Recently, Chinese Super League promotion horse Nantong Zhiyun FC officially announced that David Patricio has officially become the team's head coach. According to Soccer Daily, 39-year-old Patricio is the youngest coach in the new Chinese Super League season, and he knows Nantong Zhiyun very well, with minimal coaching risks.
Starting 20 years ago, when Coach Patricio was only 18 years old, he coached at the Benfica Football Academy. Since then, Patricio has almost always served as a ladder coach for clubs in Portugal's lower leagues.In 2019, when Wei Xin was the coach of Nantong, Patricio served as the ladder coach. In the last four years, Patricio has worked his way up from youth training coach and youth training director to first team technical director, assistant coach, and head coach.
It's worth noting that Patricio, who turned 39 in March, is currently the youngest coach in the Chinese Super League. He is even more than five months younger than Wang Song, who joined in the new season.
According to Football Daily's analysis, Nantong chose Patricio because the Portuguese has been in the team for four years and is very familiar with the team. Nantong's first-team and ladder players from last year's transcendence know enough about Patricio, who is also familiar with the club's operations, to not have to compete with the management and first-team. For Nantong, whose main goal for the new season is to avoid relegation, this is not the least risky option.
