The coach gives his verdict on the win over AVS SAD

Following the victory over AVS SAD in Liga Portugal, Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim praised the performance of his players, while also stating that there is always room for improvement.

“We didn’t let AVS create any danger, we were strong in our reaction to losing the ball and once again had a competent showing. If we look at the numbers, it was an excellent game from our team, but I feel we can do better,” he began by saying in his press conference.

“Due to the tactical changes in the starting lineup, we lost some fluidity. Dani [Bragança] likes to play more inside and we lacked a right footed player to combine with Nuno [Santos]. Despite this, we gained some extra aggression going forward," he explained.

Amorim then assessed the contribution of Danish forward Conrad Harder, who scored and provided an assist on his starting debut.

“He had a good game," analysed the coach. “He is still at 50% of his potential, but that is normal. He hasn’t trained much with the team yet and it is difficult to guide him with his positioning. You can see that sometimes in the flow of the game. Obviously, scoring and providing an assist is always good and he felt that the atmosphere in the stadium was very good. The way they cheered him on… He lived a dream come true today, but tomorrow it will be over and we have to think about the next game."

With this result against AVS SAD, Sporting CP have made their best start in the competition this century. For Amorim, these numbers are positive, but there is still a long way to go.
“We are obviously happy and we understand from these results that it is difficult to start like this. (…) But it is only a 3-point lead, we have our rivals close to us and there will be many games to come. When you start playing several games in a week, that is when teams tend to lose points. It was important today, the first time we have had a game in the middle of the week beforehand, not to drop points, especially at home. It is another three points, but we want to continue to build on this good start,” he stressed.

Finally, Amorim explained the reasons that led him to calling up Miguel Alves, João Simões and Bruno Ramos for the first time, players who usually play for the B team.

“Miguel is a left-sided centre-back and we don’t have many centre-backs. Bruno is right-footed and didn’t play for any national team during the last international break, he was the central central player in our B team and he is a very fast player. Despite not being a starter in the B team, and still lacking something in the way he plays with the ball in an organised attack, I really liked him. He is very strong physically and difficult to get past in one-on-one situations. He often catches Viktor [Gyökeres] in training -and that is not easy. We are trying to work on his understanding of the game with the ball, because without the ball he has the perfect characteristics to be a central defender on this team. Simões has been playing on the wing, but he is a central midfielder. I watched the Under-17 European Championship and I liked him in that position. Although he is not very fast, he is resilient and has great physical ability. (…) He could play in the position of Morita or Dani [Bragança] because sometimes he has to play between the lines and he has spent his whole life doing that for the B team.”