Numbers don’t lie: Mourinho’s curious connection with the Benfica bench | OneFootball

Turning to substitutes is a natural and fundamental part of football, now as in its early days. When it comes to José Mourinho, the Benfica coach has a certain tendency not to make much use of the players he usually has on the bench during matches.

According to a study presented by the newspaper A Bola, the Portuguese coach is, among the three giants of Portuguese football, including Braga, the manager who most often refrains from making substitutions. Out of 100 possible substitutions in the 20 rounds of the league, the Special One did not use 16 of them.

This record leaves the Benfica coach far from the numbers posted by his direct rivals. It’s worth remembering that Mourinho only took charge after four rounds had already been played. Until then, Bruno Lage, before being dismissed, only refrained from making two substitutions out of 20.

As for the numbers posted by the coaches of Porto, Sporting, and Braga, Mourinho lags well behind his rivals. Starting with the Dragons, Francesco Farioli only failed to make two substitutions in 20 rounds. Behind the Italian are Rui Borges and Carlos Vicens, both making a total of 93 changes out of 100 possible.

It’s worth recalling that the reason behind José Mourinho’s lack of changes may be due to, as the coach himself has explained on several occasions, a lack of valid options to bring on. Remember that the Special One relied heavily on youth at a time when many of his options were injured. Currently, the Portuguese coach is preparing for the clash with Alverca, where he has already received good news.

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