By Melody Gross 
Luis Netto spoke this morning during a training period for Sporting in Lagos. The center says that the group cannot stick to what was achieved last season, and it must provide double the amount to achieve its goals.
“The message is that the rest of the last year is gone. This year we all started from scratch and it’s a whole new story. Nobody can hold on to what was done last year. If we do that, we won’t be successful. The message is that we all start from scratch and that a game One by one we can achieve our goals. We know we have a strong group and it is clear that what we did well last year can lead to this group,” he said.
“We achieved something unexpected last year, and now with the same players, with four or five more reinforcements, we have to have the mentality to raise the bar. We must double ourselves to put ourselves at a higher level and not believe that everything was perfect last year and that it is enough that We are national champions. We must defend, not the title, but what we made last year”, he continued, always with the peers of last season:
“At the group level, the kind of sympathy we had last year was very clear, which is often difficult to achieve. Things went well, and the group communicated very well, even in the most negative moments. It gives continuity, everyone knows each other and you don’t hesitate In pushing each other to demand more and more that’s what we’re going to do.”
At this point in the Algarve, Sporting had already played two preparatory matches, against Portimonense (2-2) and Belenenses SAD (2-1). “Everyone got a chance to play for 90 minutes and I think we did really well, despite some errors. But it did solidify processes that might have been forgotten somewhat over the holidays, but little by little, with the demand the manager is placing on us, We were working on more details. We have three more matches before SC Braga to improve our game system,” Neto considered, finished: “We still have three preparatory matches to go in. The group remains in the same spirit and with the same faith. We are laying the roots for a season that will be very difficult. We remain two centers.”