Virgil van Dijk makes strong claim over Liverpool partner Ibrahima Konate - 'wasn't as good'
Virgil van Dijk believes Ibrahima Konate is a better player than he was at the same age as he revealed how the Liverpool defender wants to follow in his footsteps. Van Dijk and Konate formed a strong centre-back partnership this season, starting 29 out of 38 Premier League games together as the Reds romped to a record-equalling 20th championship.
Konate, who turned 26 at the weekend, has now made 132 appearances for Liverpool having arrived from RB Leipzig for £36million back in the summer of 2021.
Van Dijk was six months older when he signed for Liverpool in January 2018 after which he has gone on to cement his position as a club legend and skipper the side to their latest title triumph.
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And the 33-year-old has revealed how Konate is now keen to assume the same leadership qualities.
'Ibou is a good friend and an excellent defender," said Van Dijk. "He's fast, strong and he wants to become a leader.
'He's getting there because he's improving. I think he's had his best season since he arrived.
"As your career progresses, you understand better how your body adapts to different situations. In any case, when I was his age, I wasn't as good as him.'
Konate is approaching the final 12 months of his current contract at Liverpool and addressed his future over the weekend.
But when asked if the Frenchman was the best centre-back he'd played alongside at Liverpool, Van Dijk added: 'I wouldn't say he's the best (yet), because I played at Liverpool alongside Joe Gomez, with whom I also formed a great partnership at the back."
Van Dijk was speaking to L'Equipe at the weekend in a long, wide-ranging interview looking at the Liverpool's Premier League title-winning campaign and his time at Anfield.
The Holland international was also asked for his opinion on who will prevail in Saturday's Champions League final, with Paris Saint-Germain - who eliminated the Reds in the round of 16 - taking on Inter Milan.
'PSG favourites? No, I don't think so," said Van Dijk. "I played against PSG recently and they made a strong impression on me.
'But as for Inter, I've played against them in the past and I know two of their players well, my compatriots Denzel Dumfries and Stefan De Vrij. Perhaps Inter have a little more experience than PSG, given that they recently played in the Champions League final (in 2023 against Manchester City).'
Van Dijk added: 'I was very impressed by PSG's style of play, the individual quality of their players and the effort they showed. It was quite surprising that we won after they had dominated us, but these things happen in football.'In the return match, we could have scored in the first 20 minutes, which would have changed the course of the match. In the end, the game was quite balanced and it went to penalties.'
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New York Times
17 minutes ago
- New York Times
Tottenham target Antoine Semenyo's two-footedness strikes fear into opponents
A version of this article was originally published in April 2025 Antoine Semenyo is one of the Premier League's most balanced players. He is capable of dribbling, passing and shooting with either foot, thanks to his parents, as he revealed in an interview with The Athletic in October last year. It helps to explain why the 25-year-old Bournemouth forward is so admired by other clubs, including Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The sticking point for any suitor is that Semenyo signed a new contract last July and Bournemouth are thought to value him at £70million ($94m), as reported by The Athletic on Friday. Advertisement His 16 Premier League goal involvements last season (scoring 11, with five assists) put him level with Bukayo Saka of Arsenal and Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze, two full England internationals. But few can rival Semenyo's ability with either foot: 46 per cent of his shots came with his right foot (with which he got six of those 11 goals) and 54 per cent with his left (the other five). The only player who got closer to a 50-50 split in 2024-25 was Bournemouth team-mate Dango Ouattara (51 per cent left, 49 per cent right). Semenyo took 125 shots in the 2024-25 Premier League, and only Chelsea's Cole Palmer (126) and Mohamed Salah of Liverpool (130) had more. The London-born Ghana international averaged 3.5 of them per 90 minutes, and mixed things up in terms of which foot he used. His ability with both left and right is invaluable in other ways, too, which explains the transfer interest he has received. We took a look at what makes Semenyo such an accomplished Premier League player. Bournemouth's system under head coach Andoni Iraola is defined by off-the-ball pressure and directness in possession. Striker Dominic Solanke contributed to and benefited from both before he moved to Tottenham Hotspur last August, for a club record fee of £65million. Evanilson, Enes Unal and Ouattara have nominally replaced Solanke at centre-forward but Semenyo has proven to be his successor when Bournemouth are out of possession. Signed from Bristol City of the Championship for an initial £9million in January 2023, when Gary O'Neil was head coach, Semenyo