Amorim, fixtures, signings: Rui Borges on Sporting v Vitória SC | OneFootball

Rui Borges spoke to journalists at a press conference previewing the Sporting - Vitória de Guimarães match, this Monday, January 5th. The League Cup match is scheduled for next Tuesday at 8:00 PM, at Estádio Dr. Magalhães. Read here everything the Lions’ coach said, who addressed injuries, the schedule, and the topic of the day: the dismissal of Ruben Amorim.

What can Luis Guilherme bring?

“Regarding Luis, he’s a player we identified. He’s a player for the present, but above all for the future. We see a lot of potential in him, he can give us solutions in more than one position and adds to the group in terms of technical quality and personality, character. I think he fits in very well with our group and our team.”

Will Vitória de Guimarães be different from the League match?

“It will be different from the league match. It’s a knockout game and Vitória will want to reach the Allianz Cup final, win a trophy, especially for the fans and the club’s stature. It will be a very competitive and different game. I believe that at times it will be more calculated, because both teams want to be in the final. Vitória is having a great league campaign and that says a lot about the first half of the season they’re having despite all the changes. They were the only team to beat FC Porto domestically. It’s going to be a competitive game, different from the league match, and it will demand a lot from us. And we, with what we have available, will play a good and very competent game, sticking to what we like—quality play and being in control of the game, having the ball and producing a lot.”

Ricardo Mangas’ injury

“I can’t say for sure how long. I’m going to take a wild guess, and maybe the doctor will kill me, but maybe three to four weeks. There’s no point thinking too much about it.”

Ruben Amorim dismissed from Manchester United

“I stand in solidarity with Ruben, as I would with any other coach. Unfortunately, football is made of this. As much as I’d like to talk or give an opinion, I won’t do it. He’s a colleague who was in 5th or 6th place. He’s a great coach and will have great projects and great clubs to continue his work.”

Can Debast still recover?

“No, Zeno wasn’t in training. He’s in the final stage of recovery and I believe he’ll be back in training in the next few days. With the options we have, we’ll always find a solution. There are the B team kids who have had a great campaign and are ready to step up.”

Daniel Bragança’s return to competition

“I’m very happy, I think the whole group was there when he came on. And that really shows this group, the friendship that exists. Happy to see him come back well, I believe he’ll help us in the future. He’s been training with us for a few days now, but being ready for a match... It’s about gaining confidence and losing the fear that can exist, which is natural. And these minutes were important for that. In the coming times, he’ll certainly be available for our demands.”

Incident involving Luis Suárez in Barcelos

“Regarding Luis, I also read about it in the newspapers for the first time. It may have been something in the heat of the moment, I won’t get into it much. There was no trouble with referees or the opposing team, zero.”

Managing the schedule

“The ones who take longer to recover are traumatic injuries that we can’t control. The most we can look at are muscle injuries. And we haven’t had many. Pote had one now that will take a bit longer, but other than that... It’s a contact sport, which sometimes creates these problems. This season we also have the AFCON, which affected us with two important players. There are things we can’t control. What we can’t control, we control very well. The staff, the performance structure, the medical department have been exceptional. What we control, we try our best to be better. But what we can’t control... We move on, believe in those who are here, and keep working. Managing at this stage is hard to do much. Besides not having all those solutions, we’re in the most critical phase of the season. Lots of games, accumulating some fatigue, and there may be a greater risk of injury. I think this season is different from the last. Here it has much more to do with trauma, with AFCON, than with injuries themselves. It is what it is, it’s football. We have to counter these less positive things and we’ve done that very well. The team has given a good response and that makes me happy above all.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.