The coach's preview of the game against FC Arouca

Sporting Clube de Portugal host FC Arouca this Sunday, at 8:30 pm, on Liga Portugal Matchday 8.

Os Leões return home after their midweek defeat in the Europa League and Rúben Amorim is only thinking about a win, saying that whilst it is good to play right after a loss, he would have preferred to have had more time to prepare for this match.

"We enjoyed playing in Europe, but we could have had one more day to prepare for the game and we didn't get it. Nevertheless, the team are ready. The players are fresh because there was rotation during this time", he told the media.

"We know FC Arouca very well; We know that last year we didn't win any game against them and we want to change that this year.Daniel Ramos is a very experienced coach, he knows that as the game goes on it will create anxiety in everyone, so what we want is to start well and play well in the first and second half to win the game. They vary between 4 and 5 in defence, with the winger playing as the fifth man. We have trained for that in the time we had, we focused a lot on what we need to be very good at, we worked on that and I think that tomorrow we will have a good game".

"We have to be hungry, we want to win and we must be very calm in the face of everything that happens. We know that FC Arouca want to keep it 0-0, make transitions, create one or two opportunities and create a bad atmosphere in our stadium. What we have to do is have a lot of confidence, stay calm, be well organised and not let them make too many transitions", said the coach, denying that the defeat against Atalanta BC will affect his Sporting CP side.

"What's done is done. We need to always be optimistic. I believe we can be champions, win trophies and go through in Europe. We've already proven that many times. Tomorrow we have another game, what we want is to stay in first place and that's what we're going to play for".

Amorim also spoke about Jeremiah St. Juste, saying that the central defender "is getting closer and closer" to his return, and commented on the importance of Sebastián Coates.

"For me, as a coach , what he represents is an example in the way he has always played and how he helps his teammates, but I think he can still get better as a player and as a captain, and when I look at him I want him to do more. He is very important for us and you see that the team feel more confident with him on the pitch".

The coach looks back on the Europa League loss to Atalanta BC

After the defeat against Atalanta BC in Group D of the UEFA Europa League, Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim gave a press conference to provide his analysis of the match.

"The word 'if' doesn't count in football. A draw was the fairest option, but it didn't happen. In the first half we had a lot of difficulties; we didn't have the quality with the ball that we should have and when we didn't have it we had more problems," he acknowledged, before talking about a second half that he considered "completely different".

"It was mainly because we had the ball, because tactically we did the same things. We tried our best, Geny [Catamo] and Marcus [Edwards] did well in attacking the opposition and that changed the game a little. It was enough to have more time in control of the game and we were better then".

"There were two distinct halves and we didn't manage to score two goals in 'our' half, which for me made the difference in the game. We demonstrated, from the first minute of the second half, that we wanted to chase the win. In the first half we also wanted to, but we didn't achieve it because Atalanta BC were the better side. The urgency was always there, but sometimes we didn't get what we wanted. It's part of football", he summarised.

Once again, Amorim underlined that "in case of doubt, the domestic league is the priority," recalling the club's European experience last season.  “In Europe we were very good and in the league we made it easier for the opposition. We also have to learn from our mistakes".

"No one is more upset about losing tonight than the coach and the players, as we haven't lost in I don't know how long. We have to face it head on. I know that after last season we have to win and play well, I know that and there will be zero tolerance, but we do the maths only at the end. We are top of the league and nothing is lost in the Europa League. I wouldn't say that first place in the group was at risk. We have to win our games and whoever gets more points will go through. We're going to do our best to achieve that".

When asked about replacing Morten Hjulmand at halftime, Amorim explained that the Danish international midfielder "comes from a different team and a different league" and highlighted that now, at Sporting CP, he is "making the transformation to go and look for opponents further away than he's used to doing".

He also talked about Paulinho's starting in place of Marcus Edwards: "We thought they were going to be a very physical team, and we weren't going to have Sebastián Coates on set pieces and Paulinho was in great form. We made the decision looking at the characteristics of the opposition, but now it's easy to say that. Marcus is in great form because the coach insisted on him even after he had some poor games".

The Sporting CP coach gives his thoughts before the meeting with Tottenham Hotspur FC

Sporting Clube de Portugal face Tottenham Hotspur FC in London on Matchday 5 of Group D of the UEFA Champions League this Wednesday.

On the eve of the contest, coach Rúben Amorim stated that the team have to win the game, recalling the first duel between the two teams which ended with a 2-0 victory in Alvalade.

"The two teams had a lot of respect for each other in the first game and they already know each other better, despite Tottenham Hotspur having changed their formation due to injuries up front. We will have to see how we deal with them, with three midfielders and three forwards. The big difference is that tomorrow's result is more decisive," he began by saying in the pre-match press conference.