is excellent at anticipating the direction of passes, which enables him to intercept in key areas. A fine example came in the 3-1 win against neighbours Southampton last September, shown below. Southampton centre-back Jan Bednarek wins a throw-in in their defensive third, which is tossed back to him. As Bednarek prepares to pass forward, Semenyo races in towards the ball, away from his line of vision. By the time Bednarek plays the pass, Semenyo has stretched his left foot out to intercept. The ball ricocheted off his boot and looped over Bednarek, who was forced back, with Evanilson in close vicinity. Bednarek got there first and managed to hook the ball out for a Bournemouth throw by the corner flag — just the kind of high turnover Iraola wants from his team. Semenyo's anticipation has served him well on the other end of the pitch, too. In this example, from the 4-1 away win against Newcastle United in January, he initially does not press Anthony Gordon — the recipient of Bruno Guimaraes' pass — blocking the path for a ball inside to Tino Livramento instead. But when he notices Gordon is receiving on his weaker left foot, Semenyo sprints towards him, knowing the England forward will require an extra second to switch the ball to his right foot before passing infield to Sandro Tonali. This allows him to make a block, deflecting the pass intended for Tonali towards Ouattara (not in frame) to kickstart a counter-attack. No Premier League forward averaged more blocked passes per 90 last season than Semenyo's 1.6, and he ranked sixth in the division for possessions won in the attacking third at 1.0 per 90. As this graph below shows, his ability to read the play has allowed Semenyo, who has played in the top four divisions of the English game and in non-League, to win the ball in different areas and create openings against unsettled defences. The high regain that ended in a goal (the green dot in the graphic above) came in a 1-1 home draw with Newcastle last August. Semenyo runs in from the blindside to pressure Joelinton — one of the most physical players in the Premier League — and shrugs him off the ball. Having won possession, Semenyo accelerates past Dan Burn and Lloyd Kelly (with help from Evanilson's movement) and gets to the byline. He crosses for Marcus Tavernier, who scores the game's opening goal. In possession, Semenyo constantly looks to drive forward, and his two-footedness causes indecision in defenders' minds, contributing to a 51 per cent take-on success rate. His runs are rarely without purpose, with his six total key passes following a take-on in the 2024-25 Premier League only bettered by Tottenham's Dejan Kulusevski's seven. Iraola has primarily used him on the left flank, but he has played on the right too — as seen in the example above — and his ability to weave a path both on the inside and outside allows him to thrive. In the reverse fixture against Southampton in February, another 3-1 Bournemouth win, Semenyo receives the ball from Milos Kerkez under pressure. He turns away from James Bree and drives infield. Getting to the edge of the area, he chops the ball from his right onto his left, giving Ouattara time to get himself back onside. The chop leaves Southampton's Will Smallbone in a heap on the turf and Semenyo then passes to Ouattara, who sees his shot saved by Aaron Ramsdale. Semenyo has benefited from the continuous off-the-ball movements in Iraola's system. Like Solanke in 2023-24, he is an active contributor to Bournemouth's style beyond his returns in the final third. Their direct approach involves using long passes from back to front, and Semenyo's hold-up play has proved crucial. Advertisement Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga played 44 passes to Semenyo in the league last season, and 17 of those (39 per cent) came in matches against Brighton & Hove Albion, Brentford, Liverpool and Tottenham — four of the league's five best pressing teams. Iraola's centre-backs have done the same, too. David Brooks' 77th-minute goal in the 1-0 win against Everton in January is a good example. Centre-back Dean Huijsen lofts a pass forward towards Semenyo… …who is initially ahead of James Tarkowski but changes direction to win the first header. With Everton's defence dragged to the left, Brooks has space to run to the far post. Semenyo wins that header, flicking the ball on to Kerkez, who crosses for the Welshman to score. Another example, from December's 1-1 draw with West Ham United, encapsulates Bournemouth's blueprint. Arrizabalaga goes long towards the right, where Semenyo leaps to win the first header, guiding it to Evanilson, who then flicks it on to Justin Kluivert. Kluivert heads it forward for Semenyo, who has now escaped his marker. He races through, but drags the shot wide. Which brings us neatly on to the matter of Semenyo's end product. Bournemouth have encouraged Semenyo to shoot more, and he has obliged. But he can be wasteful, and has scored just five of his 17 Opta-defined 'big chances' in the league. He has hit the post twice and forced saves, but missed presentable opportunities. Perhaps the most glaring of those misses came in the 2-0 defeat of Arsenal in October, when Bournemouth were trying to break down a stubborn defence following William Saliba's first-half