Artem Dovbyk says who is to blame for Sudakov's lack of form at Benfica | OneFootball

The start of the new season could represent a turning point for Georgiy Sudakov at Benfica. After a first year marked by difficulties under José Mourinho, the Ukrainian international believes that Marco Silva’s arrival could open new doors for him. Artem Dovbyk, Roma striker and the red midfielder’s national team teammate, also looks at that possibility with confidence, and explained what, in his opinion, went wrong in the relationship between the player and the Portuguese coach.

"I think everything will be fine. Football is just like that, things change every six months or from year to year. A coach comes in who likes you, and you start playing. A coach comes in who doesn’t like you and... it happens to everyone", he said in comments to the Ukrainian podcast Red Card Direct.

The giallorossi player went even further in his analysis of José Mourinho’s working methods: "He has a very clear hierarchy. He has two or three players who are untouchable to him, and then he has three or four who, no matter what they do, are always to blame for everything. I think Sudakov may have ended up in that group of players... Basically, he may still not have done anything special, but it seems that, for the coach, he is already to blame for everything", he said.

The Ukrainian international also recalled a story told to him by Eldor Shomurodov to illustrate how the new Real Madrid coach sees the details of the game. "I remember one that Shomurodov told. They were playing against Juventus and there was a moment when he was fouled, Juventus went on the attack and scored. Eldor got up quickly and tried to chase someone down. Mourinho showed him that moment after the game and said: 'We conceded the goal because of you, because you should have stayed down on the pitch so the referee could see whether it was a foul and, who knows, disallow it'", he revealed.

. After a season in which he never managed to take on the expected leading role, the Ukrainian midfielder heads into 2026/27 determined to earn a prominent place in the Eagles’ team.

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