The coach looks at the rescheduled Liga Portugal game

Rui Borges is looking "optimistically" at the final stretch of the season, despite all the difficulties that face Sporting CP is they are to defend their Liga Portugal title. In the press conference before the match against CD Tondela, which will be played this Wednesday, he fielded questions from the media.

The match against CD Tondela
"We have to focus and do everything to win the game, at home, against a team that need points and that, despite everything, have been quite bold in their strategy and have tried to gain more prominence in the game with their new coach,. They press very high at many points of the game, they leave themselves exposed in the process, and that boldness is praiseworthy. They’re a team that will give their all for the points, but we also have to do that because we need them. We need to win to match the points of the second-placed team.

We no longer have our fate in our hands, but we have to do our part. It’s a difficult game, with one team fighting for one objective, the other for another. Regardless of individual and collective quality, in those moments there is always an extra attitude, and we have to have it, especially in the mental aspect, which helps everything else: the physical aspect, the strategy. The players are aware of the responsibility and what we have to do: Have a good game to defeat CD Tondela.

The starting XI in Vila das Aves
"This goes far beyond choosing eleven to play. Choosing 'the best' side is relative. Against AVS Futebol SAD it was impossible to do that. This coach has a great connection with the players, and he listens to what they say, what they talk about, what they feel. At this stage, there's almost no strategy, it’s just about keeping them as fresh as possible. For this game, there were players who weren't able to contribute 100% for 60, 70, 80 minutes, and after some dialogue, those were the options.

But that's not why we didn't win. We did a lot, we did more than enough to win the game, but we didn't score. It had nothing to do with the coach's choices. The players are exhausted; no matter how much they want to play, their bodies don't respond in the same way. Therefore, throughout the last few games, the choices were always made collectively."

Mental fatigue’s impact on the decision
"The wear and tear is clearly physical, but predominantely mental. The mental aspect improves or worsens the physical side, and in that regard it has been enormous: the elimination from the UEFA Champions League, with the feeling that we could have made even more history, naturally affects the players. Immediately afterwards we had the game against SL Benfica, where one second we were about to be winning and the next we were losing. Feelings end up affecting the players, no matter how much we say they don't. Right after that we had to go to the Estádio do Dragão to fight to make a final, and the demands of the games have been huge. I don't like to talk about luck, as it has to do with random schedules, but we didn't have good fortune: we had four consecutive games of the highest level of demand, which pushed us to a mental and physical limit.”

His potential contract renewal
"I’m happy. I'm at a great club. These last few weeks, unfortunately, have taken us out of the fight for the third consecutive title. There's no escaping that, even if mathematically it's possible. But we stick with every decision until the end, and that's what dictates whether a job is good.

Above all, there's an everyday feeling of confidence. The path is well-defined, and everyone's work is very well done. We always want to win; unfortunately, we won't be able to, but then the responsibility will always fall on the coach, and I will never let the blame fall on my players. They have been fantastic, they have given everything, and they deserve all the praise."

Injuries throughout the season
"It's not a normal amount, of course. There are things we don't control. If we had had 18 muscle injuries, then yes, we would have to rethink all the work that is being done, but that's not what happened. At the beginning of the season, we had the Taça da Liga, Taça de Portugal, and league games where we managed to get everyone playing and rotate, but at the most important moment of the season we couldn't do that because we had very important players out, like Geovany Quenda, Fotis Ioannidis, and Pedro Gonçalves -players who provide more solutions and whom we lost for some time.

That's football. We couldn't control traumatic injuries, and we had all sorts of those. Muscle injuries always exist, at Sporting CP and at any team in the world. If we compare the numbers they're pretty much the same this season. Now, at this stage, we knew we ran the risk of having more muscle injuries, because the workload was enormous. In that aspect, we didn't have more injuries than other teams.

We had more trauma injuries, but we don't control them. It affected our squad management, of course -there's no escaping that. I’ll say it again: The players gave their all and there's no pointing the finger at them."

The January transfer window
"Sporting CP have a squad of 28 or 29 players, plus those on the B team. If at the beginning we had guessed that there would be ten players out, with injuries that we don't control, we would have done something about it, but there are things we don't know beforehand. We would have to have a squad of 50 players for that. Maybe that's what will happen in the future, as the demands of the schedule is surreal.

We had a balanced squad in all positions. It wasn't because of the January transfer window. We knew we could lose Alisson [Santos], we added two players with a perspective for the future, and with Matheus [Reis] it was a specific situation. We had players out injured for longer, which nobody expects."

Options for the game against CD Tondela
"Georgios Vagiannidis, Ousmane Diomande and Dani Bragança are doubts. That's three more players. They have some knocks. Ivan Fresneda, Fotis Ioannidis, Gonçalo Inácio and Morten Hjulmand are also out.

Regarding Nuno Santos, he returned to training the day before the game against AVS Futebol SAD and that's why we opted not to call him up. But he's well now and will be named in the squad."

Asking for 'extra' effort from players already at their limit
"They know they are at a demanding club. I'm very much about dialogue. The players know the importance they have on the team and what they represent in the dynamics and in the group. The team need them, and I'll give an example that is praise for Daniel [Bragança]:

At the Estádio do Dragão, he shouldn't even have come on. But he wanted to be with the team, in an important game, and he wanted to help. He came on hurt and played very well, and remained hurt against AVS Futebol SAD. He remains hurt for tomorrow. However, with his determination, he won me over in five minutes. I don't want to lose him, of course, because there's a month left in the season, he's already been out for a long time, and if he gets injured, he won't play again this season. But his feeling prevailed.

I'm very much in favour of honesty and respect. The players have the coach's respect, and the coach has theirs. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't. They are the best to assess this, as they perceive the signals from their own bodies. It's clear there's a lot of fatigue, but there's respect and recognition so they can also say if they can help the team and for how long they can do so."

Rotations against CD Tondela
"By tomorrow I will make decisions regarding the players who are most physically and mentally fatigued. The workload of players like Maxi [Araújo], Luis [Suárez] and [Francisco] Trincão has been crazy. Against AVS Futebol SAD, even coming on later, you could feel they weren't fresh."

How to motivate the group with these conditions
"By being optimistic and with a lot of confidence, always. My dialogue with them is always about demanding more, because they know where they are and the club they represent, they know the responsibility of fighting for every honour. We always have to give our best. From my side, it's about showing confidence, the same attitude, the will to keep winning and continuing on our path.

They, more than anyone, feel what happened, but they know that we have complete confidence. They are a great group, a great team. They haven't stopped being that. And they, more than anyone, always want to win; they know what it meant not to win that last game. So they are motivated and switched on.”