Ex candidate slams Varandas, compares Sporting chief to... Pinto da Costa | OneFootball

Sporting’s trophyless season continues to spark huge backlash among the club’s supporters, and Frederico Varandas has once again become one of the main targets of criticism after the defeat against Torreense in the Portuguese Cup final. Nuno Sousa, a former candidate for the presidency of the Alvalade club, assessed the current moment of the green-and-whites and delivered harsh words for the Lions’ leadership, comparing Frederico Varandas to Pinto da Costa.

“What we see is that Frederico Varandas copies Pinto da Costa a lot: the timing, what gets put out publicly, but he is nowhere near having the experience and culture that he had. That fine irony is very difficult to pull off. And Rui Borges’ renewal was a bit like that: ‘oh, we didn’t win? Then I’m going to renew’... like a bad boy,” he told Record newspaper.

The former candidate even believes that Varandas’ attitude ended up harming Sporting throughout the season. “I feel there has been a certain arrogance from the president towards opponents... almost provoking them and, when that happens, it never brings good results. Even if you are champion, you need to be humble,” he pointed out.

Nuno Sousa also strongly criticized the physical and medical management of the green-and-white squad. “It all came at a price there: the medical and physical management of the squad. When I saw we were going into extra time, I still thought they would come out on top, but no. I can’t fully criticize the coach given what happened this season. The board did not provide the best reinforcements and, perhaps, Rui Borges looks at the bench and has to keep squeezing the same players,” he explained.

The criticism also extended to the medical department and the signings made by Sporting during the season. “However much people say Sporting has the best medical department... the truth is we don’t see any of that. It’s propaganda. After suffering an injury, players take a very long time to recover: Pote is the clearest example. The season starts, December comes around, and he already looks like he’s running on empty. And then there are these signings where it’s very hard to understand the guiding thread,” he said.

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