Sporting’s coach expressed great satisfaction with the team’s performance against AVS. He said that his team “is the best at playing football” but reminded everyone that they are not the best in the league standings.
Good indicators
“The team has been doing well and has continued to grow. It has responded, it has evolved, it has grown. In collective terms, too, with some changes, but even so, the team has responded. Apart from the first 15 minutes of the game, in which the team started at a lukewarm pace, very static, the opponent was also trying to disrupt the game. Every throw-in, every ball… a goal kick, a foul, it took a long time. They tried to slow the game down a bit, not letting us get into a high rhythm. Apart from those 15 minutes and the last 15, above all, we missed a lot of passes. Sometimes, because things seemed so easy, we missed many simple and quick passes. We had to be more incisive and then, yes, have intensity in the game. It ends up being difficult, being 5-0 down. Apart from that, for the rest of the time, the team was competent, it was dynamic. It ended up unlocking right away with the first goal, then it was always chasing more.” I’m happy with the response the team has given.
Is Sporting the best team playing football?
For me, my team is always the best. Opinions are for you. In my opinion, my team is the best. And it has proven to be the best. We’re not number one, so perhaps there are those who are better than us. In terms of our understanding, quality of play, dynamics, intensity, rigor, the team is united, energetic, looking for more. That’s what winning is, what playing is, what winning is. Therefore, with dynamism, with quality of play, in the offensive process, in the defensive process, we have evolved. So, for me, my team is always the best. They are always the best.”
Catamo and Diomande out of the Cup.
“Initially, we won’t be counting on them.”
A thrashing? We can’t get too big.
“The thrashing is only three points. We can’t get carried away either. It’s just three points. In our journey, we were serious, as I said, rigorous. It could be difficult to get the team going after two games of maximum demand against two great opponents. To get the team going to play at home, against the bottom-placed team. Mentally, sometimes it can be difficult, it can go from 80 to eight, so to speak. And sometimes that’s the hardest part for us, for me, as a coach, keeping the players engaged. Perhaps even the changes were important in that sense. Players with very good, very high energy, with a desire to play, a desire to show what they know, to keep the team engaged throughout the entire game.”
Suárez is confident.
“Luís is in good form. But I think he’s having a good start to the season. Luís is also able to do this because the team, the collective, is doing well in that sense. And the team is also able to value Luís, as well as other players. Geny [Catamo] also scored two goals. Maxi [Araújo], who played in another position, scored two goals. So, I think that, above all, we should value the collective. Of course, the collective will always prevail, even if one or two players stand out. Now it was Luís, the player of the month was Trincão. And that’s a sign that everyone is connected, that everyone is on the same page. And it’s important to value the collective growth of the team. So, for me, it’s always the collective. Of course, Luís is always an important player, he’s a forward. And for him too, to gain that confidence, he arrived now, in a year in which Sporting were two-time champions, the forward [Gyökeres] was the top scorer, with many goals.” It’s important for him to have this confidence to continue building on Sporting’s attacking prowess over these past few years.
Will Matheus Reis continue with the contract renewals?
“No, I don’t get too involved in that role. These are more structural issues. They know what we want for Sporting’s future. Matheus has been a very important player and will continue to be. Because of his experience, but also because of his personality and character, he is very important. The energy he transmits, whether starting or coming on during the game, is very positive. He is a very important player for the group, he is very respected. He is a player we all like very much.”
Ioannidis in Pedro Gonçalves’ position?
“We’re trying and training some different things. But I think they’ll all provide the answers. Maxi will provide the answer, Alisson will provide the answer. Quenda, when he played, provided the answer. Fotis [Ioannidis], when he played, also provided the answer. But, above all, what’s important is to look at them and feel their desire to help, regardless of their position. Regardless of the minutes they play, they’re engaged, they want to help, they understand what they have to do in each position within the team. And that, for me, makes me happy. I see them focused on wanting the team to excel first, and then, yes, individual brilliance will come.”
Year=end review
“Clearly, I’m a better coach. And clearly, Sporting is a better team. Compared to what my Sporting was, I think so, it’s a better team. Clearly, it has more of my mark on it. It has more time to work together. So, logically, I believe it’s the best team. Now, the future will tell. Because, despite everything, for me, it’s not just the results that dictate who’s best. Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t get what we want. And nobody wins all the time, so… Now, clearly, I think it’s a better team because it has more of my mark as a coach. And Rui Borges is clearly a better coach. Of course, it’s a huge challenge, different from all the ones I’ve had before. And it made me see things differently. It makes me grow, clearly. But a coach’s growth is continuous. But clearly, I feel I’ve evolved much more.”
Superiority in organized attack
“The organized attack is because we defined, within the opponent’s strategy and our own game plan, small actions to gain an advantage. And then, of course, we benefited from individual work. We have great players, predestined, with a lot of quality. And sometimes it’s individual quality that unlocks the game. We also try to find small details. For example, how we were going to play with Ioannidis. We managed to position Geny [Catamo] more centrally, to apply the defensive line. We knew that AVS’s left side wouldn’t track back. And we made that movement. We gained more width with that, our inside game has been very strong, difficult to mark. And, of course, the individual quality of each player. Regarding Maxi [Araújo], Maxi brings something different there. Because Maxi really challenges the defensive line. And we know he’s very aggressive in making diagonal runs, provoking the opponent’s defensive line. And we needed that. And we were going to have the width, that’s for sure.” “But we needed Maxi to have his own intensity, his own aggressiveness in attacking the goal, in attacking the area. And we needed to put aggressive players in the offensive process of attacking the goal. And Maxi provides a lot of that offensive aggressiveness. He’s intense, he goes looking for the ball, he always does. And he gives us that. At times he scores because of that, he attacks the area around the penalty box.
And we knew he gives us that. It was important to have those guys, those more aggressive players, trying to create opportunities, as happened, to score more goals. Defending with five, with some difficulties also in dealing with balls played behind the defense, we ended up scoring a goal in that sense as well. And Mangas gives us that ability. He has that acceleration, he’s very direct. And we ended up scoring a goal in that sense. So, with small details, we created some difficulties and made AVS’s offensive line uncomfortable. Fortunately, we managed to do that. It’s largely about that.”