Nuno Santos, Pote and Suárez: Rui Borges before Sporting v Nacional | OneFootball

Rui Borges, Sporting head coach, previewed this Saturday’s match against Nacional, for Matchday 5 of the Liga Portugal Betclic. At the press conference, the Lions boss also addressed several topics regarding the team’s current situation, namely the transfer market, Nuno Santos’s medical situation and the happiness shown by Luis Suárez.

Analysis

"The uncertainty over Nacional’s coaching situation makes us focus more on ourselves than on the opponent. It creates some uncertainty for us... So the focus has been more on their individual qualities and set pieces, where they are very strong, just as they were last year. They are one of the teams that most often play long balls into space for their reference player. With the change of coach, there will be a different kind of motivation. It will be a complicated game, with a lot of people defending the goal."

Iván Fresneda:

"For me, he is important, just like everyone else. He deserves credit for the progress he has made. The main focus is on commitment and discipline every day so that there is growth. If the contract renewal happens, I’ll be happy for him. He worked for it and, in his own way, he has been a very important player for Sporting. Despite his young age, he is very mature and has an active voice in the dressing room."

Pote

"I’ve already spoken about this several times and there’s no point talking about it again. We can only wish Pedro and Dani the very best. Regardless of everything, they are two great players and they will be successful. They made history at Sporting. Dani will clearly be someone everyone looks at because of his persistence. Pedro defined an era at Sporting and in Portuguese football. They are part of Sporting’s history."

João Simões and Nuno Santos

"Nuno’s case requires more specific work. He didn’t go through an easy injury. He is in a process that requires a lot of patience and we believe he will return very soon. His time out was so long that there were a few setbacks. As for Simões, starting next week, if I’m not mistaken, he should be able to take part in normal training."

Transfer market

"The squad gives us guarantees. It was a great job by the club structure. We are very happy with the squad. Stronger or not? That’s relative... It’s different. We are very confident about the future and we believe it will be a great one."

Sporting in Rui Borges’s image

"Rui Borges’s image has been there since the first day I arrived. Any coach who changes clubs comes in with players who were trained by other coaches at that club. That’s the natural order of football. Some leave and others come in. Those changes do not worry me at all. We have high expectations for the new signings."

Lessons from last season

"We had decisive matches one after another... with some players unavailable, which led us to overload some athletes. We hope that doesn’t happen to us. As for what we learned, we already knew everything; we were just limited by the conditions we had. We have to give a more consistent response until the end. Not to anticipate anything, and it has to do with the point of the season we are in. We want to compete in every competition."

Signings

"This is not about a revolution. Within the market and our possibilities, we wanted the players we wanted. There’s no way to go and get players exactly like Morten, Trincão or Pote. There are no twins in that sense. We looked for the best possible solutions within a game model. I’m very happy with what we have added to the team."

"He has been giving the right response. I see him smiling. You’re the ones who don’t see him smiling. I’m with him every day. He is not obliged to smile. He is completely focused and giving 200 per cent, and his performances on the pitch show that. He is always helping his teammates and has the ambition that is characteristic of him."

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