José Manuel Gomes says it is a dream to come and work in England.
The former Rio Ave coach was announced as Paul Clement’s successor this evening following Reading’s 1-0 defeat against Middlesbrough, which leaves them outside the Championship relegation zone on goal difference.
And he says he plans to take the Royals back to the Premier League.
Here is what he had to say in his first press conference as Reading boss.
On taking the Reading job…
All the coaches in the world dream to work in English football. I’m completely excited with this project. Mr Dai (Yongge) believed a lot in me and made a big effort to take me out from my previous club (Rio Ave). It’s a really fantastic project. He explained to me the big amount of money he’s invested in the club and we need to get results. The idea is to put Reading in the right place.
On safety being the aim…
Middlesbrough are in fourth position but if you look at the match the Reading players deserved to win the match. Especially for what they created and what they did in the second half. It means we have something to hold on to going forward.
On his philosophy…
I love football. The main idea when you’re growing up with friends is to score but you must pass the ball to each other – that’s what I like. To start building up from our goalkeeper, pass the ball to each other and controlling the game with the ball to make the opponent move and try to recover the ball. In this way creating space and gaps for the fast players and strikers to use.
But basically creating with the ball, controlling the game with the ball. From everything I’ve watched so far with the players, we have enough technical ability to play and follow my ideas.
On players adapting to his philosophy…
I have no doubt about that. The January market is arriving but now we must give stability to our players and given them confidence because we are not in the position we want or deserve.
We must help our players to be stronger on the pitch and the most important thing is they really believe they can do it. If you don’t believe you lose the hope and if you lose the hope you lose everything.
We need to give them confidence and I am sure they will like my ideas and my football philosophy.
On the January transfer window…
The first step is to sit and look at what we have here. Looking properly at the U23 players and the quality players we have. Now I must look through the squad – along with my staff – to find the problems and try to ask for the solutions but we haven’t got there yet. Everything will move in January so there are options for everybody.
On having Championship knowledge…
The Championship is different to all the leagues in the world. Before the start of the season, 20 clubs say our goal is to reach the Premier League. You can’t find that in any league in the world so it’s fantastic – the level of competition. Everybody wants to win all the games. I know a lot of the staff at Wolves.
I know exactly what kind of league we are talking about and what kind of football we can find. For example we can find the Middlesbrough football, with respect is a philosophy of direct football, crosses into the area, tall players, always challenges in the air and we also we can find a passing game on the ground. What we know is that it is a very, very, very competitive league and we must be ready for different kinds of challenges match by match.
On his first opponents Millwall…
Now I have all my staff studying the pictures. When I have finished talking with you I will sit with them to study all the small details about Millwall. It will be a very important match for us. We have the same number of points, only goal difference is separating us. We must be ready to beat them. We know that it will be difficult.
On his first few hours here…
Until now everybody has been very friendly with me and tried to show me everything that happens in the club, introducing me to the people that are working here every day. I feel that everybody wants to help. Also I felt the passion from the stands. We must achieve our goals. We must return Mr Dai’s investment with good results and definitely bring Reading to the Premier League again. If it’s not possible this season, it will be difficult but not impossible, but at least in the next season we must put the club in the Premier League. You feel in the stands when there are some chances the people shout and are happy. You see they are happy when Reading creates some beautiful actions so we must put Reading in the Premier League.
