The coach agrees that the halftime change transformed the team.
Luís Pinto, Vitória de Guimarães coach, in statements at the press room of the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, after the victory (1-0) over Moreirense. The coach acknowledges that the initial idea didn’t work and the change at halftime ended up being decisive.
Game analysis
“The idea was to have four men with very vertical characteristics. Nelson ended up being the least vertical of the four; we knew that Moreira would have to play with an adapted center-back, we believed that if we built up with three players they would fall into a line of five, as they usually do, but that didn’t happen and it didn’t create the advantage we were expecting. Samu’s entry gave us an advantage because it provided the ability to retrieve the ball from a space where we weren’t having it. It gave the game structure, it made the offensive connection, which was important. Although it wasn’t a spectacular game on our part, we dominated possession; Moreirense ended up having the ball, but we felt that we were almost always well positioned to prevent dangerous plays. The team was relatively good in the game, although it wasn’t spectacular.
Departure team
“It ended up changing because when we were pressing, we were effective in pressing, winning the ball, but when Moreirense, thanks to their quality, managed to find a way to make our pressing more difficult, they had possession. The wingers on the opposite side were getting too far forward. That way of the team’s build-up play was a problem; in the second half we were better at it, and I don’t recall any situations where they managed to create dangerous variations.
Ndoye
“In preparation for the games, we’ve been planning how we want to finish. Football is different now, we can make five substitutions, Moreirense has conceded more goals in the last fifteen minutes than at any other time. We felt it was important to have someone with that belief in that period, someone capable of coming on and making a difference. Against Estoril he played an interesting game, you could still see his work outside the box, he’s been improving, but he was unlucky with his finishing. Today he managed to leave his mark, he didn’t score, but he won the penalty. Next week we’ll see what the plan will be.