Roger Schmidt took issue with President Rui Costa’s criticism of Enzo Fernández and even thanked the Argentine’s way of representing Benfica before moving to Chelsea in a record move. When asked if Enzo was ungrateful to Luz’s club, the coach replied: “I think a lot has been said about that. I’ve always had a good relationship with him, I appreciate the way he played for Benfica. The last few days I have not been involved in any negotiations. This issue is closed. We wish him well at Chelsea, but my focus is on the players here.”
Without Enzo, who plays his part in the game with Casa Pia? Chiquinho? “We will play with the same formation, two players in the center of the midfield and we have five options. Then it will depend on the opponent and the way of playing, we can find the best solution for each game.” In my opinion, Chiquinho has developed very well in this position in recent months. He started to play more forward, but at some point he fell back a bit more and he feels very comfortable. He is very good with the ball at his feet and runs a lot, just like Florentino. We have these options and that’s why they played, but as I said we have other options to compensate for Enzo’s departure,” the red coach replied today, looking ahead to the match of the 19th round of the I Liga (Saturday 6 p.m. BTV ).
Despite Enzo’s departure on the last day of the winter market, Benfica did not go to market to sign a replacement. “The group has always been extraordinary. A lot of players didn’t get the chance to play. Our aim was to have a more compact squad so that everyone had a chance. Enzo’s departure came unexpectedly, but the decision was to take it at that. to leave.” On the last day of the market, it’s hard to make a move quickly, and if you do, it needs to be a player of unequivocal quality. The players we have for that position are top notch, João Neves is developing very well and can be used for the future. I also pay attention to the young people in the youth team, so that they have more space to train with us and have their first contacts with the first team. This was our decision and I am convinced it was the right one. We want to be champions with the players we have,” the German defended.
After three games in a row away from home, Benfica returns to Estádio da Luz today and the opponent is the surprise of the championship. “At the beginning of the season we won 1-0 against Casa Pia and it was a very difficult game. We played in front of a house full of our supporters, but it was difficult to win. You immediately get an idea of how difficult it’s to play against them they confirm this performance with good performances they are organized defend very well don’t give much space to their opponents they deserve to be in the position they occupy we have against some teams played with that approach and tomorrow we will do it again. I expect a difficult game, but we are fine, confident, happy to play at home and we want to play a good game to take the three points”.
The options for the attack are many, but Schmidt admitted that “it’s easier” to manage with 21 than with 37: “On Tuesday we didn’t have Rafa, Gonçalo Ramos, Draxler, and yet we came in with a good initial 11. When you play football in different leagues you need options all players deserve to play and experience tells me it’s good that there is competition to push players to their limits the starting line-ups are under pressure as there are players who also wants to enter the 11, it’s good for us.”
With five games on the schedule, the Benfica coach knows he has to manage, but it is still too early to point to the use of reinforcements Tengstedt and Schjelderup. “We’ve played League, Cup and Champions League. We’ve been working with them for the last few weeks. They can’t be 100% at the moment, but they’re much better than when they arrived. “I’ve gotten used to their teammates and they will have opportunities in the near future. It’s my job to make sure they’re ready to play when the time comes and that’s what we do. We want them to be in shape for when they play,” said the Benfica coach.
Source: DN
