what's going on this year. I want to make the most of points, win the division quickly, win the national title later and, in time, we will see that.
SI – So, can you train Portimonense in the Primeira Liga?
VO - I have been in the Second League for a few years and the possibility of me continuing, when I go up, was always discussed.
But the conditions that I understand as necessary to enter the Premier League were not created.
I'm not interested in the Premier League at any price. Let's discuss, let's look at what proposals are there, what conditions are there, and then we'll sort it out easily.
SI – What can influence this decision?
VO - It's what influences all decisions regarding renewals, layoffs, all these things: the quality of the squad, whether it offers guarantees of success, the agreement of the contract with the coach, the understanding between coach and administration... if this understanding, which has been this excellent year, if it continues, is an important factor for continuity.
The club's intentions are also important. There are all those factors that are discussed in all situations, divisions, all clubs, between club and coach.
SI – Portimonense was, last year, also very close to the promotion of the division and Vítor Oliveira was on the other side of the “barricade”, having managed to be promoted with Chaves in that game that drew a draw here, in Portimão. What was the squad's reaction to your arrival? Does the spa talk about it?
VO - The reception was very normal. In football, we get used to the fact that each year is a new year. We cannot live in the past.
Clearly, if you don't have a good past, you probably won't have a good future. However, we know that when championships end, a cycle ends and, every new year, we start a new cycle. That's what happened here. I was very well received by everyone.
What happened last season was hardly discussed. We can occasionally remember this, but in football we are used to putting a stone on what has happened. Each year is a year of new situations, new players, new challenges, new bets.
The team is not as strong as it was in the first round.
SI – Are there reasons for the less exuberant moment of Portimonense in the last games? The team has been losing more points than in the first round…
VO - There are reasons. The team is not as strong as it was in the first round. We had a series of imbalances, which were felt. The other teams have also been improving, they are stronger, and Portimonense, on the contrary, is weaker, because they lost Jádson, Lucas, Ewerton, Stanley, Marcel for a long time and ended up selling Lumor and Amilton.
We are talking about seven or eight starting players in the first round. Only a team with the quality squad that we have can balance this situation and that's what we've been doing.
When we thought that, if we were complete, we could unbalance this championship even more, at this moment, we just balance. Still, we've done good performances.
We have lost games that we normally wouldn't lose, but we have to give merit to the players who entered, because they have managed to balance the team and we have managed to maintain more or less the distance that separates us from the second and third place.
SI – In the winter market there were entries, but there were also exits. Did the team lose?
VO - The departures have little to do with the team's lower production in the second round. Injuries have been much more important.
If we hadn't had the injuries we had, very complicated, very serious, I think we would have been able to keep the gauge very high, maybe not as good as in the first lap, which was exceptional, but a gauge higher than what we did. I think injuries are the main reason and not the players leaving.
SI – How do you assess the current state of football in the Algarve?
VO - I remember that, when I was here, we had Portimonense and Farense in the Primeira Liga and we even had Olhanense and there were some other teams from the Algarve that were in the Second Division. It seemed to me that, at the time, football in the Algarve was much stronger than it is now.
The Algarve is at risk of losing a team in the Second League, which is Olhanense, which is in a difficult position, but has the possibility of being able to move up some of the teams that are in the dispute for the Portuguese Championship.
I think that, at the moment, the Algarve, in terms of football, is substantially weaker than when I started as a coach in Portimão.
Personally, I understand that there should always be one team in the Premier League, another in the Second League, then two or three in the Portuguese Championship.
The region has all the conditions for this, because people like football. It was very important for Portimonense to rise and for Olhanense to remain, or that one of the teams that is in the Portuguese Championship could aspire to the Second League.
Professional football should be represented every week in the Algarve.
Football in the Algarve was much stronger than it is now.
SI – What reasons do you find why Algarve football has not been represented in the professional championships of other times? The periphery of clubs in the Algarve is usually identified as one of the problems.
VO - I think that the periphery has little to do with this, it has more to do with the crisis that hit the country and made itself noticeable in the Algarve. Clubs lost the ability to acquire, lost the ability to grow and this meant that they ended up having weaker teams, which corresponds to worse classifications, relegation of division and this leads to less people supporting the club.
We entered a vicious cycle that threw the teams from the Algarve to places not consistent with those they occupied a few years ago. I think it has to do with the crisis, with some demotivation of the people who liked football, the “highbrows” of football, who are on the brink of extinction, as everyone knows.
A club in the Algarve, or islands, will have to have a higher budget than teams that are in large areas of the country, around Porto, Lisbon, Braga, Setúbal or Coimbra, which normally have more possibilities, potential and economic power to stay for more years in the First and Second leagues.
SI – With the decisive phase of the season to come, what message do you leave for the members and fans of Portimonense?
VO - Basically, I want to say to the partners that our commitment will be total. We will try to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, so that we can bring that joy as quickly as possible, so that the partners can watch a game or two here, in Portimão, calmly and without the pressure of the result.
After an exhausting season like this, we all needed two or three quiet games where we could enjoy the football that will be played on the four lines.
We want to thank you for all your support, which has been unconditional up to this stage, and ask you to keep it, because it is very important for us to achieve the necessary victories.
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