Samuel Soares told to leave Benfica: Keepers need game time | OneFootball

Ricardo Pereira, Norwich City's goalkeeping coach, offers a critical analysis of the landscape of Portuguese goalkeepers. The coach also took the opportunity to speak about the case of Samuel Soares, Benfica’s usual backup, leaving in order to play regularly.

"A goalkeeper who doesn’t play cannot develop by spontaneous generation, no matter how good the training is", he said in an interview with Record, arguing that this is not happening with the young keeper of the Eagles - who made a special request to the board.

The coach reinforced his opinion. "Benfica felt they had a reliable number one there with potential, but the truth is that Samuel has had too little playing time for too long, in the way I conceptualize the development of a young goalkeeper," he said.

Ricardo Pereira argues that there is a structural problem on this issue. "We can’t just complain and say that the young Portuguese goalkeeper doesn’t play. We have to look at ourselves, as coaches, and understand how we are helping these players arrive better prepared", he said.

This season, wearing the Benfica shirt, Samuel Soares – valued at €4 million – has made six appearances: two in the Liga Portugal Betclic, three in the Portuguese Cup and one in the League Cup. In the 495 minutes he has played, the Benfica goalkeeper has conceded only one goal.

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