“The goal is to become a two-time champion”: Ruben Amorim on the reasons that prompted him to stay at Sporting

“The goal is to become a two-time champion.” In a short sentence, Ruben Amorim summed up his special feelings about the reasons that prompted him to continue working at Sporting and also outlined the goals he had set for the new season. On the eve of the start of the championship, the coach gave some more clarification on this topic. “Everything made me stay. There are also personal reasons that I don’t want to talk about. I stayed here, I like it here, because the club wants me and we can do what was done only 70 years ago.” However, he refused to call Sporting the favorite for the title. “I don’t believe it, but we have different responsibilities and everyone looks at Sporting differently. At the moment, it seems to me that everyone thinks there is a candidate here and that increases the responsibility. We will have to live with it.”

At the opening of Friday’s match against Rio Ave, which marks the start of the league, Ruben Amorim did not ignore the defeat in the Super Cup against Porto. And he admitted, albeit subconsciously, that this defeat and the way it happened did not help the preparations for the debut in the championship. “These have been very difficult days, perhaps the most difficult we have ever experienced. This defeat, we lost the title, but especially because of the situation itself. It is difficult to wake up and the first thing that comes to mind is the game. We will have to forget the result, the context and see what we need to improve,” said the coach after already “getting going” with today’s match against Rio Ave. “We are ready for the difficulty of the game. We want to defend the title and get back to it, become national champions.”

As for what might change in the team for this game, with the Super Cup as a basis, Amorim played in defence when asked about the reinforcements of Kovacevic and Debast. “I’m not going to say who will start, but the coach has full confidence in these players.”

AND

Giokeres “speaks Swedish”
Ruben Amorim denies arguing with Diokeres at the end of the game against Porto. “Nothing happened. Victor didn’t argue with his teammates. Sometimes he starts talking to himself in Swedish when he misses a goal, and that’s what happened.” He also assured that Trincao, who has been the subject of rumors, is fine.

Support for Nuno Santos
“Nuno Santos, despite the psychological depression, is recovering very well. I am not going to crucify my players. The situation was serious,” Amorim said.

Open market
“We have clearly defined goals and we do not give up until it becomes impossible. We want to improve the squad, but we have a team that can win the next game. Ioannidis? I did not name names. We will see,” Amorim said of the market.