Regarding his squad, Amorim stated that "Sebastián Coates will be able to play from the beginning. Jeremiah St. Juste will be on the bench, but as always we will pay special attention to him in terms of playing time, because he didn't have a preseason. We have to keep him healthy at least until the World Cup, so he can have his preseason then."

Asked if Paulinho, who scored in the first game against Spurs, could start the match, he responded that: “In our team there are no starters, but there is a group of players who usually start the game. Whether Pedro Gonçalves were available or not, Paulinho would always be an option to come in. He is growing after suffering an injury and we have to make a natural rotation. But I'm not going to reveal whether he's going to play or not."

There was also, inevitably, interest in English forward Marcus Edwards, who has history at Tottenham Hotspur.

"He is a player with a lot of talent. A former coach of his said that he had something Messi-like about him. He went to a good club in Portugal, he developed, he reached a big club, he is growing a lot and playing in the Champions League, and he is mature. The talent is there, but he can improve a lot. He is happy at our club and I wish him a very bright future," he concluded.

The coach looks ahead to O Clássico against FC Porto

Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim held a pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, previewing the first edition of 'O Clássico' this season against FC Porto. The Saturday 8:30pm kickoff at the Estádio do Dragão is expected to be a tough game, the coach says, but the focus is on taking all three points back to Lisbon.

“This week was strange and different for reasons that we all know, but we have reorganised ourselves, started to focus on the game and prepared for it in the best way possible. We know the importance of this game, because we have already had a draw this season and we are going to play at the home of the champions, but we had the normal preparation required for a club that want to win at every ground. In that aspect, it was a normal week," he said.

“FC Porto have many strengths. They are a team who are scoring a lot of goals, conceding few and are very competent in all aspects of the game, especially when they win the ball. We know what we're going to encounter and that we're going to be playing in a full stadium, but we like these types of challenges."

With a draw and a victory from the first two matchdays, Sporting CP are looking for three more points for their tally. Amorim said that he is not worried about the points gap compared to direct rivals, because he believes his side will get the win.

"It doesn't worry me at all. We know from the beginning that life as a coach is like this: When you win and when you lose, we are always under pressure. We will see. Our idea is to win and the idea is to get ahead of FC Porto and catch the top sides. If that doesn't happen, we'll be going for the win in the next game”.

The coach will be without Paulinho, who remains injured, but Sporting CP will also now be without Matheus Nunes, who has left the club.

“I will not say who will play in his place. Of course, that doesn't change much in terms of FC Porto's approach, but we'll keep the characteristics of the player who will play in Matheus Nunes' role for game time. We have several players who can play there: Pote, Morita and Mateus Fernandes. We have an idea: Someone will play there and will be prepared to help the team win the game”, said coach Leonino.

As for the departure of Matheus Nunes and possible movements in the transfer market, Amorim admitted that “it is difficult to sign at this time, because clubs don't want to lose their best players. We do not want players who are below our level at the moment. We have some players with potential that we have already identified and we might speed up their signing, but for now I have no idea and I'm trusting in those who are here already."

“The offer for Nunes was an attractive proposal and it is a great comfort for the club in financial terms, for all departments and for everything, and we will find solutions for his departure."

Asked if Mateus Fernandes could be the natural replacement, Amorim commented: “I don't know, it's still early. It would be a mistake to try to find another Matheus Nunes. We're going to look at the players. Mateus Fernandes is a player in our project and we believe in him a lot. We have to be careful not to push players beyond the stages they have to go through. He is still young, and Matheus Nunes was older when he moved up. There are different situations and we will see who will adapt there. There are also other players from the B team who can move up. What we want is for them to have competition among themselves."

The Sporting CP coach also spoke of the reintegration of Jovane Cabral, saying that “it was a matter of clarifying the situation with him."

"We were left with one less player and I always look at which players we have. I decided to talk with Jovane. I understood his idea, he understood mine and he is another player to help us. It's better to go get the players we have here to make up for some absences."

An assessment from the coach of the win over CD Santa Clara and the season itself

Rúben Amorim spoke after the 4-0 win over CD Santa Clara (4-0) that rounded off the Liga Portugal season, and reflected on a campaign which ended with the same number of points (85) as the previous year.

“We were more of a team than last year, and there was less suffering in our games. We scored more goals and also conceded more, but we didn't deserve that - and I say that because there were one or two shots that came off deflections. Even so, I think we defended better, we had more of the ball and that's why we didn't let our opponents have as many opportunities," he said.

