Jorge Jesus: “I’ve got a squad that’s right behind me” | OneFootball

Jorge Jesus, the national team coach, spoke in a flash interview with RTP Notícias after the 4-2 win over Denmark in Copenhagen, on matchday three of the Nations League. He highlighted the team’s collective progress, his connection with the players, and the focus on the next match at the Dragão, saying about the group: “Because they go hand in hand with me, with my ideas.”

The win in Denmark strengthened Jorge Jesus’s belief in the path mapped out by the national team. Between his satisfaction with the team’s defensive and attacking display and his confidence in a squad united around his ideas, the coach delivered a message of assurance, without allowing the noise around the group to shift the focus.

In his analysis of the match, Jesus started with the essential point: the victory. But it was in the game-to-game progress, visible both defensively and in attack, that he found the most encouraging signs.

“What I liked most was the win, obviously. I personally feel that the team, game after game, keeps improving. We improve through the analysis of the matches we play and then, when we move on to the next game, the team usually performs better, both defensively and offensively,” he said. “This Denmark side is a big team, difficult to stop, even from set pieces. What did I like most? Winning 4-2 here... I don’t know how many teams have won here like this over the years. Ten, 15 years ago, the Danes were big, but they were nothing more than that. Now they are big and they play well, they have technique. It was in the pressing, the way the team believes in defensive pressing. Hjulmand congratulated us, he said the Portuguese team plays very well. And so, it was three wins out of three, and now the focus is on the Dragão.”

The coach valued not only the result, but also the way the team managed to impose its ideas against an opponent he considers technically strong. Three wins from three therefore come as confirmation of a growth that Jesus wants to carry on at the Dragão.

His relationship with the squad was another central point. Faced with the idea that he has the players “in his hand,” Jesus rephrased it and preferred to speak about trust, individual quality, and commitment to his model.

“I feel I have the group in hand. It’s not about having them in hand, I don’t have a group in hand, I don’t really know how to look at that question,” he explained. “I have a group that believes... Believes in my idea, believes in the coach’s idea. As they have a lot of individual quality, things come more easily. If you think that means having the group in hand, then yes, I have the group in hand. Because they go hand in hand with me, with my ideas. The things that happen do not divide the group, did not divide us, and will not divide us.”

More than claiming authority, Jesus presented unity as the result of a shared belief. The message was clear: the events surrounding the national team have not broken the internal bond and, in the coach’s view, they will not do so either.

Asked about the next fixture and the “Ronaldo case,” the coach refused to let attention drift. The match at the Dragão occupies his entire immediate horizon; everything else was pushed into the background.

“No, for me, this next game, at the Dragão, is where I have to be focused. Just as I was focused on today’s game. After the Dragão, we’ll see...” he said. “Do you know what is difficult for me to focus on? It’s if I understand nothing about what is going on in there. Do you know what is difficult for me to focus on? It’s if I don’t know how to train my players. That’s what is difficult for me. The rest, zero.”

Jesus closed the matter with a statement of confidence in his own abilities and in his knowledge of the group. For the coach, the focus remains on the work and on the next match, with no room for outside distractions.

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