Irony from the Estoril coach after the defeat against FC Porto (1-3)
Ian Cathro, Estoril’s coach, analyzing the home defeat against FC Porto (1-3), in a match of the 29th round of the League.
Are you serious or are you being ironic?
I am not responsible for your perception, I am responsible for my words.
Yesterday I said that FC Porto is almost a football machine. Do you think FC Porto will be champions?
That second half doesn’t interest me at all. I’m also not going to be here without giving credit to the opponent; I was there on the field and I know we played against a good team. A team that came into the game with a lot of energy, a lot of hunger, a lot of intensity, with the wind helping a little, but they managed to impose intensity in all their actions. We had that problem, we had to help and we couldn’t communicate. It was left for halftime. It should have been done earlier, with the goalkeeper on the ground and the tactical board in hand.
From a tactical standpoint, what are the biggest challenges?
We had difficulties pressing. One side was more or less under control, but they left lines open for their left-back that they shouldn’t have. We tried to readjust that throughout the first half, with a little touch here and there, but it’s difficult to do that during the game. I’ll learn, enough is enough.
Rafik Guitane started on the bench.
Everyone knows that this player has different characteristics; in terms of positioning, we kept it the same, but we opted for different characteristics in that area. Rafik came on making an effort to be on the field. Last week we couldn’t fill the bench, today we did, but we had very limited players, not to mention injured ones. We played this game with all the central defenders injured, which is not easy. Bacher made a great effort to be there.
What’s it like playing at home and seeing most of the fans booing one of your players (Pizzi)?
I wasn’t paying much attention to it. It’s sad, it’s ugly, and it’s sad. But I’m a foreigner, I’m not going to throw stones at the Portuguese people because I want to be here. But it’s sad and it’s ugly, and that’s the end of it.
Were you surprised by FC Porto’s strategy? Did the early goal hinder you?
It wasn’t related to the goal. We worked on three or four defensive moments, one of which was the goal kick, when the goalkeeper has the ball. The way we pressured the goalkeeper was going to give us space on the right side, but during the game we weren’t able to help with positioning on that right side. We tried, but I failed.
Estoril is in seventh place and shouldn’t see much change from their previous position. How will they find motivation?
That’s one of the problems. It seems like it’s already decided and we’re just going to let time pass. It’s awful. Besides having more opposing fans at our home ground, it’s sad and ugly that you’re asking that question too. I don’t think it’s fair that the team that finishes seventh earns the same as the team that finishes thirteenth. I know that in the coming weeks I’ll be faced with that question. In the past, they asked me about staying in the league. We have a very clear objective, which is the development of this team and stability. After this first phase, we have to start working on the future.