Cutting proof: Sergio Conceição and Porto flourishing despite the difficulties Israel today

Sergio Conceição was not happy at the end of Porto's game against Passos Pereira on Saturday.

"This is not the team I want to see," the coach was furious.

"We were not competitive enough, and there are a lot of things we need to improve. There is a lack of coordination between attack and defense, and we have made too many collective mistakes."

Porto, by the way, won the game 2: 4.

Nine rounds to the end of the season, she leads the table by six points from champions Sporting Lisbon, who also beat them 1-2 in the first game of the Cup semi-final.

Tonight she will host Lyon in the last eight of the Europa League.

Her condition, as can be understood, is not so bad.

Consasseau's great self-criticism is probably the main reason why Porto is where it is.

Beyond all that has been said, the win over Passos Pereira extended their unbeaten streak in the league to 53 - equal to second place in the club's history, which Bobby Robson's Porto held from 1994 to 1996.

Kunsau with the actors.

Demands them to improve every game again, Photo: EP

Consasseau's team is now just two games away from a record of 55 consecutive unbeaten league games, belonging to Porto from 2010-2012, so three different coaches did so: Jesaldo Pereira, Andre Villas-Boas and Vitor Pereira.

To understand the magic secret of Consasso, it is enough to hear his summary for the victory over Passos Pereira: "I know we had some really nice moments in the offensive section, but I always prefer to win 0: 2 than 2: 4".

With this approach, Consasseau arrived in Porto in 2017, as a replacement for Nono Aspirito Santo.

As a player he won with the team three championships, and as a coach brought her a bachelor’s degree after five difficult years already in his first season on the lines.

With Tony Martins.

Will he also leave for a large group soon ?, Photo: IPI

From defense to attack

From the first moment, the thing that characterized Consasso's Porto was its excellent defensive play, and thanks in large part to its stable back, it won another championship in 2020.

But as a result, Europe's big teams pounced on Porto's fine defensive goods, thus selling Adar Militau, Ricardo Pereira, Diego Dalot, Filippa, Alex Tels and Danilo Pereira in recent years - all pillars in Consasso's defense.

The 47-year-old coach learned to cope with this situation, and with the help of veterans, such as 39-year-old Pepe, and younger players, such as 24-year-old Zaido and 22-year-old goalkeeper Diego Costa, he managed to put together a fairly reasonable back.

This season, unlike in the past, the story is on offense.

Porto may be second in the number of conquests in Portugal, but it's mainly because of Benfica's 0: 7 over the corona-stricken Blanchash and without the players.

Thanks to Mehdi Tarmi (13 goals), Avnelson (11) and the talented link trio that includes Vitinia, Otvio and Fabio Vieira - Porto is one of the only teams on the continent that has not lost this season in the league, and one that has won every league game it has played.

The impressive thing is that she does all this even after losing her biggest star in the middle of the season, Luis Diaz, who left for Liverpool and left Consasseau disappointed and frustrated.

"In the last year the club has released stars like Sergio Oliveira, Jose Corona and now Diaz, and I am the one who needs to find solutions," the coach said in an interview with SIC Notícias.

"Sometimes it seems that economic goals are more important here than sports goals."

That may be true, but Consasseau is the man who has proven that it is possible to be successful both financially and athletically.

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