The Portuguese coach Rui Mota believes that Roger Schmidt wants to stay at Benfica. The 41-year-old Portuguese coach worked with the German in China, at the service of Beijing Guoan, a club where, he points out, Schmidt sought to put down roots and prepare for the future, without rushing to take the next step. in his career.
“Roger Schmidt has been at the clubs he has been with for more than one season on average, sometimes two or three. Since he is a competent, professional coach who gives results, he is always closer to continuing ”, explains Rui Mota.
This was the case at the beginning of the coach’s career, at modest Delbrücker SC (three seasons), Preussen Munster (three seasons), but also at Salzburg (two seasons), Bayer Leverkusen (two seasons), Beijing Guoan (three seasons) and at PSV, from the Netherlands, with two full seasons.
“The fact that he, last year [2021/2022]At PSV, having decided that he was at the end of his cycle -and even so, he closed the season with great sporting success, taking into account the context-, it was in the sense of looking at my career and taking a step forward.” That step it was announced even before the end of the season that ended with the victory in the Dutch Cup.
“Roger Schmidt is a coach with a well-defined plan, who knows the goals he can achieve. In this way, I think that the renewal that is being talked about so much is going to happen, but that will be something more towards the end of the season”, highlights the Portuguese Rui Mota.
The coach’s decision should only come after the titles have been won. “Going to Benfica was a step forward, but I think he is thirsty for titles. Being at Benfica, he has that possibility, both at a national level and in a Champions League, [pode] to reach, I’m not saying the title, but a quarterfinal, a semifinal, it’s in the fight for competition”.
In any case, the German coach likes to feel that he is bringing the clubs closer to success. “Roger Schmidt went from the bottom up, always looking for a step forward. Even his time in China -as it happened to me- was at a time when the big names in European and world football were attracted to that league, they were present there. At the time we also won the Chinese Cup, we were at the top of the championship, we managed to qualify for international competitions.”
The success and impact of Roger Schmidt’s football in Portugal does not surprise Rui Mota. “Even before I came to Benfica, in various conversations I had, I highlighted that he was a coach with a profile for the club. An attacking game profile, commitment to young players, playing well, goal difference also counts and Sometimes you have to win by more expressive numbers”, he emphasizes.
The seeds for the 2023/2024 season have been sown: “The coach’s day-to-day life is always complicated. There are punishments, injuries, signings. Even more so when we talk about a club in Portugal, which lives on player signings “Clubs have to be sellers. We are all aware that, in the reopening of the market, there are fundamental stones of the team that clubs are forced to sell. In the case of Benfica, there are already some pearls and some Europeans”. the clubs, at the end of the season, can go ahead with the proposals. Roger Schmidt and Benfica will have to think about the substitutes, not only on the outside, but also on the inside.”
The same regarding the way the team plays, it presents itself on the field in front of the opponents. “In what I observed, in close collaboration with Roger Schmidt, there were always several shades for the different games. It was also a very flexible team, with players who, like Benfica, could play in various positions and, with their characteristics, the game soon gained other dynamics. But they also work with youngsters, who are frequently called up to training, to the squads and with opportunities in the first team.”
Since the last season at PSV there were doubts about how the team was physically prepared, with the appearance of various injuries throughout the season. Something that did not happen this year at Benfica.
“The German school tends to be more physical. When I say more physical, I mean a more direct work with these themes. In Portugal, using various types of exercises that we work on at a certain moment in the game, the physical part is also present. In the case of the German school, Roger Schmidt and the physical trainers with whom I worked, we are talking about very competent people, with very defined ideas. The players are giving a very capable response.”
And this answer is also explained by the sequence of good results. “It is logical that the mental issue cannot be separated from the physical one: when we are winning, the issue of fatigue disappears. This is what is happening with Benfica, as the team wins, the team has a lot of confidence, but when you win, the fatigue eases”, points out Rui Mota.
Source: TSF
