In Quotes: Paulo Fonseca in his own words

Paulo Fonseca was confirmed as the new AS Roma coach on Tuesday morning. But who is the Portuguese tactician?

We’ve pulled together 10 of his quotes, to give you a better idea about what makes the man tick..

1. “My coaching philosophy? Well, I have very clear ideas - ideas I think you can see in my teams. That involves having the ball, taking the initiative and being an offensive team. These are the aspects that define my game and my aim in matches.”

- Fonseca on his overall coaching philosophy, while speaking at a UEFA summit

2. “What I always want to see from my players is courage, courage to develop our game. It’s not always easy because it is difficult for a player to develop his game. The thing that I want them to have is the courage to take the initiative, to play an offensive game and to always have the ball. That is what I want from my players and my team.”

- Fonseca on what he looks for in his players

3. “Right now, I can highlight Maurizio Sarri and Pep Guardiola as the coaches I admire the most because they are bold, they have their own ideas, they are brave enough to play their own game and attack. Now, we can’t forget that José Mourinho has marked a generation of coaches in Portugal and marked Portuguese football. He completely changed the mindset of Portuguese coaches and he’s obviously been a great influence [too].”

- Fonseca on his coaching role models (speaking in 2017)

4. “The basic philosophy is to keep our team high up the pitch but also very compact. I want the distance from my last defender to my furthest forward attacker to be short, and also the distance from one wing to the other. The idea is to be high and narrow, therefore compact, with a lot of density. That makes it more difficult for them to pass through us.”

- Fonseca explaining his approach to facing high-intensity and high-quality sides, like Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City

5. "This is the most joyful news conference of my career. I feel great joy. I think not only Shakhtar's supporters but all Ukrainians have to be proud of our team. Why Zorro? When I was a kid I loved Zorro. And I was poor, and for the poorer kids the mask was the easiest costume to make for [parties]."

- Fonseca, after wearing ‘The Mask of Zorro’ to a press conference following Shakhtar’s qualification for the knockout rounds of the Champions League during the 2017-18 season.

6. “Why not [manage in Italy]? It's one of the best leagues in Europe, great players and people who love football. It may happen one day but my heart right now is with Shakhtar.”

- Fonseca on his future plans in management, speaking in 2018

7. “I don’t like just to win. I like to win playing well, dominating games.”

- Fonseca on his approach to the game

8. “It will happen, sooner or later. I think so, I have this conviction. I do not know when, but it will happen. I may return [to Portugal] one day, of course, but at this point it is not part of my immediate plans. I look at other European leagues, the bigger ones, with more interest.”

- Fonseca on his ambitions in management

9. “We must not forget that when we got here the club did not win for two years, not since they left Donetsk. Winning under these circumstances does indeed have a special flavour because they have been very difficult circumstances. And that is very gratifying. Honestly, I think it's practically impossible to do better. You can do the same, but I think it's impossible to do better at Shakhtar right now.”

- Fonseca after winning a third title and third Ukrainian cup in three seasons at Shakhtar, despite being forced to play home matches away from Donetsk.

10. “If you think that we are coming here to defend then you are off the mark. Shakhtar are here to play our way, as always, not looking just to defend our first leg result. Obviously, against a great side like Roma we will need to be perfect from a defensive perspective. I definitely expect a strong start from Roma, but we must play our way, always looking to control the ball – and if we don’t manage that sometimes it will be because of the quality of our opponents.”

- Fonseca speaking about his commitment to attacking football prior to Shakhtar’s Champions League last-16 second leg meeting with Roma in 2018.