White handkerchiefs, red card and protests: Rui Borges after Sporting draw | OneFootball

Rui Borges reflected on the draw against Arouca (2-2), highlighting above all Zeno Debast's sending-off in the 54th minute as the moment that completely changed the course of the match. The Sporting coach stressed that his team were on top until they were reduced to 10 men and also addressed the fans’ reaction in the stands, including the white handkerchiefs waved during the game

Analysis

"It’s simple: there’s one game until the sending-off. A good game from us, well played. We got the goals, and we could have scored more, even in the first half. Then we started the second half very well, really very well, Arouca couldn’t even get out of their own half, and the sending-off changes everything. It forces us into a defensive phase where we were minimally competent until the penalty, which ended up bringing Arouca into the game and making them believe. We had to be even more aggressive in defending our goal, we knew there would be a lot of crosses, and we ended up conceding from a cross... It’s a team that moves the ball well, that has a lot of mobility in attack, and with one extra player, it was natural that we couldn’t press as much as we did when we had eleven on the pitch, when we did and always tried to be aggressive in the press. In the end, they were fortunate..."

Do you feel you have the conditions to continue in charge of Sporting? Would you have liked Frederico Varandas by your side right now to give you a vote of confidence?

"The only feeling I have is sadness, because I drew the game. As for the rest, the criticism from the fans is natural, absolutely natural. We are at a big club where the demands are at the highest level, even when we win — I’ve said that many times — so I understand the criticism. It’s something natural in football, and we have to know how to live with that and deal with it in the less good moments."

Vasco Seabra admitted that his team ended up being somewhat surprised by Sporting’s 4x3x3. What led you to implement this slight change?

"It’s not about major adaptations, it’s more about one or two dynamics, without moving away from who we are, with different players, different characteristics. We tried to have two wide men, strong one-on-one, direct, with Geny and Irankunda. We tried to pin Arouca’s two midfielders with our two attacking midfielders, let’s say our interiors, and manage to break their press in a three-against-two in the first phase, and then be able to find space further forward, to be calmer in that sense. In the first half we could have had a little more calm and composure here and there when we reached the final third. We wanted to accelerate all the time, we always saw a teammate free, we always tried... We ended up missing one or two passes where there was no need, but the team interpreted very well what we had planned. A very good first half, a fantastic start to the second half, really very good, the team very dynamic, very connected, managing to create finishing situations at Arouca’s goal. And the sending-off changes everything...

In the second half there was a moment when you spoke with Gonçalo Inácio, was he struggling physically?

"I’ve already said that some maturity is lacking, but this isn’t about that. Look at the game and look at what happens in the game. We were down to ten men, it’s impossible for us to press the way we do. No matter how big a team we are, no matter how much maturity we had, we knew we were going to have to suffer in some moments, and we were controlling it until the penalty. The penalty puts Arouca into the game because, honestly, I think that if the penalty hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t be here talking about a draw. Even with us in a lower block — which is natural, because we had to defend our goal — it’s a team that looks for the channels, a lot of crosses, and we had to know how to defend the box. In the end they were strong in a crossing move, attacking the box, and made it 2-2. As for Inácio: he was having some difficulties, I was asking him whether he needed to come off or not, and he told me he could keep going."

It’s the third consecutive mistake by a Sporting centre-back. Do you understand these lapses from the central defenders, which have cost the team dearly and dropped points?

"It’s not a matter of understanding it or not, these are things that happen in the game. I have to know how to deal with them: I’m the coach, I have to help them grow individually in their behaviour and in their decisions on the pitch. But I will never blame anyone here for the draw or otherwise. As for the way the game went and the team sinking deeper: a lower block was natural. We were playing against a team that is very dynamic on the ball, with a lot of mobility. It was impossible, as I’ve already said. We know what we’re good at and the moments when we’re less good. We have a clear vision of what we are as a team. We couldn’t press with ten men the way we like and the way we were doing, we just couldn’t, it’s as simple as that. No matter what tactic I put out there, we wouldn’t have been able to press in that way, and we knew we had to sit in a lower block. We lacked some outlet at certain moments, that’s true. But that’s something that, well, we didn’t control and we also have to grow in that sense. We lost an important player, which forced us to change in a different way. We tried to freshen things up, to bring on people who could give us an outlet, who could carry the ball."

Calls for resignation

"I wouldn’t change anything regarding pre-season or squad selection, I wouldn’t change absolutely anything, regardless of the results or the three draws we have so far. So, regarding the fans, it’s natural, I’ve already said that. I am concerned, yes, with our work in order to grow as a Sporting team and manage to give a different response, because we have to, because we are at a great institution, a great club where the demands, as I’ve said, are at the highest level, even when we win. So, since we didn’t win, the demands are even greater."

Shouldn’t Sporting, and with all due respect to Arouca, even with 10 men, be capable of defending a bit higher up, of holding on to this lead, even after conceding from a penalty? You showed some concern in the pre-match press conference about the team’s mental state

"I didn’t show any concern. I didn’t show concern, don’t say things I said. I said it was important to win so the team could go into the break feeling confident, I didn’t talk about any concern. Of course we always have the obligation to do more and better, whether against the team at the top of the table or the bottom one. Our demands are maximum and we always have the obligation to do more, so it’s about understanding the circumstances of each game and the way all the points are lost and then, yes, drawing whatever conclusions we can draw."

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