Nuno Saraiva points finger at Rui Borges at Sporting: coach switched off | OneFootball

Nuno Saraiva believes that Sporting had reason to complain about the refereeing in the 2-2 draw with Estrela da Amadora, but rejects the idea that João Gonçalves should be singled out as the main man responsible for the loss of two points. For the former Lions communications director, Rui Borges also made important mistakes in the way he managed the match.

In an opinion piece published in Record, Nuno Saraiva begins by criticising some decisions by the refereeing team, namely the failure to show Eddy Doué a second yellow card and the incident that led up to Estrela’s first goal. Even so, he is unequivocal about the outcome: “A title-chasing team that, in the 70th minute, is leading 2-0 in Reboleira (...) cannot look to the referee as the main explanation for a draw.”

The former Sporting official mainly questions some of Rui Borges’ choices. In his view, taking off Fotis Ioannidis shortly after the second goal was “a mistake in timing”, while the introduction of Luis Suárez also drew criticism, as he believes the Colombian “did not seem psychologically prepared for that context”. Nuno Saraiva also points out that Rafael Nel, one of the standout players of pre-season, remained on the bench.

The management of Issa Doumbia, Flávio Gonçalves and Eduardo Quaresma was also analysed. Regarding the Portuguese centre-back, despite the mistake in the move that made it 1-2, Nuno Saraiva believes he produced “an exceptional game” and questions the public criticism made by Rui Borges after the match. “A coach must demand more from the players, but he must also take his share of responsibility”, he wrote.

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