Benfica’s coach highlights the versatility of their next signing and protects José Neto and Daniel Banjaqui.
Benfica coach José Mourinho has already mentioned Sidny Lopes Cabral as a potential future signing for the club. In the preview of the game against Sporting Braga, the coach highlighted the player’s versatility, noting that he will be swapping Reboleira for Benfica.
Sidny is one of those players whose team benefits greatly from his versatility. Even talking to him, you can tell that it’s the same for him = from the point of view of enjoyment and confidence = to play on the right, on the left, as a full=back or as a winger. This gives the coach security in terms of options, somewhat like Aursnes. I would say that if Aursnes or Sidny were ever on the bench, instead of needing nine players on the bench, you only need five, because those players play in four different positions. He’s a player who forces me to look for what’s best for him. I know he can play in all four (position), he’s happy to play in all four, but of the four there’s always one where the player is stronger. I’ll have to help him discover it, because he himself doesn’t know very well.” “For a team like ours = and I’m not just talking about this season, the same will happen next season = that plays many games, that has a packed schedule, having this type of player, who also has the physical condition and a very specific DNA… he’s a player very well suited to this type of schedule.
Sidny played in a three-man defense.
I have no intention of making the three-man defense, much less the five-man defense, Benfica’s main system. We already did it against Napoli in the last ten minutes, to achieve a specific objective. The problem with the January transfer window is that in the summer you have five or six weeks to prepare a player. In January you have a day or two. The fact that Sidny plays with three defenders helps in one way, but it can be a concern in another. He grew up in the Netherlands, with educational training schools, and I believe he’s a boy with tactical awareness. I spoke to him for five minutes on the phone and it was clear that he’s an intelligent, open, and confident boy. We can accelerate his adaptation process.
Bet on Jose Neto and Daniel Banjaqui
“It’s not about having a team in my image, but about doing the best for Benfica today and tomorrow. Not only for this season but also for the next. The better we do things, the less we’ll have to do in the next pre-season. Benfica had a very strong investment this summer and the intention is that next summer there won’t be a need to change the team so much, with so much investment. We need stability. We need to grow as a team, to form an identity. Since I’m in a ‘cool’ mood today, I’ll address some things that have been said. Whether Sidny would influence Banjaqui and José Neto. One thing has nothing to do with the other. If there’s anyone who cares about those two, it’s Benfica, not any journalist or commentator. They are two players who two months ago didn’t have a single minute in the B team and who are now training with the first team. At 17 years old, it’s a bonus, an acceleration process. They need many minutes and they only get them in the B team and the Youth League. Hence my cooperation with Veríssimo.” “Tiago Freitas, Gonçalo Oliveira, and the Regos train with us = yes, it’s mandatory, but the accumulation of minutes and experience is in the Second League, which is very strong in terms of experience. Two months ago they were playing against kids of the same age. Now it’s against 32=year=old players. Leave Sidny, Jose, and Banjaqui alone.