The president of Palmeiras explains the choice of Abel Ferreira and asks the crowd for patience: “They will need time and security” | palms

In an interview with givePresident Maurício Galiotte explained the decision to hire a foreign coach and said he was confident in long-term planning. Abel Ferreira signed a contract until the end of 2022 and has the opportunity to end a sequence of manager changes: the last time a manager started and finished the same season at the club was Gilson Kleina, in 2013.

– All Palmeireans have to be united at this time. Abel was hired for a medium to long term job. It is a very important project for the future of Palmeiras and the support of our fans will be, as always, fundamental. Resources must be compatible with objectives and expectations must be aligned. Variables include goals, resources, and deadlines. Evolution must also be considered, not just sports scores, he said.

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– We understand that, for this job, the coach will need time and security to be able to perform it satisfactorily. It is also a way of demonstrating our conviction and commitment to the project. I do not see it as a problem for the next president, on the contrary, the objective is to deliver a ready team, to allow continuity instead of restarting – he added.

After the departure of Vanderlei Luxembourg, who had a contract until the end of 2021, Palmeiras closed in search of a foreign coach. The Spanish Miguel Ángel Ramírez, from Independiente del Valle, was sought, but it was not achieved.

Argentines Gabriel Heinze, Sebastian Beccacece and Ariel Holan, as well as Spaniard Quique Setién, were also evaluated by the club.

– The negotiation with Ramírez is part of the past, the matter is closed. Our coach is Abel Ferreira. He meets the club’s expectations and has great potential to do a great job … Contrary to what many people reported, Palmeiras did not make any proposals for Gabriel Heinze.

See other excerpts from the interview with Maurício Galiotte:

How did you come up with the name Abel? What about the profile caught the club’s attention the most?
– We redirect our strategy to football. Palmeiras has invested heavily in the base in recent years and will continue to invest. We will go to market to meet specific needs or take advantage of opportunities. Therefore, we are looking for a coach with experience in the training and use of grassroots athletes. Another aspect considered was the intensity of the game, which requires a participatory team, with balance between sectors and speed of transition.

– The European school is a benchmark in this. We also intend to implement a game pattern, not just a model, but a football culture, which requires methodology and didactics. Abel Ferreira’s curriculum shows that he combines these characteristics and skills. The interviews with Abel and the information gathered in the market reinforced the curricular information.

Palmeiras has changed a lot in terms of coaches and leadership profiles in recent years. Why is the club betting that it will now be a project with a work sequence?
– It should be remembered that, until the end of last year, we worked with another model, guided by an aggressive stance in the market in the hiring of renowned athletes and revelations. The expectation of immediate results in these circumstances is naturally high. We were successful to the extent that we maintained protagonist status and made significant achievements. However, this model is no longer viable for the current scenario.

– However, I want to make it clear that we are changing our strategy with conviction and that we are preparing for it. The process started at the end of last year, and Vanderlei Luxembourg, with his experience, contributed to the reformulation of the roster and the use of grassroots athletes. We have also made progress on other fronts related to management, which are not so externally evident, however relevant.

After changing the technical command again during the season, do you understand now that it was a mistake to hire Vanderlei Luxembourg?
– Vanderlei was hired to lead in the technical aspect this strategic reorientation of Palmeiras and in ten months he completed several stages of this process, such as the reformulation of part of the squad, promotion and use of base athletes and winning the Paulista Championship. Unfortunately, our expectations of improvement in the technical performance of the team and the construction of a standard of play were not met and we had to opt for the exchange, but I cannot consider an error a work that paid off such as the consecration of new athletes and a Title.

What do you think of the recent organized fan demonstrations? What is your assessment of the planning, the work of Anderson Barros and the football management?
– The fans have gotten used in recent years to see Palmeiras as the protagonist, that is, a potential candidate for all the titles they dispute. When athletic performance puts such expectations at risk, the reaction is immediate and intense. Poor results are generally associated with incompetence or lack of commitment from managers and / or coaching staff and / or players. This is the prevailing culture in football. There is no use complaining about it. We work so that bad periods are infrequent and short.

– As managers we must have a medium and long-term vision. We cannot get excited or overwhelmed by short-term events. Anderson Barros is our soccer director, the chief executive of the area, and as such he plays a key role in the strategic redirection process that began at the end of 2019, exactly when he was hired. The work that has been developed does not have great external visibility, such as the recruitment of athletes, but it is just as relevant and, perhaps, more complex. We also have to consider that the pandemic created new challenges and ended up affecting the pace of planned actions. My assessment is that we are on the right track and there is no reason to question it.

In our last interview, you talked about the prognosis to stop raising around R $ 200 million in 2020. Has this changed in any way? Are there more concrete predictions about the impact of the crisis on your club’s finances?
– The forecast remains the same. The pandemic affected all sources of income, except the main sponsorship (Crefisa and FAM). We had losses in revenue from broadcast rights, box office, Avanti social support program, sale of licensed products, prizes and others. It is not possible to compensate for a loss of this magnitude by reducing expenses. In fact, it should be mentioned that we have chosen to preserve the jobs and wages of our employees, an unquestionably the right decision. We renegotiated payment terms, agreed to temporary salary reductions with athletes and coaching staff, took advantage of government incentives, renegotiated contracts with suppliers and thus managed to fulfill all our commitments.

– However, the situation has not yet normalized and the effects of the pandemic will enter 2021. In fact, we still do not know when we will return to normal. It will be inevitable to have to negotiate more athletes to close the accounts, however, we will not depreciate our assets and we will not compromise the quality of our squad. Our goal is to complete the management with a balanced cash flow.