Panathinaikos chose the Portuguese, Rui Vitoriafor the new beginning, since the venture with him Diego Alonso on the bench did not bring the results expected by the club and the world in the first months of the current season.
The new coach of “greens» immediately gets to work and less than 24 hours after his arrival in Greece he will guide his new team from the edge of the bench in Sunday’s away match against Volos in their 10th matchday Stoiximan Super League.
The sport-fm.gr wanted to know more about the coach, but also the person, Rui Vitoria and the footballers who have worked with him are the ideal ones to talk about him. One of them is Pitchywhich is now in Cyprus and offers its services to APOEL. He worked with the new coach of Panathinaikos both in Pass Ferreira – in Vitoria’s first year at the top level of Portuguese football – but also in Benficawith which company they won titles.
“Bet on the psychology of the player, they will love him”
In the conversation with Pitsi, what the 35-year-old, now, APOEL midfielder, constantly stood on was the part of psychology in which invests Rui Vitoria. And obviously the friendly relations are one thing and the tactical approach to each different football challenge is another, but when the first exists, then the second can only go well…
“He is a very good coach. He is also good in the tactical part, but he is also excellent in the psychological part. He works a lot on this and bets on the good psychology of the players and the team. He prefers 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 and constantly wants to see his players in possession of the ball. I think he will make Panathinaikos improve a lot” said the Portuguese footballer in sport-fm.gr and added:
“He wants to have a good relationship with everyone and he wants to create a friendly relationship with his players. Not just professional. I’m sure that everyone at Panathinaikos will love him for who he is and for his ways. He will definitely make the team play better from now on. Panathinaikos with him can become a team that will completely control the situation on the pitch against every opponent. He is a great coach”.
“He taught me to “read” the game, our best stories are the titles at Benfica”
In their first coexistence, in the 2010-2011 season, o Pitchy he was only 20 years old and was in Pass Ferreira. They had then reached the final of the Portuguese League Cup together, where they were defeated by Benfica in the final. Rui Vitoria had declared terribly proud for that group as it had been “built”. His current midfielder APOEL he remembers for his own sake sport-fm.gr those first experiences:
“I enjoyed my collaboration with him throughout the years, but that first year in Pasos Ferreira was also special. It was a great season for us then, but also for the coach with what he was trying. He was very close to all of us, we were united and he helped us a lot. We had a terrible atmosphere in the dressing room. The most beautiful stories I remember from our coexistence are of course all the titles we won with Benfica. Those were years… of football joy in Lisbon and what we lived in Benfica was unique”.
On the one hand, Vitoria was experiencing his first appearance in the top division of the Portuguese league, on the other hand, Picci was a young player who still had to learn a lot and manage even more. And on top of that, he had to comment that:
“The truth is that speaking personally I will say that it helped me a lot to start understanding the game better. After all, I was 20 when we first worked together. It made me learn how to control the pace of a matchup. The big asset he has is that he really likes talking to the footballers”.
“Panathinaikos found the ideal coach”
He will remember his collaborations with his current coach Panathinaikouknowing that with him he achieved a lot and became a better football player. The who of manRui Vitoria, is even more important to him Pitchy. And he, at the end of the conversation with sport-fm.grcommented:
“Rui Vitoria is a very good coach, who relies a lot on the psychological part of his team. And this is also a result of how he is as a person. He makes sure to be friendly and pleasant. Panathinaikos is getting the ideal coach right now”!
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.