Vasco Seabra on the Ave River: “It is a reason for responsibility and motivation”

O coach Vasco Seabra said today that the investment made by Rio Ave, the I League football, to hire him to Arouca represents “motivation and responsibility”, revealing to have refused a financially superior proposal before accepting the villa-condenses.

At the first press conference as Rio Ave’s new technician, the 43-year-old coach turned away the idea of feeling increased pressure by the financial effort made to secure its hiring, triggering the €1 million termination clause.

“ It is a matter of responsibility and, of course, of motivation for trust. The money they spent or what was involved in the transfer represents only the symbolism of what happened ", sustained.

The technician, who signed a contract until 2029, admitted that the change was financially advantageous, but ensured that this was not the determining factor for leaving the previous club.

“ Financially it was advantageous for me, but I can say that, four months ago, I had a proposal much higher than that of Rio Ave ", revealed.

Even so, the coach said that the financial aspect was not the most important in his decision to leave Arouca and take over the project of the Ave River.

“ Much more than the financial part, had to do with what is the conviction that within a project that is highly ambitious I would have an internal dimension of being able to lead something that seems to me to be highly sustainable”, he explained.

Vasco Seabra recognized that Arouca's departure was particularly difficult, due to the relationships built during his passage through the club.

“ It was a special, difficult time. It was also difficult to leave Arouca, for the connection to the players, for the connection to the president and the general director, connection to the staff. We had created something really special and, therefore, it was very difficult to leave a place where the connection with the players was very strong ", he said.

The decision to accept the invitation of Rio Ave was marked by the approach of President Alexandrina Cruz and the investor and owner of SAD Evangelos Marinakis, whose determination highlighted.

“ The truth is that when this possibility came about, it was all very fast, but the way the president and the investor approached me, and they were convinced in their choice to lead an ambitious and different project, was decisive”, he explained.

The coach also pointed to working conditions and investment in infrastructure as decisive factors for accepting change.

“ With fantastic working conditions, in which the club is developing”, he stressed, referring to the projects for new benches and facilities for female training and football.

The approach to the fans and the city also weighed on the decision, with Vasco Seabra revealing that he intends to live in Vila do Conde.

“I live very close to Vila do Conde, but I wanted to live here to feel the city and the people close to the club. We want to be proud of our supporters and the people who like Rio Ave ", concluded.

The new coach of Rio Ave also recognized that the team needs to be “more united and competitive”, promising a response already on Sunday, in front of the National, on the eighth day of the Portuguese Football League.

In the preview of the debut in command of the village-condenses, the technician, who replaced the Greek Sotiris Silaidopoulos, identified the need to strengthen relations within the group, regardless of the different nationalities of the players.

“ More than the various nationalities we have on the squad, it is in fact the relationships we have created. And in these relationships, I'm not gonna hide it. We have to be more of a team. We have to suffer more for each other, be more united and competitive. They are principles that have to be present”, he said.

After only five training sessions, the 43-year-old coach, who was hired to Arouca, recognized that the intended transformation will not happen immediately, but wants the team to present some of the principles that he considers fundamental.

“ What we want to present in this game, more than any tactical system, structure or way of playing, is to demonstrate race, competitiveness, ambition for recovering and having the ball, and willingness to hurt the opponent's goal ", explained.

Vasco Seabra also left a word to his predecessor, Sotiris Silaidopoulos, ensuring that he will take advantage of what was already done.

“ He left a work of many games, with achievements in the previous era. Let us try, within what our ideas are, to orgy him also for what he left here and that we can naturally value and make better”, he said.

Nevertheless, the technician anticipated differences in relation to the Silaidopoulos model, especially in collective behaviors, despite some similarities in the team structure.

“ The game model itself has, in terms of system base, some identical things, but everything that is basic principles is in fact very different”, he noted.

About the National, Vasco Seabra highlighted the organization of the team directed by Alexandre Santos and the response that awaits the Madeirans after the interruption of the championship.

“He is a methodical coach, who puts the organized teams, knows what he does, thinks about training and how to play very thoroughly,” he said.

With the Ave River adding only four points in seven journeys, the new coach rejected that the classifying situation should be viewed as an unsolved crisis.

“ It seems absolutely unrealistic to think that on the seventh day, when the team has four points, we are talking about a highly pronounced crisis. I won’t hold on to excuses, nor will I allow that to my players,” he said.

Coach also confirmed that Ryan Guilherme and Diogo Nascimento is recovered and is part of the summons, instead of Miszta, Brandon Aguilera and Nelson Abbey, still injured.