Just four root centrals in the squad of a team that always plays with a defensive line of three is a weakness identified since the closing of the summer market, which immediately left Sporting’s administration awake to business opportunities. However, alarms went off in Alvalade after the rout (1-5) with Ajax, a game in which the captain and boss of the Sporting defense, Coates, was absent for punishment and in which Gonçalo Inácio left (21′) injured, with these weaknesses to stay out in the open. Therefore, the opportunity became a business necessity for the entry of a defensive reinforcement for Rúben Amorim’s squad into the winter market. Until then, whenever necessary, alternatives must be found within the group or with young people in formation.
Gonçalo Inácio, 20 years old; Coates, 30; Feddal, 32; Luís Neto, 33. These are the four root central defenders of Sporting’s A squad. Coates’ punishment match in the 1st round of the Champions League, as well as Inácio’s injury, revealed the scarcity of options for the position, with Ricardo Esgaio’s call to fill the 25 jersey’s departure. – Matheus Reis is the other option, but he is not central either, having played in the second half but on the left wing, replacing Vinagre.
The acquisition of yet another central defender is a possibility that has already come from the past season, but which has been left behind, because the financial difficulties force them to make options in the market and these have been reinforced by other sectors. The summer window closed on August 31st and the fragility, identified for a long time, immediately left the lions on the alert for business opportunities that would allow them to hire another center in the winter market, which opens in January 2022. Yesterday’s exhibition downstream and the problems of building the defensive trio for the upstream Ajax game end up making the opportunity pass the need.
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