Vasco Botelho da Costa lamented Moreirense’s mistakes in their defeat against Alverca in the 18th round.
Vasco Botelho da Costa, Moreirense’s coach, in statements at the press conference after the 2-1 defeat against Alverca, in a match counting towards the 18th round.
Game analysis
I think it was a very open game, more so than we would have liked. I think, offensively, we were a team that managed to keep possession. Alverca also dropped deep a lot, they were very quick to recover possession. We’re talking about a team that, in addition to having good players, is physically strong. And when we broke through their first line of pressure, if we didn’t have the ability to counter-attack quickly, they managed to recover well and close down the goal. But even so, I think we had some success from an offensive point of view in reaching the final third, clearly lacking in decisiveness. We have to understand that sometimes we have a presence in the box and we have to take a few more risks with the cross. Sometimes we have some unmarked balls just outside the box and we have to take a few more risks with the shot. Interestingly, a cross that wasn’t even the best in the world, which we took a risk with, ended up paying off in the goal. Defensively, I think that, as time went on, and this was still evident a bit in the final minutes of the first half, Alverca started to get close to our goal. They managed to overcome our pressure because we were arriving a little late, we lost some duels, and this ended up giving Alverca some confidence, allowing them to get closer and, perhaps with a bit more purpose, the ball ended up closer to our goal, although without many clear=cut chances. The goals, obviously, are due to those close calls, but at the same time I think they are two glaring errors on our part that shouldn’t have happened. It’s one thing to arrive late to press, but have the team set up and organized; it’s another thing to have moments where we concede a somewhat pointless penalty, or the second goal, where we unnecessarily broke the team because we made bad decisions when jumping. “But I think that, overall, it was a balanced game, one of those that can go a little bit either way, because the truth is that we also had opportunities to equalize. Even so, I don’t think it reflects badly on Alverca’s side, because from a defensive point of view I’m not very satisfied. I think we could have done better.
Alverca’s sharp attacking play made the game difficult.
It all ends up being related, doesn’t it? I think Alverca, as you can see, is a team that likes to play, plays well, the players have a lot of quality and are physically strong. And we had to make a decision: either we had a much more compact block approach, a bit like Alverca ended up having with us, because they didn’t jump much, they had to be provoked a lot to activate the first line of pressure, or our usual approach. We like to activate, we like to jump, and we even had some success at the beginning of the game. The thing is, we were losing, and I don’t want to say it’s the physical aspect, because I don’t think it’s very related to that, but here and there, maybe even a little more on the left than on the right, we were losing some duels, arriving a little late to the pressure. There, yes, Alverca was an objective team. They ended up making many crosses, some balls went close to our goal. And perhaps the objectivity that Alverca had when they managed to reach our final third was also a little bit what we lacked when we managed to get there. That’s why I say that I think it was a very balanced game, because both teams had some success and managed to overcome each other’s pressure. Then, it’s about moments in the game, and it ended up falling more often in Alverca’s favor. But, there you go, I think we weren’t the team we usually are from a defensive point of view, and that ended up defining the game. I repeat: offensively, it was always a very demanding game, because, especially in the first half, Alverca didn’t want to break down at all, they didn’t give us any kind of inside play, even so, we managed to create some. Congratulations to Alverca, who ended up deserving the victory.
Affection from Alverca fans
As you can imagine, I had the opportunity to say this in the preview: it means a lot to us. We spent some time here, we were happy, and we felt that affection; we also have that affection for them and we are grateful. But, there you have it, the game starts and that doesn’t matter at all. What matters is doing my job in the best way possible. I couldn’t help the team achieve the success we wanted. Therefore, we will start working next week to give a response at home, with our fans, whom I also take this opportunity to thank. It was a tough trip, by bus, a storm was all it took, as was the start of the game. Still, I must highlight the excellent work that Alverca did in the renovation of the stadium, which is much more comfortable than it would have been last year, when we would have been in the rain the whole game.