Arthur Jorge stresses the importance of victory after results ‘that left a dent’

Coach Artur Jorge emphasized this Saturday the importance of Sporting Braga’s victory over Farense on Sunday at home in the 22nd round of the I Football League, after two very difficult negative results.

Braga lost 5-0 to Sporting Lisbon in the previous round and lost badly again, this time at home, to Azerbaijan’s Qarabag 4-2 on Thursday in the first hand of the playoffs. for access to the 1/8 finals of the Europa League.

Stressing that this is “not just a response” to recent poor results, the team “need to win this game” to “increase confidence levels.”

“Results leave a dent and it takes two good wins in a row to help the team get back to where they were a while ago because the manager hasn’t changed and neither have the players,” he said in a match preview. match with Algarve.

The coach was asked about Alvaro Djalo, who has not yet returned to the level he showed before the injury, and Arthur Jorge acknowledges a less successful period for the Spanish striker, saying that the player himself and his colleagues feel the same.

“It is undeniable and he is able to admit it, I tried to understand what was happening to him. Players first are very demanding of themselves, and some are more demanding than others and are more critical of themselves. He understands this perfectly. that he is not the same Alvaro since he came back from injury, he has already played seven or eight games and it is not a lack of rhythm or fitness,” he said.

The coach said: “I tried to understand with him whether it was because he was sold [o clube] A or B, if it’s because the market is already over, and if his mind is still here, completely compromised. The drop in performance is even more obvious, and in addition to him and the coach, his colleagues themselves feel it, that he can give more than he gives, because in fact he has improved little,” he said.

As for Ronny Lopez, the AA international who arrived in Braga this season and has played little, the coach simply stressed that “options are always made based on performance in training and bets on who trains, who fights, who scores.” efforts and those who want to be part of the first options, for me this fairness is non-negotiable,” he said.

There were three players left on the winter market (Castro, Andre Horta and Al Musrati) and the team was still without Niacate and Banza for about a month and a half due to participation in CAN2023, with only one player joining on loan, young midfielder Cher Ndour Arthur Jorge today revealed that the club tried to sign a striker “but couldn’t find the one they wanted”.

When asked whether these decisions were made by the management led by Antonio Salvador or also by Artur Jorge, the coach confirmed that he was involved in them.

“It will never just be the president’s decision, everything that is done here is for the common good, and there is the person who makes the final decision, the president, but I am also part of the table where these issues are discussed, I also include myself in the decisions. Feeling a loss of investment in the squad? It’s important to understand the context and environment we’re in to understand why more players left than came, but that doesn’t justify anything, especially the results,” he said.

The coach hinted at the team’s concerns after Thursday’s defeat, given that personal qualities are more important than the age of the players today.

“Because anxiety is not justified by maturity. Could you remember [jogadores como] Victor Gomez, Niacate, Vitor Carvalho, Zalazar, Abel Ruiz or Alvaro Djalo. The fact that there are several experienced players does not mean that there is not some emotional imbalance, because, for example, Abel Ruiz’s performance in January when Bansa was not here, don’t tell me that this is due to a lack of quality, it is because that emotionally he was worried because he is a player who has much more quality than he gave. Security has more to do with personality than maturity or age. I may have a 30- or 40-year-old player who is showing some instability,” he said.

Captain Ricardo Horta, who missed the European game due to injury, remains in doubt, although he was already on the field with the team today.

“We have 24 hours to make a decision, but we understand that we do not want this to compromise Ricardo. [Horta] for the next games,” he said.

Adrian Marin and Bruma remain injured.

Sporting Braga, in fifth place, with 40 points (and one game less than Vitoria de Guimarães, in fourth place), and Farense, in eighth place, with 30 points, will face each other on Sunday, starting from 20:30, at the Municipal Stadium of Braga. In a game that will be refereed by Andre Narciso from the Setúbal Association.