Roger Schmidt stressed this Friday that his role as Benfica’s soccer coach is to ensure that “what counts is Benfica” and that the team is prepared to “win the game” against Gil Vicente.
In the press conference prior to the game on the third day against Gil Vicente, the Benfica coach chose to remain oblivious to the usual ‘work’ corresponding to the last days of the transfer market, pointing out that his job consists of “being completely focused in the team “.
“Some agents want their players to leave to earn money, there is always a lot of confusion these weeks, but my role as Benfica’s coach is to be completely focused on the team, on what we have to do, and the only thing that counts.” is Benfica”, stressed the German coach at the Benfica Campus, in Seixal.
Roger Schmidt makes it clear that the only objective he has in mind is “to win tomorrow’s game (Saturday)” in Barcelos, and that his focus is on the “22 players and three goalkeepers” he commands, without expecting to undergo many squad changes with There are so few days left for the transfer market [o período de inscrições fecha dentro de uma semana].
“We have to win tomorrow’s game (Saturday) and the current situation of our team is that we have 22 players and three goalkeepers, which is fine, but it’s the minimum and we can’t lose many players, it’s impossible, especially a week before “. “The closing of the market. At the moment there is always something going on behind the scenes and some adjustments are still possible,” he acknowledged.
The coach addressed the current dispute over a position in the Benfica goal and played down the controversy created around the situation of goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, indicating that his position was simply “to be as honest as possible” with the Greek, as he intends be in any of their matches. his players, regardless of his position on the pitch.
“I try to be honest, very honest about my opinions about the players and the games. As honest as I can be, I don’t think I was in top form. It doesn’t matter what the position of the player is, whether he’s a goalkeeper , a midfielder, a center back or a forward, it is not a problem to talk about it. It was not a criticism of the person, but of what happened in the game, “he justified.
With Vlachodimos in the group, Roger Schmidt was satisfied with the quantity and quality of the players he has at his disposal and stressed that the usual “rumours” of the market and some usual noises during the week do not interfere with the preparation of the team.
“What I see at the moment is very good, I’m happy with them, with their qualities. There are always rumors and noise in the club, but not in our team,” said the German, who showed confidence in the entire squad. .
Without David Jurásek, who is recovering from an ankle ligament injury, Schmidt defended his choice to adapt midfielder Fredrik Aursnes to the left-back position, revealing that the player is used to playing that role as well.
“He [Aursnes] He is used to playing in attacking midfield, on the left side, and last season he rotated many times, and many times he was also responsible for the left-back position, not only attacking but also defending. He is already used to it and we had to make a decision,” explained the coach.
Roger Schmidt justified the choice of Aursnes for the left wing by the need to “find space” and have the ball in his possession to do so, which led to the entry of another midfielder.
“My choice that day was to have Fredrik there and another player in the attacking midfield. In these games we have a lot of possession of the ball and we have to find solutions and some more spaces, as we saw last week against Estrela da Amadora”, he concluded.
Benfica faces Gil Vicente, on Saturday, in a match for the third day of the First Football League, scheduled for 8:30 p.m., at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos, with the refereeing of João Pinheiro, from the Braga Football Association.
Source: TSF
