Suárez, Ba absence and Flávio's talent: Rui Borges after Sporting win | OneFootball

Rui Borges highlighted Sporting’s consistency in the 2-0 win over Nacional.The coach played down the “soap opera” surrounding Luis Suárez, assuring that the striker remains focused on the Club, and was full of praise for Altimira, saying the midfielder has been “very balanced with and without the ball” and will have “a great season” at Alvalade.

Analysis

"A full house is almost natural. That’s how it has always been throughout this time we’ve been at Sporting. The fanbase has always been very supportive. May it continue like that, because we need that energy and that support they’ve been giving us. As for the match, we controlled it from start to finish. In the first half, here and there we gave away a few passes; we can and have to improve. But above all we scored, created two or three clear chances, and I think their goalkeeper even made two or three great saves. We didn’t let Nacional grow into the game and create transitions, which we knew they wanted to exploit with counter-attacks and quick attacks. The team was always switched on. In the second half it was the same. We got to 2-0, controlled the game from start to finish with the ball. Then, with the substitutions, we even managed to create several finishing and scoring situations. We could have scored more goals, we deserved to, and I think there were even players who deserved to get that goal. But I’m happy with the team’s consistency".

Luis Suárez

"These soap operas lead nowhere. It’s a natural market. Suárez scored a lot of goals, was the top scorer in our league, and had a great individual season. It’s natural for clubs to come after him, just as they do other players. So it’s natural that at times that can affect their thinking. I’ve always seen him focused on Sporting and wanting to help his teammates. Not just today, but in the other matches as well".

How did you see Suárez’s commitment with Fenerbahçe interested in him? Did you take him off to keep him fresh or so he could get the applause?

"He’s always been applauded, not just today but in the other games too. As for the soap opera side of things, that’s for the administrative side. It was something that was talked about before the season started, while he was on holiday. I wasn’t concerned about it at all. I’m focused on my job. Since he arrived, he’s worked like everyone else: sometimes smiling more, other times smiling less. Even I do that. Those are natural things. Above all, I’ve always seen him committed and always honoring his work and his professionalism towards his teammates, the team, and the club. And he’s shown that in matches. It didn’t affect me in the slightest".

With Debast and Gonçalo Inácio, does Sporting have a different way of playing out from the back?

"They’re two players who give us that quality and decision-making in the build-up, both Inácio and Zeno. Edu [Eduardo Quaresma] too, exactly the same; with short build-up he also gives us quality, although maybe he doesn’t have as much long passing. But it’s not just about the season, it has a lot to do with today’s game. If you notice, the 2-0 came from a kick to attack the space in behind, which is what we should have done more often in the first half. Nacional, in the early stages, started with a medium block and very compact, which was allowing that depth and giving us little space between the lines. So we had to force that depth. We talked about it at half-time, and it was good that the second goal came that way; it was something we discussed, tried to adjust, and did. That has to do with what the game was asking for today, that attack on depth. Sometimes they got it right, sometimes they got it wrong, that’s part of it. But above all I’m happy because they’re young lads, they have to stay very focused, and that’s what makes them better".

Ba

"Ba took a knock to the knee against Alverca, so we chose not to take that risk. He had already gone to the bench with the knee knock [against Rio Ave], and we chose not to take that risk, that’s all. Above all, the team has grown in maturity, in game control throughout the whole match, 90, 95 minutes, whatever it is. It has grown in that maturity and development: staying switched on, keeping the energy high. Of course, we’re going to have a week with three games, so naturally we think about managing things. But above all there were opportunities for those who have been out, who work well. The team is very balanced in every position, in every area, and they also deserve those opportunities. They’ve responded, and that’s what I ask for. The team has given that response; above all, they’re all switched on and want to show they are important pieces and that they want more playing time. And that’s good for me".

Altimira

"We signed players we had always believed in, which is why he was even one of the first signings we made. We knew what he is like as a player and as a person too, and that matters when coming to Sporting. And yes, I think that, not just today, he has been putting in great performances: very balanced with and without the ball, always very well positioned, giving the team a lot of balance, giving us a lot in the build-up. The schooling he had also fits into that, and we knew that. I have no doubts he will have a great season and that he will clearly be a player with a future at Sporting".

Do you see yourself playing with Ioannidis alongside Suárez? Who is the main replacement for Zalazar behind the striker?

Flávio played there, and in the other games the position has also varied a little between the two of them. They are two players who give us that ability. Flávio is a little more gifted, a little more outside the box in some things, but we have other players too. In that position, besides Zalazar, I have Flávio, I have Luis Guilherme, who also plays very well in that position, I even have Jesse and, at times, Fotis [Ioannidis]. Sometimes it’s hard to leave Fotis out because he also deserves more time, deserves to play. It’s unfair on them, and for me, having two great strikers, two wonderful strikers, they give me headaches. For them it’s unfair when one of them doesn’t play. In principle, both of them could play; here and there it may happen that they play together".

Differences between Flávio Gonçalves and Pedro Gonçalves

"Pote had a different level of maturity to Flávio, who is at the start of his career, which I believe will be a great and wonderful one. He has the virtue of making decisions that are sometimes outside the box, he has a very distinctive boldness, very good, very positive. He’s got a bit of swagger, he’s competitive, works very hard, and he has earned it. I’m not the one who gives opportunities, they’re the ones who fight for them. He has done that. Not just this year. Last season he had that ability to understand that he was growing, and he worked with us almost all season. And maybe that’s why, in this early stage of the season, you can see his growth within the team, and above all for a kid who was playing in the second division last season. He’s a kid who is going to make mistakes, and I know he’s going to make mistakes, he’s at the age to do that. It’s just that maybe I like him so much that my demands on him are like that!"

There were a lot of players drifting to the left side and combining with Maxi Araújo. How have you been working on that flexibility?

"There are dynamics that have been in the team for some time now. Now we need to improve that understanding between them, especially those new lads who came in, even Flávio. They have to understand those micro-relationships with the full-back, with Zalazar when he’s on the left, and with the midfielders themselves. They’re still getting to know each other. That’s natural, new lads came in. The dynamics already existed. Maxi is already doing things he did last season. We were always a very mobile team within a very strong positional game last season, but then we also gave a lot of mobility and positional rotation. This year maybe we have a more mobile team, not with as much emphasis on positional play as we had last season, but we have other things: overall, we bring more unpredictability. And that growth still has to happen".

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