A BOLA – “Even without Paulinho we had a connection” (Sporting)

In the post-match press conference with Boavista, Ruben Amorim individually analyzed some of the featured players in the match.

Without Paulinho, who is infected with the Covid-19 virus, it was Spaniard Pablo Sarabia who took the central position in the offensive trident, while Nuno Santos and Bruno Tabata explained the options that the Lions coach made clear according to the approved strategy: “These are the issues. That depends on the opponent in front of us. We wanted to give a player deeper into Javi García’s squad, because we knew they wouldn’t rise that much to keep up. Tabata played a great game for Ajax, but if they played today they would be three very similar players, who would like to have a lot of the ball on their toes. The idea was to pick a side. Looking to the right, I would probably have played TT [Tiago Tomás]. When we won it went well and I think it went well at the start of the second half, in goal and in assist. It has nothing to do with income. No No [Santos] They did not have such a successful match with Ajax, as Tabata did, but it depends on the characteristics of the opponents. When Tabata came, he came as usual, he deserves more minutes.”

The coach was satisfied with the team’s performance and the bonding displayed, despite the lack of the usual offensive reference: «We could have had longer possessions, because sometimes the build-up of the game had to be slower, but we had a connection, with Sarabia and the receipt of Pedro Gonçalves between the lines. Sometimes we played a more direct game because of the pressure from Boavista, but we have to give credit to the players, who are smart and know how to cope, they know that if they put more pressure on us, they go into space. So, even without Paulinho, we had a connection, because we had two players, Pedro Gonçalves and Sarabia, who do it well.”

Using Nazinho, on his first appearance with the team, was a question explained by Ruben Amorim: “Playing depends on Nazinho and depends on the opponent. It’s in his hands. Kids can start in the champions, in the league or not play. It depends on their income. Defensively, it was Very focused and attacking and he’s already shown a little more than that. I’ve already played a little bit against Ajax, but there’s always Stress Nearby and no matter how much the coach says, there is always tension.”