Glorioso 1904 exclusive: Lourenço criticises Benfica, lack a Fejsa | OneFootball

Camilo Lourenço believes that the poor sporting results, including the draw against Casa Pia last Monday, are not the result of José Mourinho’s work, but rather of the structure led by Rui Costa. In this Glorioso 1904 exclusive, the well-known Benfica supporter commented on the role of the coach and the president at the Club, also addressing the topic of Nicolás Otamendi’s and António Silva’s contract renewals.

"Benfica’s problem is not the coaches. It is structural, this is a management problem. It is a problem with the Club’s structure, leadership and management, with particular emphasis on sporting management. Therefore, until Benfica solves this, they can keep changing coaches as much as they want, and it will not work out," he began by telling our newspaper.

However, he does not completely absolve José Mourinho, judging the public criticism he made of the players. "I think Mourinho made a mistake. When you have a team and you are in charge of it, you have to lift it up. Now, when we start pointing the finger at two or three members in public, this usually ends badly within the group. So, I think the criticism José Mourinho made should have been made in private".

Asked whether Rui Costa is the main one to blame for the poor season, Camilo Lourenço did not want to single anyone out, but believes leaders have to take responsibility. "I really do not like personalising things, whether it is person A or person B. But I learned one thing when I first took on a management role. When the CEO who hired me once said to me: 'Camilo, when you have a team that you are leading, you cannot go around pointing the finger at this one or that one. Even if you are not responsible for what happened, you are always the one responsible', so, for me, it is not about whether it is Rui Costa or not, whoever is in the presidency is always responsible for what is happening. And Benfica is no exception".

What is more, he says he would like someone from the structure to come forward. "I think it is always good to have communication between those at the top running a club and the fanbase. But I think it would be far more important for some changes to be defined at Benfica from a structural point of view and then also explained to the members. After four years, when we start failing in our objectives, we can only draw one conclusion: The responsibility is ours".

On the side more closely linked to the game, Camilo argues that the main weakness lies in the holding midfield position, which in the last match was occupied by Enzo: "Players who should not be in the squad? I am not going to say which ones, but in my opinion there are some. The goals being conceded, over a whole series of matches now, have nothing to do with the defence. The main problem is in midfield, which lets the balls through. The midfield is very porous. Benfica do not have an ideal defensive midfielder for the Club’s playing model. The squad is missing a Fejsa".

To conclude, Camilo Lourenço spoke about the renewals of Nicolás Otamendi and António Silva: "If I were President, I would first define a structure and a policy for the Club, then decide. For example, I think it is time to go and sign a new leader for the defence because Otamendi will not last forever. If those who come in are better, fine. Otherwise, I do not see the advantage of selling players or letting them go if we do not really know what we are going to sign", he concluded.

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