The return of the U-19 coach to the roles he played between 2016 and 2020 is on the table. Technico will work with Fernando Gomes in a department that will undergo changes for the 2022/23 season. During their first tenure, the Dragons won the Youth League and nurtured various talents.
The departure of António Natal will lead to a number of changes in FC Porto’s youth football department and according to information gathered by O JOGO, SAD officials have already invited José Tavares to the position of technical coordinator.
The 41-year-old coach held these roles for three and a half years (between 2016 and 2020), after which he devoted himself exclusively to coaching the under-19s. During this period, Tavares had to deal with the pandemic that suspended competition in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, but in the 2021/22 season he discussed the league title with Benfica literally until the last minute of the last game of the season, the championship, eventually losing everything …two goals in difference between goals scored and conceded.
Moreover, José Tavares’ first tenure as coordinator was marked by one of the greatest achievements of Portuguese football. In the 2018/19 season, Porto became the first Portuguese club to win the Youth League with a number of players who trained at the club and other players who left the rivals’ gallop.
Fabio Silva, now at Wolverhampton, was one such case and in 2021, after a season with the first team, he even ended up providing SAD with a €40m cash inflow, fundamental to a balance that signed an agreement with UEFA. , in accordance with the rules of financial fair play. Other talents such as Diogo Costa, João Mario, Vitinha and Fabio Vieira are now prominent figures in the team led by Sergio Conceição.
It was the love of training that prompted José Tavares to join Porto in the 2010/11 season to work with the under-15 team, where Joao Costa, Luis Mata and Rubén Macedo stood out, leading them to the title. Since then, he has worked as an observer, B-team assistant, under-19 team coach and formation coordinator. Having accepted an invitation to return to the position, as expected from Porto’s managers, the coach will work alongside “deputy” Fernando Gomes in reorganizing the department, whose main mission is to produce talent for the first team.
