When Vitor Matos took charge of Swansea in November 2025, concerns around a potential relegation were on people's lips. Yet almost one year on, the Swans sit top of the Championship 10 games into the season. In retrospect, the hire appears to have been a masterstroke considering the fact that Matos had only managed 12 senior games before moving to Swansea - those coming in the Portuguese second division.
Behind those 12 games, however, lives a coaching journey spanning 23 years across many continents and a variety of roles. Prior to his spell in charge of Maritimo, the 38-year-old spent five years working under Jurgen Klopp as an elite development coach at Liverpool, before joining Red Bull Salzburg as Pep Lijnders' number two. I called the Portuguese manager to explore his influences, principles and the ever-changing tactical landscape.
Building a squad on a foundation of counter-pressing feels apt for Matos when you consider the time he spent working under Klopp. "Liverpool influenced me a lot in terms of counter-pressing, pressing, intensity, and what makes you grow as a team," he said. "The most important thing is how much you believe in your idea and this style is how I see football.
That's why I wanted this to be the foundation for our team." Although the influence is clear, it would be unfair to paint Vitor with a Klopp-shaped brush entirely. "I started at a really young age wanting to be a coach and was influenced by many different styles," he added. Evidence of these many influences are clear to see in Swansea's game-model this season, with Vitor pulling together ideas from his time at FC Porto, Shandong Taishan and Liverpool.
Matos detailed his list of priorities when he replaced Alan Sheehan at Swansea. "The most important thing was to make the team feel confident again, to make the players fall in love with playing with each other," he explained. "For that, we wanted to take steps first on making the team much more aggressive without the ball.
"Giving them that boost of confidence by demanding a more aggressive game, creating a good feeling after a high regain or a wonderful tackle – it creates a better mood inside the group." "Before I arrived there was also some change between a back four and a back five. I thought the squad was built for a back four at that time and to give consistency to the players, sticking with that was another priority. "So, in our 4-3-3, we had a clear idea - to become a pressing and counter-pressing team, brave enough to take that risk.
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