The coach believes his players deserved the victory.
Gil Lameiras, Vitória de Guimaraes coach, in the press room at the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques, after the victory (5-0) at home against Tondela. The coach did not expect such a large score, but highlighted the team’s progress.
Game analysis
Above all, I think looking at ourselves and realizing what we needed to improve was important. I wasn’t expecting the team to give this kind of response already, but I’m not surprised by how hard they’ve worked and how much they’ve believed in sharing ideas. I wasn’t expecting this result, but I think the players deserved it.
Goal at zero
Firstly, that’s the point. In the game against Famalicão we didn’t want to change anything, in the game against Benfica it wasn’t defensive errors, but offensive ones. We tried to work on the reasons why things were happening, how the team was scoring goals, but ended up conceding, which causes unease. The players have been committed, we started with the defensive side, and things ended up happening.
Miguel Nogueira and João Mendes score on their debuts.
There are no undisputed starters; every training session presents an opportunity to prove themselves. Right now, Miguel is a starter because he deserves it and because we believe in him. João Mendes hadn’t played great games until now; we know his quality and talent, and we felt his recent performances didn’t reflect his true worth. A word to Samu, the penalty taker, who gave the ball to João, a symbol of the group’s cohesion.
Significance of the first victory in the League
It meant three points and now we can start thinking about the next game.
Abascal is not an option.
“Given his physical limitations, we felt he wasn’t in the best physical shape, which is why he was left out of the options.