red card. A backheel from Kerkez allows Ouattara to dribble to the byline on the left. As Arsenal scramble to protect their box, Semenyo drifts to the far post, behind Riccardo Calafiori, to meet Ouattara's cross. He lets the ball run across him, before sending a shot over the crossbar. His decision-making has left team-mates frustrated on occasion, too. Again, Semenyo has been urged to go for goal more often, because he can finish with either foot, like this January strike in the 2-2 draw at Chelsea… … or this precise finish in the 5-0 stroll past Nottingham Forest later that same month. Though he turned 25 in January, 2024-25 was only Semenyo's second full season of top-flight football. Having fallen through the academy net, he was attending college before joining Bristol City, who loaned him out to non-League (Bath City), League Two (Newport County) and League One (Sunderland) sides to gain experience. Advertisement Few wide players in the Premier League have his repertoire of qualities with and without the ball, and his two-footedness allows him to play as an inside-forward, an out-and-out winger or even an attacking wing-back. Semenyo has said he wants to play for a team competing in the Champions League or Europa League — his recent performances suggest he has the quality to operate at those levels.
New York Times
27 minutes ago
- New York Times
Why are Bayer Leverkusen ready to pay more than £30m for Jarell Quansah?
Twelve months ago, in their bid to avoid breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules (PSR), Newcastle United approached Liverpool about a deal that would see forward Anthony Gordon move to Anfield and defender Jarell Quansah go in the opposite direction. Liverpool told their Premier League rivals that they had no interest in selling their young centre-back. The 2023-24 campaign had been a breakthrough season for the 22-year-old who began the season as fifth choice but ended it as Jurgen Klopp's preferred partner to Virgil van Dijk. He started 27 games in his 33 appearances. Advertisement It looked like Liverpool's academy had eased concerns about finding a successor to Joel Matip and saved the club a significant transfer outlay. So, a year later, as Bayer Leverkusen edge closer to finalising an agreement with Liverpool to sign the defender for a fee of £30million (€35.1m; $40.4m) plus add-ons, how did we get here? And why are the German side preparing to make him one of their most expensive signings? A move to the Bundesliga is one thing, but the sums involved for someone who made just four Premier League starts last season are surprising. Liverpool's data department will no doubt have run the numbers to assess Quansah's value compared with other centre-backs at a similar age across Europe, with Michael Edwards (previously the club's sporting director and now CEO of football with owners Fenway Sports Group) renowned for his record of delivering profitable returns on Liverpool's squad players. The most comparable example last summer would be 23-year-old centre-back Sepp van den Berg, who departed for Brentford for a fee of £20.2million. That was twice the market value placed on him by Transfermarkt at the time (£10.3m, a crowd-sourced figure). Quansah's current value on Transfermarkt is £17.1m. Other examples of Liverpool's profitable outgoings include Fabio Carvalho (that deal could be worth up to £27.5m), Dominic Solanke (£19m plus add-ons), Rhian Brewster (£23.5m) and Jordon Ibe (£15m), meaning Liverpool's efficient sales approach should come as little surprise among the fanbase. In today's market, Liverpool could point to similar centre-backs who have recently signed in the Premier League as an anchor point for their own negotiations. Maximilian Kilman's £40m move from Wolves to West Ham United would be a salient example that Liverpool could have calibrated on, with Joachim Andersen (£30m) providing a clear ballpark of the modern-day centre-back. Advertisement Liverpool would have still maximised the market if Quansah's £30m-plus sale goes through, with fellow young English centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis being the closest comparison to the 22-year-old in the past 12 months. With Harwood-Bellis moving from Manchester City to Southampton for £20m last summer (almost perfectly aligning with his market value), it shows that Liverpool would be foolish not to profit from the fee proposed for Quansah. This time last year, Liverpool's evaluation would have been higher. Having signed a new long-term contract in October, Liverpool were able to retain value based on the potential he has shown, but it highlights the difficult 2024-25 campaign Quansah endured, which saw him make 25 appearances, 13 of which were starts. Projected to be the club's future starting centre-back for the next 10 years, he only managed one as fourth choice as Joe Gomez was selected ahead of him when Konate was out for over a month in 2024. He suffered setbacks that he had to bounce back from. The first came on the opening day of the season when he was substituted at half time in Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town. Following a solid pre-season, Quansah was selected ahead of Ibrahima Konate but with Arne Slot unhappy because of his side's collective poor duel success