Luís Pedro Sousa says a Sporting star is far from his best | OneFootball

Sporting qualified for the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup after defeating AVS 3-2 at the José Alvalade Stadium. Despite the victory, Pedro Gonçalves had a lackluster performance, something that did not go unnoticed by Luís Pedro Sousa.

"Luís Guilherme showed that he performs better on the right side, a position traditionally occupied by Geny or Trincão, so, as long as Pote is not at his best, he can only aspire to play on the left flank," he stated in his column in Jornal Record.

The editor-in-chief of the sports daily dismisses the idea that Sporting approached the match with some arrogance: "Arrogance might be an excessive word. In any case, even with the lineup presented, Rui Borges managed the team's physical condition, thinking about the league match against Porto. The truth is that this management backfired, and the team had to endure an extra half-hour of overtime," it reads.

Luís Pedro Sousa made a point of not leaving positive remarks about the lack of intensity from the lions against the league's last-placed team. "Sporting adopted, almost invariably, a slow pace, but paradoxically, this allowed them to reach 2-0 without much difficulty. However, AVS never stopped believing and, in two somewhat fortuitous plays in the lion's area, achieved the draw, both through penalties," he wrote.

The green and white team will return to the field next Monday, February 9th, against Porto. The match, counting for the 21st round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, against the team led by Francesco Farioli, will be played at Estádio do Dragão at 8:45 PM.

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