José Pina: Sporting starter dreadful, calls for reinforcements | OneFootball

José Pina gave an exclusive interview to our newspaper. Among various topics discussed, the well-known Sporting supporter condemned Porto’s pressure on referee Fábio Veríssimo, believes that the Lions’ squad needs a new center-back in the transfer market, since Ousmane Diomande “has been terrible”, and says that Rui Borges still needs to prove his worth in big matches.

Regarding Frederico Varandas’ speech at the Rugidos de Leão Gala, the screenwriter explains that it was imperative to take a stand in light of the rivals’ noise: “He had to respond, especially to Porto’s President, but I would have used different words. I wouldn’t use terms like ‘mustiness’. I’d say something more current. He could have been more subtle and sophisticated, but a response was necessary. Our rivals can’t do whatever they want. I don’t even know how there wasn’t a serious punishment because of the incident with Fábio Veríssimo. It’s almost psychological torture,” he begins by saying.

The scriptwriter then focused on the gaps in the Lions’ squad: “I’m starting to see problems in the defense.” We should have a center-back who is a credible alternative. Gonçalo Inácio hasn’t been doing very well. Diomande has been terrible. Quaresma is good, but… Aside from injuries, we need a center-back there. We’re conceding goals that we shouldn’t have conceded,” he emphasizes, still believing that the Alvalade club remains a favorite for the title.

“At the moment, Sporting is a favorite. I don’t know if it’s the main one, but it’s a favorite.” It’s the reigning champion, and that gives motivation to the other rivals. There’s a three-point difference to first place. Porto is doing better than I expected and Benfica worse,” he states.

José Pina also downplayed the criticism aimed at Rui Borges, namely that he doesn’t have the “intellectual level” to manage a club the size of Sporting: “What matters to me is that the coach knows how to read the game and can get the team to play attractive football. Jorge Jesus is no master of linguistics and yet gets teams playing football. The team is playing reasonably well. What I notice is that, in big games, things don’t click the same way. Against Benfica and Porto, Sporting never seems better to me. That’s the only criticism I have of Rui Borges. So he should continue and forget about this ‘intellectual level’ thing,” he concludes.

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