rate, he sacrificed the young defender. His confidence was knocked and that was evident in the following performances. The sight of Quansah slumping down in his chair after being substituted towards the end of the 3-2 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in October offered a snapshot into how things were going. Quansah had played well for 75 minutes, but then gave the ball away in the build up to Brighton's first goal and the second saw a shot deflect off him, wrong-footing Vitezslav Jaros. There was some serious misfortune, too. Quansah scored two own goals last season against West Ham (Carabao Cup) and Chelsea (Premier League). Both involved one of his team-mates — Wataru Endo and Van Dijk respectively — booting the ball at him from less than a yard away and it rebounding into the net. Wrong place, wrong time and very little he could do about it. Advertisement His performances were a mixed bag, which was not helped by a lack of consistent action. In January, a positive showing against Lille in the Champions League was followed by a poor one against PSV a few weeks later. Understandably, when playing next to Van Dijk, he looked comfortable, but less so when he didn't. Stylistically, Quansah is not afraid to stick a foot in when the ball is there to be won. Comparing his 'true' tackles — which denote tackles attempted plus challenges lost plus fouls committed — with his fellow centre-backs since the start of 2023-24, only five players average more than his 4.9 per 1,000 touches. Such is his imposing frame, Quansah backs himself to step into a challenge on the ground or in the air (4.9 aerial duels per 90 minutes). The difficulty has been his success rate in those challenges, with a true tackles win rate (63 per cent) that is in the bottom half among his positional peers. Aerially, his 65 per cent win rate is good enough for the 21st-best in his cohort, but notably lower than fellow centre-backs Konate (71 per cent) and Van Dijk (77 per cent). Slot spoke positively about the centre-back's mentality during the second half of the season and was pleased with his performance levels. His most memorable moment of the league campaign came via a crucial late interception in a 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers (below). However, the Dutchman's comments following the 3-1 defeat by Chelsea in May offer the potential reason why Liverpool are comfortable letting him go. In a similar fashion to the Brighton game, Quansah did fine but scored an own goal and conceded a late penalty, fouling Moises Caicedo after Dominik Szoboszlai's attempted pass to him lacked sufficient power. 'Jarell is fast, strong and comfortable on the ball,' Slot told reporters. 'He has every ingredient a centre-back for this club should have. Now the last parts should be consistency in his performances.' 'To play in this team, you need to be really, really, really good and he is competitive with the other ones. But he was maybe a bit unlucky that the other ones stayed fit throughout the whole season and they have so much consistency in their levels. Advertisement 'Jarell has had consistency as well but one moment can change the perception of a game. One moment can also lead to us losing or winning a game of football. These small details can make a big difference in a season. That's why to play at Liverpool you need to do so many things well at the highest level — but the moment you do so, he can play here for so many years to come.' Liverpool were not actively looking to sell Quansah this summer and value him as a young squad player with potential to become a regular England international. But as with others on the edges of Slot's squad, there is a price where a sale would be sanctioned. And in a World Cup year, it is understandable for the defender to be seeking more game time in the hopes of making Thomas Tuchel's squad next summer. Yet with Liverpool now needing to bolster their own centre-back options this summer, there is an irony in that the profile of player they would be most closely linked with would be someone like Quansah. Financial implications notwithstanding, there is a curiousness to the exit of such a young, promising English talent that is already attuned to Slot's way of playing. In Leverkusen, he is joining a side that are remodeling their defensive unit in a summer of change after manager Xabi Alonso departed for Real Madrid and Erik ten Hag replaced him. Liverpool have signed Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong, while fellow defenders Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich) and Odilon Kossounou (Napoli) have left. Fellow centre-back Piero Hincapie could also move on. Goalkeeper Mark Flekken has already arrived from Brentford and Quansah will not be the final defensive arrival this summer as they overhaul that department. For the German side, this is an investment in potential. Slot has shown his ruthless side, allowing the next stages of Quansah's development and the natural growing pains young players go through to happen away from Anfield. Last season did not make Quansah a bad player in only his second season at senior level. He has shown he has the ability to play at the top of the game, and this could be the perfect move for the defender to prove that again.
