J. Marta Soares: Rui Borges not Sporting level, Varandas criticised | OneFootball

Jaime Marta Soares, former president of the General Assembly of Sporting, harshly criticized the team and coach Rui Borges after the 3-0 defeat against Bodø/Glimt, in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

In statements to the program Bola Branca, on Rádio Renascença, the former official expressed surprise at the lions' performance and pointed out a lack of strategy in the decisive moments of the season: “I did not expect to see such a weak performance from my team, this great Sporting team, which unfortunately has been somewhat disappointing us lately, due to its inconsistency but above all due to some lack of strategy in decisive moments,” he began by saying.

Marta Soares also criticized the decisions of Rui Borges made in the match held at Aspmyra Stadion, leaving a metaphor to illustrate his position: “The era of inventors is long gone (...). The patent must be registered long before, not at the last minute. Or, if you want to register after the event, there is no room to do so, because the invention did not work. What happened was the debacle we saw. It was three, but unfortunately, it could have been many more…”.

Despite acknowledging the coach's personal qualities, the former official was even more blunt in questioning Rui Borges' ability to lead the team in major competitions: “Without questioning the professionalism, humility, dignity, and honor of the Sporting coach, and I've been saying it for a long time, he does not have the stature and status for the Sporting team and to enter major competitions. It is clear to everyone, only those who do not want to see it don't.”

However, the criticisms also extended to the Sporting President, Frederico Varandas, who will contest the club's elections against Bruno Sá next Saturday at Pavilhão João Rocha: “It's a foregone victory [for Varandas], not to my liking, for reasons that reason itself does not know regarding the relationship the Sporting President had with me. I did nothing for that to happen,” he stated.

The former official also made an appeal to reduce the climate of conflict: “Talk less, agree much more often. This is also necessary for the pacification of Portuguese football, to get us out of this mess. Because throwing stones at those who live in glass houses does not yield good results. It does not dignify or improve in any circumstance, neither sportingly nor administratively,” he concluded.

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