Rui Faria was introduced to the press on Wednesday as new coach of Qatar Stars League champions Al-Duhail, marking his first step into management after 17 years in various assistant coaching roles.
The Portuguese, who left Manchester United at the close of last season to end a working relationship with José Mourinho that started in 2001, revealed that he had not spoken to his former colleague when making the decision.
Al-Duhail held a press conference to unveil their new manager, having parted company with previous boss Nabil Maaloul after just a short period in charge. Tunisian Maaloul, who was hired last summer after title-winning coach Djamel Belmadi left to take the Algeria job, paid the price for Al-Duhail’s failure to progress past the quarter-final stage of the Asian Champions League.
“It’s a pleasure for me to be here, it’s an honour to work for this club Duhail,” Faria said at his unveiling. “Qatar has big interests in sports projects. There is Aspire Academy, Aspetar, and it’s going to host the World Cup in 2022 and these are only some of the examples of Qatar’s interest in sports.
“Duhail have the same kind of ambitions, they share the same interest in football and that’s one of the main reasons I’m here. To bring my contribution, to bring my experience to help improve the club day by day, in the training sessions, in different competitions with the right approach and the experience I have with me for many and many years working in places that I have worked in the past.”
“My decision”
Naturally, the 43-year-old was asked if he sought the advice of Mourinho, with whom he worked at Leiria, Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid and most recently Manchester United. However, Faria insisted he had not talked the move through with his former boss and would not be drawn on commenting on Mourinho’s future.
“No, I did not ask for José’s opinion. It was my decision. His future? I'm not the right person to talk about it because we usually talk about other things. I've worked close to him for 17 years and I will not forget the experiences I've had in those clubs, but I'd rather talk about the present and leave the past behind.”
Attack is the plan
Faria was questioned on his decision to venture into taking the lead role as a coach, as well as his ideas on how he expects his team to play. The Barcelos native insisted that his decision to leave United at the end of last season was partly motivated by a desire to go it alone as a manager after many years as a backroom staff member.
“Since last season, in May last year, I have come to believe that I cannot be an assistant to any coach in the coming period," he said. "I needed to get in the coaching world, and although I wanted to spend more time at home and catch my breath, this club prevented me from that and convinced me to come to Doha.
“When we have the ball, we will attack and when we don’t have we will defend. But we will be having possession or trying to get possession most of the time, so we will be playing an attacking game,” he said.
Faria’s side currently sit second in the Qatari Sports League, two points behind Jesualdo Ferreira’s Al Sadd.
By Sean Gillen