New York Times
32 minutes ago
- New York Times
Lanes, columns, Transfermarkt and a kiss – How Textor hired the coach who humbled PSG
Renato Paiva was midway through his post-match flash interview, after guiding Botafogo to an impressive Club World Cup victory over Paris Saint-Germain, when John Textor came crashing in, clasped his manager's head in his hands, and planted a lasting kiss on each of his cheeks. Textor, whose Eagle Football multi-club vehicle owns the Brazilian club, is not averse to courting publicity or displays of emotion, with this game's backdrop a spat between the American and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, but this was a particularly prominent display of affection for Paiva. Advertisement While it was not the full-strength PSG side that won the Champions League last month, this remained a notable upset at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. That Textor kiss was one of humility, with Paiva having raised eyebrows by settling on a more defensive set-up — something which went against Textor's preferred approach — only to be vindicated. 'We knew we had a great mind (in him),' Textor tells The Athletic. 'He sees five lanes and the group of thirds, so vertically he has a great way of teaching positional play to make sure that he's got the right players in the right five vertical columns across the three horizontal segments depending on where the ball is and the situation. When players become practised in this, he always has them in incredible positions.' Paiva is seemingly as bold and confident as his owner. He had aimed a punchy barb at the French giants in his pre-match press conference. 'The cemetery of football is full of favourites,' he said, convinced as he was that his team could achieve against the odds. His post-match comments were equally poetic. 'We killed PSG with their own poison. By playing like a great team united in defence and attack. They didn't have those clear-cut chances.' The Portuguese has only spent three months in charge of Botafogo and has a difficult act to follow after taking over from Artur Jorge, his compatriot, who led the club to the Copa Libertadores and a league title last season. His CV might appear underwhelming, albeit with one significant exception. Paiva spent more than 15 years working in Benfica's academy setup, where he played a role in developing some of the world's most talented players, many of whom have gone on to play in the Premier League and other elite European leagues. Among those with whom he worked at the Portuguese club are former Bayern Munich, Lille and PSG midfielder Renato Sanches, Manchester City's Ederson, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, and Chelsea's Joao Felix. 'He had enormous technical ability,' Paiva told The Athletic in 2019 when asked about Joao Felix, whom he coached as Benfica's under-17s manager. 'I turned to my assistant and said, 'What on Earth?!'. I didn't understand how a club like Porto could let a player like that go because his talent was so obvious. You took one look at him playing and thought, 'This is something out of the ordinary'. He was just different. It was easy to identify.' Advertisement Paiva remains in contact with many of his former proteges, including former City defender Cancelo, now of Al Hilal. In the PSG side on Thursday were others he had coached in Goncalo Ramos and Joao Neves, with Paiva revealing he had spoken with Ramos before the game. In 2019, he stepped up to coach Benfica's B team, replacing Bruno Lage, who had been promoted to the first team, before leaving to take up the managerial role with Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle on Christmas Day, 2020. During the two years he spent in Ecuador, his side won the first division title for the first time in their history. That successful first year in particular saw him work with a mix of young players and experience, demonstrating a degree of versatility for a manager with a limited body of work outside of coaching emerging talent. 'I felt I needed something more to prove myself and test myself,' he told in 2021. 'After you get to the B team, it becomes more difficult. I wanted new challenges and to test myself in professional football.' He was one of those considered by MLS side Los Angeles FC to succeed Bob Bradley in December 2021, having led his side to the title that month, but they instead appointed Steve Cherundolo. In May 2022, at the end of his second season at the helm, he departed IDV to move to Mexico, where he took charge of top-flight club Leon. It was, he said, the 'project' that inspired him to switch clubs. After only six months in the role, however, he resigned, reportedly over a perceived lack of backing in the transfer market. A week later, he returned to management in Brazil with Bahia, who had recently been taken over by the City Football Group, and guided them to success in the state's league. The newly appointed head coach was willing to buy into the style of play demanded by the club's hierarchy. 'I don't define our philosophy,' he told local media after his arrival. 