Bruno Moraes has no doubt: “The best way to protect Samu is to keep him in” | OneFootball

Samu Aghehowa is going through a difficult period at FC Porto. The Spanish forward, the team's top scorer this season, missed his second consecutive penalty for the Dragons in the draw against Viktoria Plzen (1-1), after already missing another penalty in the league match against Vitória SC.

After the final whistle in Viktoria Plzen-FC Porto, Samu was visibly upset and left the field with his head down and in tears, with his hands and shirt covering his face. His teammates and the coaching staff ended up supporting him as they returned to the locker room. Francesco Farioli also defended the player, ensuring that the Spaniard will be responsible for the next penalty the team gets in their favor.

“Samu is a great player, but he is young. He wants to win everything. He is always competing, even in training, he always wants to win everything. He always wants to perform at his best. In the last game, he was also unlucky with the penalty, but it happens. The next penalty we have will be taken by him again,” highlighted the FC Porto coach in statements to Sport TV.

In an exclusive interview given to Portal dos Dragões, Bruno Moraes, a former FC Porto forward, emphasized the importance of this vote of confidence given to Samu.

“The coach did well to give him a vote of confidence. From Samu's part, he needs to stay calm, keep his head in place, and continue working more on penalties, with concentration, things will start going well again. I think this is a phase. It just happened that he missed these two penalties, but only by having another opportunity will he score again. The coach showed total confidence, and that's the way forward. The coach is the person who makes the player feel confident. When goals are scored, it's easy to have confidence in the player. It's in these bad moments that the player needs support and someone to protect him. Farioli has done an exceptional job in that aspect. And the players see a coach who supports and trusts his athletes,” said the former Brazilian player before discussing a possible change of penalty taker in a future game.

“The coach has more information than we do, who are on the outside and only watch the games. He has the training factor and the day-to-day work and commitment of the players. And he has more information regarding other players' behavior with penalties. If Farioli said what he said after the game, it's because he has total confidence and believes that Samu will score goals again. It's much more about the coach's management in this aspect than anything else. The group will follow what the coach decides,” he emphasized.

When asked about the possibility of removing Samu from the starting lineup in Monday's game against Gil Vicente as a way to protect him, Bruno Moraes pointed out that this measure could have undesirable effects.

“The greatest protection Samu could have from the coach is not to take him out of the games, on the contrary. It's to give him the opportunity and trust him. It would be different if Samu were a youth player from FC Porto. He is a player who is doing well, has been scoring goals, and has helped the team a lot. The greatest protection is to give the player the opportunity to continue doing what he has been doing well since the beginning of the season. Only by continuing to work and score, even if not from penalties, will he gain more confidence for when he has a new penalty,” supported the former player of the blues and whites.

Bruno Moraes also suggested that FC Porto should ensure the signing of a forward by the end of this winter market, at a time when Samu and Deniz Gul are the available options for Francesco Farioli.

“It makes perfect sense to sign a new forward. FC Porto gained a lot with the arrival of Luuk de Jong, due to his experience, his presence in the group, and the competition he brought to Samu and Deniz Gul. Just like the signing of Thiago Silva was an opportunity, surely the club is also attentive to the market to make another good investment and finalize the squad to build a good group to tackle the championship, the Portuguese Cup, and the Europa League,” said the former player, emphasizing that the potential reinforcement should have a profile similar to Luuk de Jong, who is absent from the fields until the end of the season.

“I think he should have a profile more similar to Luuk de Jong. But I also know it's not easy to find such a player in the market, who is already international and with many titles. It won't be easy. FC Porto will have to see what's available and decide if it's worth bringing a player with that profile or, if not available, betting on players from the B team. If there isn't a player like Luuk, who connects well with the team, it's necessary to understand if they should bet on a mid-aged player with similar characteristics. The most important thing is that FC Porto closes the market with a new forward,” he concluded.

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