Sporting managed to win 3-2 against Boavista at the weekend. Even though the Lions put an end to the four-match losing streak, the victory against the Panteras Negras was not convincing at all.
José Ricardo Leite lists half a dozen crucial mistakes made by João Pereira, which combined are making the fight to retain the league title way more difficult for Sporting than it should be.
The first mistake can be found before the game started. Warmup exercises are very different when in comparison with Amorim. One of the main problems has been scoring goals. In warmup we are able to see that they are still “training” playing processes. However, they do not warmup their shooting. This might mean two things: or João Pereira is very confident in the teams’ ability of scoring goals or he doesn’t trust the team to embrace his ideas of playing the game.
Quenda playing as a winger. Not even as a right winger, but a left winger, a position where the wonderkid has never played in his short career. Quenda has been phenomenal playing as a false fullback on the right. Amorim valued the diamond of Alcochete’s way of dribbling through the inside, allowing Gyökeres to explore areas deep in attack. Putting Quenda on the left wing is the same as having Cristiano Ronaldo and putting him on defence because he is very tall. It doesn’t make sense.
João Pereira has promised to “put his fingerprint” on the Amorim system, meaning that he has his own ideas. However, changing the players means changing the dynamics of play, because not all players are the same. The sudden promotion of Marcus Edwards in João Pereira’s first games in charge is the prime example. Edwards has been struggling for form for months and barely got a look-in this season under Amorim, albeit also due to injury. Making him a starter against Arsenal and Santa Clara, Sporting’s first two serious games under Pereira, had predictably bad results.
Also, in the Champions League match against Brugges, the first substitution that João Pereira made was Esgaio coming on. Esgaio is no longer the player that he used to be at Braga and he does not hold up to the responsibility when he goes on the pitch. Instead of gambling on players like Esgaio to deliver in such difficult conditions, João Pereira should gamble on young talent with thirst of playing and feeling much less pressure than the “holy cows” in Sporting.
Francisco Trincão and Geovany Quenda play open as well as Maxi Araujo. Geny Catamo plays a more versatile game. Sometimes and only when Catamo is too far up Trincão goes between the lines. That affects not only the offensive process, but the high-pressure system set up by the coach. The space in the middle is enormous and it allows teams such as Boavista, Santa Clara and Moreirense (teams who play with three midfielders) to go past the first line of pressure and activate the counter attack. The two goals scored by the Panteras Negras were from counter-attack plays. That alone should be a warning for João Pereira. However, not only in this game was it an evident problem. The goal conceded against Santa Clara was also from a counter attack, where the players in midfield always felt a bit lost as regards the ideas of the coach.
Offensively, Sporting also has a Swedish “problem” called Viktor Gyökeres. Of course, Gyökeres is able to solve games for Sporting on his own. However, he needs to be given the platform to put his abilities to best use, such as his speed and his physicality. Well, his physicality is always there, however, his speed has been missing in the first few games under the command of João Pereira. This problem has to do with the previous point in the list. With the overflow of play on the wings, Gyökeres feels obligated to play inside, as a “stay in box” kind of striker. That takes half of Gyökeres’ game away. If Gyökeres cannot exploit the deep spaces in attack on the flanks, Sporting often can’t create danger through counter-attacks or long balls. This is pure stubbornness from the coach, who seems set on the idea that a striker should be a menace inside the box. That is right, of course, but a good manager always adapts his ideas in order to get the best results possible taking into account the main assets of each player. Sometimes, that means that you should put your main idea aside and explore the best that you have in your team. And your best is Gyökeres.
How often have we seen Sporting slow the rhythm of play under Pereira, especially when they have an advantage? This has happened far too often. João Pereira, after losing to Santa Clara, adopted a tactic that he often used when coaching Sporting B: playing like a small team when holding a lead. Sporting are not a small team in 90% of the games that are played during the Primeira Liga season. Of course, it might happen on occasion for numerous reasons. But Sporting were ahead against Boavista three times. Each of those times, Sporting were closer to conceding an equaliser than to extending their lead. The were pegged back twice and Boavista threatened to snatch a point at Alvalade. Amorim used to value passive possession, because that meant that you had the control of the match. However, when you give the ball to the opposition, you are more likely to suffer. This is football 101.
João Pereira has a lot in common with Ruben Amorim. There is less than a year in difference in their ages, both are Lisbon born, spent most of their playing careers in the Portuguese capital, and went on to represent their country at the highest level. For now though, the difference in reputations in terms of their coaching ability could not be bigger.
I do believe that João Pereira is a talented manager. But he was thrown to the wolves and the Sporting president Frederico Varandas did him no favours by stating during his presentation that “in 3 or 4 years the top teams in Europe will be lining up to contract João Pereira.” Pereira may yet become a successful manager, but he needs to learn fast from his missteps and make the best of the excellent squad available to him.
