Rui Borges on Sporting v AVS SAD: best team, illness in squad | OneFootball

The night of last Saturday, December 13th, was a celebration in Alvalade. The lions won decisively 6-0 against Sporting - AVS SAD, in the 14th round of the Liga Portugal Betclic. At the end of the match, Rui Borges explained to journalists how he saw the green and white victory. Check out everything the Portuguese coach said at the end of the match.

On a night of a big win, Sporting reaches five games without conceding goals. Is this a good indicator?

"The team was competent. They responded as they have been, growing collectively. Except for the first fifteen minutes, with a lukewarm game, very slow, the opponent also took a long time with each throw-in, goal kick, a foul, trying from early on to slow the game a bit and not let us get into rhythm, and in the last fifteen, we missed many passes by seeing things so easily, apart from that, the team was competent, dynamic, and after unlocking the first goal, they always went for more. Happy with the response the team has given."

Catamo and Diomande miss the Portuguese Cup game against Santa Clara due to the CAN? For you, which team plays the best football?

"For me, my team is always the best and has shown that, we are not first because, perhaps, some are better than us. In what we understand as quality of play, dynamics, intensity, rigor, the team is connected in terms of energy, always looking for more, wanting to play and win, with dynamics, with quality of play, in the defensive process, in the offensive process, we have grown in that aspect. Therefore, mine are always the best. Catamo and Diomande will not face Santa Clara."

Luis Suárez was once again in the spotlight, even scoring twice. Is this form he is showing at this time of the season important, especially with the players you don't have in attack, as well as the achieved win?

"The win is just three points, we can't get too carried away in that aspect, just three points in our journey. We were serious and rigorous, it could have been difficult to connect the team after very demanding games with two great opponents, to connect the team to play at home against the last in the standings, mentally going from eighty to eight could have been difficult for me, the coach, to keep them connected, but maybe the changes were important in that sense. People with good energy, eager to play, to show, to keep the team connected all the time. Luis is having a good start to the season, but he can do it because the team can value him, just like Geny and Maxi, who played in another position and scored two goals. Above all, value the collective, then one or another player stands out, at times, now it was Luis, the player of the month was Trincão, and that is a sign that they are all connected and in the same tune and values what has been the collective growth of the team. He is a forward and for him to gain that confidence, he just arrived, in a year when Sporting was a two-time champion, the forward was the top scorer, with many goals, it is important for him to have that confidence and continue what has been Sporting's offensive power over the last few years."

Matheus Reis has always entered the team well. After the renewals of Gonçalo Inácio and Callais, do you think the Brazilian should be next?

"I don't get involved much in that role, these are things more for the structure, they know what we want. Matheus has been very important, he will continue to be, for his experience, character, he is very important within the group."

In the end, already managing, you placed Ioannidis and Suárez more on the left, is this a solution for the absence of Pedro Gonçalves or does Maxi Araújo respond?

"We are trying and training some different things, but whoever plays will always respond. Above all, it's about looking at them and feeling them eager to help regardless of the position and the minutes they play, understanding what to do in each position and that makes me happy, I look at them and see them focused."

It's almost a year since you arrived at Sporting. Are you now a better coach and is Sporting a better team?

"Clearly, I am a better coach and it is a better team collectively, it has more of my mark. For me, it is not just results that dictate the best, there is no one who always wins. Rui Borges is more of a coach, better, I came for a huge challenge, different from all those I had, it made me see different things, but the growth of a coach is continuous."

How do you explain the great superiority in organized attack? Did Maxi Araújo respond as you intended in a more interior role?

"We define within what is the opponent's strategy and what is our idea of the game small behaviors to gain superiority and then, of course, the individual work comes to the fore, we have great players, talented and with a lot of quality, then we try to pick up small details, today with Geny we managed to get him more inside, Vaggianidis we wanted him to create higher up, more people inside, we gained in widths. Interior play with a lot of people is difficult to mark. Maxi gives different things there, he pushes the defensive line a lot, is very aggressive in diagonals, has his own intensity attacking the area, we needed aggressiveness attacking the goal, he is intense, gave us that and scored. Mangas has acceleration, is very vertical, with small details creates superiority."

Gonçalo Inácio stayed in the locker room at halftime and Hjulmand didn't leave the bench. Can you explain?

"Inácio was for management, he is not at one hundred percent and also because we are going to lose Diomande we didn't want to take a risk. Morten was left out because he was sick, with flu-like symptoms or a virus, Iván [Fresneda] and also Luis [Suárez] were. but today he showed what it is to be a leader. He could have played, but he was honest and showed what it is to be truly a captain, he told me that he was not at one hundred percent and that it was better to put someone who was better, he had character, it shows well what respect for the team and colleagues is, he was honest, that pleases me."

Without Catamo and Diomande, could it be time to call up young players like Rômulo or David Moreira?

"The young players from the B team have been working with us every week, they are prepared to respond. They have the confidence of the coaching staff because we are attentive to what their work has been. If I have to call them, I will, I play with those I have and I always want to win, I don't complain, I play with those I have and I will be competitive, I always want to win, with more or less difficulty, with those I have I will win."

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