The coach talks about the game against AVS Futebol SAD

Sporting Clube de Portugal will host AVS Futebol SAD this Sunday, on Liga Portugal Matchday 6. Coach Rúben Amorim began his pre-match press conference by announcing the players who will be unavailable for the game.

“Neither Gonçalo Inácio, nor Eduardo Quaresma, have recovered. Marcus Edwards has a minor muscle problem, Pote too. We have some absentees, but also a team clearly prepared to win the game,” he said on Saturday.

On the opponents, a team coached by Vítor Campelos that secured promotion to the top tier of Portuguese football last season, he gave the following analysis:

“We looked closely at AVS Futebol SAD's characteristics and style of play. We also looked at the Gil Vicente FC side from last year that was coached by Vítor Campelos, especially what they did at Alvalade -because Campelos was no longer there for the away game. We have some doubts about how they will line up defensively, but offensively we don't have so many doubts, because Campelos already played in a certain way that he has repeated and he doesn't usually change much on the attacking side. The defensive aspects in the last game against Gil Vicente FC changed, whilst against GD Chaves it didn't, so we went to do a reconnaissance to make it easier for our players. We looked at everything and tried not to transmit too many doubts to our players. We know how we will defend, and we know how we will attack in this game."

Regarding Conrad Harder's first weeks at Sporting CP and his relationship on the field with Viktor Gyökeres, the coach explained “They have more of a friendly relationship. Viktor is not much of an advice giver. Harder has done the job both as an attacking target man and playing with Viktor, in this case with the two up front, because we have to have different plans to attack against different teams. Sometimes there is a line of six, others a line of five, others a line of four, and he is trying to learn all of that in a short space of time, but he is progressing quite well. Above all, he is very ‘hungry.'"

Debast’s spectacular goal against LOSC Lille also warranted a question for Amorim, who told the media: “As for Debast, the important thing for me is that the goal was a good moment, but it is over now and I will forget that goal. What will help Zeno to be the player he can be, to fulfil his potential throughout his career, is to experience these good moments, and the bad ones, but then quickly forget about them. What I want is for Zeno to maintain his defensive style, his aggressiveness and his physical ability, as he is very fast. He has hardly misplaced a single pass in these last two games. I would say that Zeno needed this goal, but above all he needed to feel like the player he is."

On Morita’s performance, the coach explained the Japanese midfielder’s more specific role after the national team games for his country.

“Football moves so quickly these days that we go from a good moment to a bad moment. Morita was very, very good against FC Porto. Morita was the best player on the pitch against SC Farense and then he went away with the national team. We don’t even realise what it’s like for Morita to travel with the national team. His life completely changes, the time zone changes and then it’s not like he plays one game and then recovers in another. It seems like a normal thing, because it happens to many players, but for him it has a huge impact. We have to manage these aspects," said Amorim.

"He wouldn’t have been taken off against LOSC Lille if he hadn’t been on a booking, because I think Morita has a huge influence on our team. I still don’t feel he’s fresh, and he needs to be fresh. We’re managing that. I wouldn’t say Morita is in a bad moment. Morita’s situation is completely different to the rest of the team."

Regarding Jeremiah St. Juste’s injury, he commented: “We have to wait for St. Juste to come back and show the quality he has shown every time he has played. He lacks consistency. The conversation I have with him is the same as the conversation I have with every player. It's easier for me because I've been through these moments too as a player, and I'm trying to use strategies, this time to do treatment further away from us, closer to his family, to try to manage that psychological part. As long as he's the person he is and gives his all, we'll try strategy after strategy to repay this investment to the Members and our fans."

As for the initial options for the game on Sunday, and the possibilities of Maxi Araújo or Conrad Harder playing, the coach played his cards close to his chest.

"There are several options we can use. It also depends on the training sessions we've done over these past few weeks, and that has an impact. We can also put Morita further up front, because sometimes there are low blocks and there are no big sprints, so we would be putting a midfielder with Morita’s quality closer to the area. Let’s see what we can come up with," he concluded by saying.