Marco Silva stunned by Benfica display: what he said after Swiss loss | OneFootball

He analyzed Benfica’s defeat to St. Gallen (2-1) in the press room at the Berit Sitter stadium, in the first leg of the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. The coach did not hide that he was disappointed with his players’ performance.

Benfica always seemed a step behind the opposition in intensity and speed. What happened that you were unable to get past St. Gallen?

"Regardless of quality and favoritism, which are there on paper, we have to play much better than we did today. That’s the first point. On the ball, at times, we were careless, we wanted to do everything at speed. We didn’t have the ability, in the moments when we finally managed to beat the opponent’s man-to-man marking, to keep possession in our attacking half. That’s what we should and have to do, and we weren’t capable of it. As for intensity, we knew we weren’t going to be perfect today. We’ve had four weeks of work, so there are no miracles here. That showed a little in our reaction after losing the ball; we were not a reactive team. We did it in spells, but we had very little consistency in that aspect. Our poor performance is clear. We did not play at the level we should. Regardless of the limitations we had in preparing for the game, that is no excuse. We did not play well enough, or anywhere near well enough, to win the match. In terms of intensity: while we still had some freshness, we were capable. We made some mistakes, especially in trying to beat the opponent’s first press, very man-to-man; we knew they would come that way. We lacked a bit of movement to drag players away and then get the ball in behind that first press so we could connect our play from there. It happened once or twice and we reached the final third. We need more quality and more calm in our decision-making so we can create more scoring chances. The opponent has eight or ten more days of preparation than we do, and at times that gave them more intensity. We had to play better, we have to play better, and we have to improve a lot".

What impact can having another week of work have on Thursday’s game?

"If we play at the level we did today, we know unpleasant surprises may be waiting for us. It’s simple: we have to improve as a team, in the way we approach the game, in the way we are able in individual duels to get past players and solve the individual problems the game puts in front of us. At certain moments the game posed tactical and individual questions that we did not answer properly. If I’m saying the performance was, even with the limitations, far below what we can and should do, then naturally we have to improve a lot. Will one week be enough? It has to be enough. If we want to go through, it has to be enough. After today’s result, don’t expect me to be negative and say one week won’t be enough. Honestly, after today’s performance, we will have to be better than we were today, no question".

What assurance can you give the fans at this moment, especially since you have previously been very harsh in your words, with messages that even seemed internal...

"First of all, I don’t use conversations with you to send messages. You can draw those conclusions afterward, but I don’t do that. I almost always analyze the game openly and then my message reaches the fans, which is what matters. Then some things can be interpreted differently, and I can’t control that. I don’t need to send messages through my conversations with you because what I have to say is said internally so that we can improve. My goal is to give my all and improve Benfica in every possible aspect. The fans’ criticism is normal. This wasn’t the debut we wanted. The fans expected more, and when you don’t play at the level you have to play at, criticism is normal. The pressure of being at this level and at a club of this size can’t only have a good side; it also has to have the less good side when we don’t play at the level we should. The fans are the first to recognize when the team works hard, but when you don’t play at the level you have to, there is a reaction. That is exactly why I was there with the players, because there are moments when we have to listen, thank them for the support, and then go back inside and start preparing for next week’s game. I think the criticism is normal and natural because it is part of the greatness of the club".

How do you justify Miguel Figueiredo being in the starting lineup?

"Miguel can be a 6, but he can also be an 8. Since the start of the season we have been working with Miguel as an 8, playing as the second midfielder alongside the 6. We have not been working with him as a lone 6. And with Leandro unavailable, decisions had to be made. We chose not to play with two players with similar characteristics because we didn’t want to change what we had been preparing over the last three weeks with a 6 and a second midfielder behind Sudakov or Rafa. We opted to have a player who is not as defensive in that position, with more forward drive, who could form a triangle with Bah and Rafa on the right side. We did that once or twice. When the ball doesn’t reach the final third with enough quality, and it didn’t, it is harder to see what we had prepared for that moment. The decision to start Miguel has to do with his characteristics, which neither Manu nor Enzo have. We chose not to play with two clear 6s in this game".

For the second leg, Dedic and Tomás Araújo will have another week of work, and Jhon Durán may also be available. Are you considering some changes for next Thursday?

"The two players who were at the World Cup will have a few more days with us. Today they were there, as I said yesterday, because it was important for them to be with the group, because they know the club and have some experience that is important for so many young people around them. I knew that only in extreme cases could we use them. There are major risks. They have been with us for two or three days. Obviously they will have more time before the match. John Durán will hardly be available for the next game. He needs more time to work with the team, he needs more time to get the physical condition required to be at the level he has to be at in order to help us".

Do you have the guarantee that you can count on António Silva for the second leg? 

"As for António, I think I already answered that yesterday. Until I am told that António is not a Benfica player, all our preparation and every conversation I have with him is as a Benfica player. No one tells me that, no one told me during the week to take any kind of care. If I said one thing yesterday, I’m not going to change it because the performance was at a level it should not have been and the result was very bad for us".

What failed most: physically, tactically, or in terms of concentration?

"It was a mix. It doesn’t seem to me that it was because of concentration that we failed to control the game. We can possibly talk about concentration in the way we conceded the second goal, the way we conceded from a set piece in those last ten minutes. There we can talk about concentration combined with some fatigue. But those are situations we have to solve, and quickly, because it is important to keep focus and concentration until the very last moment. We were not good enough on the ball to exploit what was there to exploit by beating the opponent’s first press. We often tried, even under pressure, to take too many touches on the ball, when it was the ball that had to move more and us run less. We lacked the ability to keep the ball, slow the game down, try to take the ball into the attacking half, and switch the point of play. We never wanted to do that; we always went down the right and tried to finish down the right. We never had the ability to switch the play and that is exactly why we had no control and allowed a good number of transitions for our opponent. Many of our problems happened there. When you have no control, the game is always stretched".

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