"What I take away is that we were in the fight for all the trophies in Portugal. We won two, we missed out on another one and we were in the fight for the league title until the end. We achieved 85 points, but there were small details in a short time that made the difference and could have given us six more points. Even with the fans back at the stadiums and with the Champions League, we scored the same points as last season."

“A new season will start soon and we will begin it with the same ambition."

“Sporting CP have a history of fighting for trophies, but there were important moments in the history of the club that made life very difficult. Many years were lost, but fighting for silverware is normal in Sporting CP's history. When I arrived, I think it was the year in which Sporting CP had suffered the most defeats, and now we are fighting for the title, going to finals, going to the Champions League and reaching the Last 16. We are taking Sporting CP where the club belongs."

 Amorim also spoke of the support of the Sportinguistas, who gave a standing ovation at the end of the game.

 “The fans have the highest level of demand, but they also understand that we have very difficult moments; and even in those, they supported us. That doesn't show a lack of demand, but rather intelligence. They know that it won't help if they're against the team. They should whistle us when they are unhappy, but at times there is nothing that helps more than the support of the fans.”

“Nobody is happy because we didn't win the league, but the fans see that the team give everything. There are three clubs who can be champions and all three have the obligation to fight for that title, but there is only one top spot and there are two that will fall by the wayside," he explained.

"The fans don't forget the recent past, when the club was not in the fight for these honours, but now we are in there, we want to win and, therefore, in the end they support a team that gave everything and failed. I think that reveals a lot of intelligence and not a lack of demand, because we have a lot of that."

Finally, Amorim revealed how he will spend the holidays.

 “This year I feel much more tired, perhaps also because we didn't win. I'm going to rest, but I think I'm going to rest for three days and then I'll miss this already (laughs). I'm going to enjoy myself and fill my days with family time, and annoy Hugo Viana to try to control everything because I'm quite annoying like that!"

The coach explains how his side beat Gil Vicente FC

In the aftermath of the triumph over Gil Vicente FC, Sporting Clube de Portugal coach Rúben Amorim expressed his thoughts that the win was more than deserved, also highlighting the role of his attacking trio - Marcus Edwards, Pablo Sarabia and Pedro Gonçalves - in obtaining the victory.

“We managed to understand where the space was, because Gil Vicente FC defended a little higher and there were some moments in which we gave them the ball. The fact that they pressed us higher meant that we were able to break through several times, and it was because of our width that we had that capacity. Samuel Lino, as we knew, made an adjustment to play with a five-man defence, and when they wanted to put pressure on us, they had difficulties in catching Nuno Santos and Porro,” he began by saying in his press conference after the game.

“The players were good at bringing the ball out and realising that the space was out wide, in addition to them having the individual quality to solve problems. We reached areas in which we could score many times, but we didn't finish the chances very well. Either Porro's crossing was too heavy or Nuno Santos' crosses were slightly late. We can improve on that, but we showed a lot of good things. We missed a lot of chances, but we completely dominated the game."

Asked about Rodrigo Ribeiro, the 17-year-old forward who came on at the end of the game, Amorim said that he was a young player “with a lot of talent."

“He can play in any of the front three positions, because of his mobility, and he is very intelligent. Even though he doesn't have that much experience training with us, he knows how to organise the press from the middle. He had the help of his teammates and I noticed that. The way he received the ball and took it to goal to finish shows his personality. On his second move, the way he controlled with his left foot, turned around and didn't rush to shoot, are details that we noticed when he started training with us,” he revealed.
Amorim also commented on the fact that this result guaranteed Sporting CP a spot in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

“It is something that was down to us, and that no one can take away from us anymore. Even so, we have to beat Portimonense SC and that's all we have to think about,” he stressed, before explaining why Pedro Gonçalves took the second penalty, after Pablo Sarabia had converted the first. 

“They were the ones who made the switch. I could even have said it, because Pote needed a goal, but I didn't say anything. Nuno Santos also wanted to score, but they gave Pote the opportunity and that shows that they know each other well,” concluded the coach.

The coach is impressed by the reaction of his side against Boavista FC

After the 0-3 triumph over Boavista FC, Sporting Clube de Portugal coach Rúben Amorim analysed the performance and praised the response from his players.

"We were more like the team that we are used to being. We weren't that aggressive when we got into the box, but we had several balls in the first half that saw our three forwards facing up to the Boavista FC defence, and we created problems there. We got the opening goal in one of the few opportunities we had, but we were always in control of the game. We had another opportunity for Pablo [Sarabia] in the first period, and in the second half we controlled the game better, we found more space and we didn't let Boavista FC go on the attack," he began by telling journalists, before recognising that his team had some problems stopping Boavista FC's Gorré in the first half.