'The ones in charge of that are the group that bought Bahia. I have come to meet that game philosophy.' Advertisement He claimed a 49 per cent win record over his time in Bahia before resigning within a year of being appointed, having coached 51 games. Paiva left in September 2023 with the club 16th in the Brazilian top flight, a point above the relegation zone. Despite that record, his time with Bahia was largely considered a failure, although his recent success with Botafogo has led to some re-evaluation of the work he did. That theme of spending a relatively short period of time at a club continued when he returned to Mexico in December 2023 with Toluca. He promised to implement an attacking style of play, looking to provide entertainment and high-scoring games, having inherited an expensively assembled squad, but he failed to deliver the title. His side finished second in the league over the course of the regular season, but were beaten in the quarter-finals of Liguilla, the final phase knockout to determine the league's champions. That, in turn, prompted the Toluca hierarchy not to renew his one-year contract. Paiva's appointment at Botafogo was unexpected. He was not first choice, albeit in the top three, but that link with Benfica guided Textor to turn to the 55-year-old. The American is a long-time follower of Benfica, having initially sought to buy the club and integrate them into his multi-club model before buying a 40 per cent stake in Premier League side Crystal Palace in August 2021. The coach's previous work with young players was a significant factor, as was the desire to play with an attacking mindset. Yet the club's focus in the transfer market was to strike a balance of younger talent alongside proven experienced players who could come in and make an immediate impact. Paiva's preference was not solely to work with emerging players. But his accumulation of points compared to the squad with which he worked caught Textor's eye. 'I really look at points per game against money invested,' Textor says. 'There's a clear correlation between money, competition, and points so you can determine relative thresholds of good coach, bad coach based on the combination of those three things. Advertisement 'When I look at point production, I go on a Transfermarkt, see how many points per game somebody gets and make the comparison. You can learn everything about a coach by looking at them that way. Then you interview them and you talk to them about their beliefs — and I was really impressed by this guy. 'If you value-adjust some of the top coaches in the world, they don't compare to Renato Paiva.' Paiva's philosophy impressed Textor, who prefers attack-minded coaches, but acknowledges his manager will need the right recruitment and has had to contend with injuries to creative players. 'We have to have a balance between attack and defence,' Paiva told the media at his unveiling with Botafogo. 'A big team has to know how to attack in different ways. I want us to attack with many and defend with a few. Knowing how to defend with a few has to do with positional issues. Sometimes you think you're controlling the opponent, but you're not. 'We have to play with a short block, with a lot of pressure. When we lose the ball, everyone has to try to eliminate the opposition's possession.' Yet victory over PSG owed itself to something even more flexible. 'We have no attacking midfielders, except for the ones we just signed,' Textor says. 'So he's become really defensive and careful and now we'll see if he gets back to the old Paiva. But the players believe in his positional coaching so now that we start adding weapons back, in the second half of our season we're going to be the best producer of points in Brazil. 'He's started to abandon his positional play. But then he comes to us with the gameplan for PSG. I don't get involved in gameplans. I get involved with ambition. I teach courage and ambition and I don't tell people how to coach. 'He says, 'John, you're gonna kill me, but I believe it'll work. I'm gonna go slow and play three holding midfielders'. I'm like, 'What?'. But (former England, Fulham, Liverpool and Crystal Palace manager) Roy Hodgson taught me this: don't lose the game in the first half. Build your foundation and get to half time 0-0. Then talk about what you can do to try and win the game. Advertisement 'He had a gameplan that I ultimately supported. I wasn't sure he would get to half-time 0-0 but he said, 'Boss, it's going to be slow and organised', and it worked. 'He goes, 'We're gonna play more like a European team than a Brazilian team. Then at some point in the game, I'll see an opportunity to win and we will be more aggressive'.' 'We played with heart and maybe we wanted it more,' Textor said after the PSG victory. 'It's a privilege for us to play against (PSG) in this format, to show that Brazilian teams can play football. But we played like an English team today. 'We played with structure, discipline and organisation. We looked European tonight.' It has been an inauspicious start for Paiva in Brazil, with Botafogo 11th in the table after 11 games, only five of which have been won. The club's supporters questioned his appointment earlier in the campaign. If Thursday's Club World Cup win was already a shock, then his side's overall form in their domestic league made it even more surprising. Yet Textor's public display of affection will carry weight. The win should give him time to push Botafogo up the table; he may have bought himself some breathing space. 'He was getting beaten to shreds,' Textor adds. 'But now, people are starting to see how well organised he can coach a team because it was a masterclass.'
