THEDespite yet another defeat and being nine points behind leader FC Porto, Rui Borges is not losing hope in the fight for the title, believing that Sporting can still turn it around. In a press conference, after the defeat against Académico de Viseu, on Sunday night, the Lions’ coach avoided questions about the future and feels his place is at risk, pointing to… Monday’s training.
“I’m focused on training tomorrow (Monday) because I have a game on Tuesday. Dissatisfaction is natural, I understand it, but I deal with it well”, Rui Borges began by saying, repeating the guarantee shortly afterwards.
“I’m going to train tomorrow at 11:30 am because there’s a game on Tuesday. And I always believe. That’s why I arrived at Sporting”, he stressed.
Asked if he still feels like a solution at Sporting, Rui Borges highlighted again that he is focused on working.
“That’s what brought me to Sporting. That’s what I focus a lot on, always working. There will be good phases, less good phases. It’s part of everyone’s life”, he highlighted.
“The game wasn’t very well managed. It wasn’t a lack of energy. It was just a lack of finishing ability. Unfortunately we are 9 points behind, we didn’t want to be. We haven’t been able to emerge victorious in some games. A team like Sporting is obviously not satisfied with being nine points behind the championship leader”, he said.
Rui Borges admitted, even so, that the disadvantageous situation left the Sporting team uneasy and gave credit to Académico for taking advantage of the situations he had.
“Unrest above all. We entered the game in which Académico came to defend and then came out on the counterattack. We knew that he was dangerous with long balls to be vertical. In the only approach he made it 1-0 and left the team uneasy. Naturally, due to the less successful game in the Champions League, because in the last home game we drew in the championship. Two results that created distrust, uneasiness in decision-making in the last third. The team was abusing the side corridors, which was what we wanted and had worked on. We knew that in central areas they would be very closed. We tried several approaches. Sometimes with the opponent’s merit in being able to defend, other times with our disadvantage. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to make it 2-2”, he lamented.
The Sporting coach also denied that the players had underestimated the Viseu team, saying that uneasiness had a huge impact on the outcome of the match.
“Clearly not. That wasn’t the case today. Some natural uneasiness, understandable. What I can do is try to be calm as much as possible, whether on a daily basis or in training. That’s what we tried to do. As the game progressed, goals we weren’t expecting, less positive results in Alvalade, it was natural that uneasiness would appear and not allow us to make the best decisions”, concluded Rui Borges.