"[Gorré] created some difficulties for us, because he dropped back a lot to defend and when he had the ball he showed the ability to drive through, forcing Palhinha to help out in that space. In the second half that didn't happen, and we clearly controlled the game, created opportunities and the players who came on helped the team a lot: Manu [Ugarte] gave stability, Dani [Bragança] brought the quality he usually gives, just like Tabata, and [Rúben] Vinagre was very aggressive in looking for space."

 "The game went well, we gave few chances to Boavista FC, we created chances of our own and we were competent," summed up the coach.

Despite the slip-ups by FC Porto and SL Benfica on this matchday, Amorim said that he would stay true to his previous statements about the title fight.

"We knew it was very difficult and obviously it will be hard, but it's not worth thinking about the games in which we dropped points. It was good to get back to winning ways and move closer and closer to UEFA Champions League qualification, to keep our project going and focus on growth. I think that in the title race it doesn't change anything, but it's always good to cut the gap and the longer we keep things alive, the better for us," he underlined, adding: "We are there in the fight for second place and trying to delay the title being decided as much as possible."

Returning to his explanation of the game, Amorim emphasised his satisfaction with the team's adjustments.

"We were competent. When we have to defend, we all do it. We won and we didn't concede goals, so that was the response I expected after some bad times and everything that was said during the week. We focused on what we had to do, that's what we did and it's an excellent sign from the team."

He also passed comment on the performance of winter signing Marcus Edwards.

"Every time he has played, he has done very well. In the semifinal of the cup, he felt the rhythm of the game a lot and it was noticeable. I think he can give us much more, he knows that and he is still adapting to our way of working, but he is already approaching that. He was very good defensively too, in his pressing and covering spaces."

The coach looks ahead to the return from the international break

Returning to action after the international break, Sporting Clube de Portugal welcome FC Paços de Ferreira on Matchday 28 of the Liga Portugal season.

Coach Rúben Amorim gave a pre-match press conference ahead of the game, and began by commenting on the last two weeks of work and preparation.

"It was a good two weeks. We had players away with their national teams and we also didn't have the opportunity to see some of the kids, because they also went away with the youth national teams -which is a good sign. But we worked well, we had important players from the first team stay here, and that was good for them to get back to their routines and work well to prepare for this game."

"Since César [Peixoto] was appointed as Paços de Ferreira coach, they have picked up 22 or 23 points. They are a team full of confidence that come to Alvalade without any pressure. The pressure is all on us, and we have prepared the game in the best way. We know the difficulties we are going to have and we are prepared to win the game," he told journalists.

Asked whether second place is a given at this stage of the campaign, especially in the event of a victory over FC Paços de Ferreira this weekend, Amorim rejected the idea and reinforced that every match is important.

"We don't take anything for granted because we can drop points at any time. Our focus is on winning every game. We don't drop that many points and we are six points behind first place. FC Porto have dropped even fewer points than us and any game can make a difference. We are always alert, but we don't affirm anything if we don't win, nor do we guarantee anything if we win. We have to win every game if we want the title and we have to win our games to guarantee second place. When it's mathematically guaranteed, we can relax in that sense and just think about the top spot."

Regarding the players at risk of suspension due to the accumulation of yellow cards, Amorim assured that he will field those he considers best for the game.

"All of the players are prepared and I will not keep anyone in reserve. If someone gets a yellow card that takes them out of the next game, I have other players. This is the most important game. We will continue on this path, because we have confidence in the players."

Another of the topics addressed was that of the decision to extend the five substitutions rule, with Amorim revealing that he was in favour of the move.

"It used to be very traditional in that aspect, but I think it's very good for football to have five substitutions available. In terms of our management of the squad, it's also important to have five players who can participate in the game off the bench. I think the five substitutions should stay. It makes perfect sense."

Finally, the coach spoke about the signing of Fatawu Issahaku, an 18-year-old Ghanaian player: "He will, at least, take part in preseason in the summer with us. We believe in him a lot and we have called him up to train with the first team a few times. He has made an adaptation in the B team to grow physically and adapt to the club. We can see that he needs to learn tactical concepts, which is normal for a young player coming from a different kind of football. He has great talent, is very fast and shoots from different spots. He can improve a lot, but it is on him to get into the first team. In my mind, he is a first team player. We believe in him a lot and we did a great job to convince him to come here, knowing that many clubs wanted him."

Sporting CP vs. FC Paços de Ferreira takes place at 8:30pm local time this Sunday, April 3rd, at the Estádio José Alvalade.