CARLOS CARVALHAL

I am from a poor background in Portugal. We were medium-down, not down-and-out. My parents felt problems around food in the past but they made sure I did not miss anything. But there was nothing extra, no luxuries.

Flamengo usually contact managers who have won a lot of trophies.

When we go to the opera, we put the clothes on we know we must wear for there.

So we draw a picture of what we want as a team and will follow that - understanding that sometimes you might have to do a new wall or the kitchen is not like that and you have to change it. But the idea is to follow the plan.

The worst enemy of coaches is expectations.

I had a plan. I played football professionally but I also studied at university.

My grandparents, one Christmas, they did not have anything. They did not have money to buy presents. So my grandmother went to the orange tree outside her home, and so her boys did not go without for Christmas, she took oranges to her sons as presents.

We have to understand the abilities of the players. We will try to build a game model with our ideas and with the players we have.

I was surrounded by classical music, art and ballet all these things. But they also had a football field and it was at the conservatoire I decided to be a footballer.

I don't like confrontation. I don't care about it. If someone tries it with me, they will be talking to themselves because I don't listen.

I'm Portuguese. After lunch, I need an espresso.

But we must be so creative, trying to simulate the game. How can I make the players, when one is there, another is over there, and another is 20 metres further away, think they are playing a football match? And how can they do tactical work and organisation? It's an interesting test.

I chose Rio Ave because I had something in my head about wanting to do it differently to how I had done it in my past. Something new.

We practise, we know exactly what we must do and we win.

I like music more balanced between the voice and the guitar and the percussion. I don't like heavy metal.

We must go to the pitch without any fear. We have to try to compete for three points against every opponent. To do that, we must have courage and be strong.

The connections are very important with the fans, with the journalists, with the people. The Portuguese like to do this - it's a characteristic.

I believe in myself, I believe in my players. My target is to try to get them to believe in themselves and believe in their colleagues. These are the things that we must do.

At every club I have been at I have had a test in the first few weeks from the big players at the club. At that moment you define your success at that club, you either win the group or you lose the group.

I love football but it doesn't come in front of my family. One time when I was manager of Braga I cancelled my contract because I had a problem with my family.

I knew Portuguese football and I knew that Rio Ave was a medium-sized club but I also knew they are organised off the pitch. We felt that we could achieve something special playing in a different way.

It's called tactical periodisation because you push the physical and the psychological part together, but with organisation. So you run, but you run all the time with the ball. Always with the ball.

My mother worked at home, making clothes, trying to make some money.

When you have a lot of stress around your team the best thing is to try and put a smile on their faces.

If the owner goes inside a team and picks one player to play, I can no longer be the manager. Decisions must be made by the manager.