André Cruz spots issue at Rui Borges' Sporting: “They don’t train daily” | OneFootball

André Cruz, former Sporting centre-back and one of the great free-kick specialists to have played at Alvalade, pointed out a gap Rui Borges is trying to address this season. The Brazilian believes the lack of goals from this type of situation has a very simple explanation: a lack of specific training.

Speaking to newspaper A Bola, the former Brazil international had no doubts when asked about the drop in goals from free kicks. “It’s because they don’t train it every day. This is something that needs to be worked on from when you’re a kid,” he said.

Rui Borges has been trying to change exactly that at Sporting and has set a new hierarchy of potential takers, which includes Rodrigo Zalazar, Nestory Irankunda, Geny Catamo, Flávio Gonçalves and Zeno Debast. So far, the Uruguayan is the only one to have scored from a free kick for the Lions this season, against Galatasaray in the Champions League.

André Cruz knows well the impact a specialist can have. The former centre-back joined Sporting during the 1999/2000 season and played a decisive role in winning the league title that ended an 18-year drought. One of the most memorable moments came against Porto, when he beat Vítor Baía from a free kick in a 2-0 win that left the green and whites alone at the top of the table. “It was spectacular, modesty aside [laughs],” he recalled.

The Brazilian was decisive again on the final matchday of that season, in the 4-0 thrashing of Salgueiros, scoring Sporting’s first and last goals, both directly from free kicks. “Having a specialist in the squad for taking free kicks makes a difference. Having players with that quality helps a lot; it has made a difference since 2000 [laughs]. Daily work is needed both on free kicks and corners,” he stressed.

Besides set pieces, André Cruz also showed that he has been following another of the problems affecting Rui Borges’ team: the goals conceded late in matches. The former defender believes the explanation should mainly be sought in the team’s collective behaviour.

“Normally, that is a team problem when defending, unless there is some individual mistake,” analysed André Cruz, who also admitted he misses Portugal and still keeps an eye on Sporting’s matches whenever possible.

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