Manchester United acted decisively to appoint Ruben Amorim following the sacking of Erik ten Hag.
While Sporting did not want to let Ruben Amorim to leave the club mid-season, they were at least prepared for it. But even the best preparations are sometimes not good enough.
Sporting had readied themselves for Amorim’s eventual exit, preparing B team coach Joao Pereira to step into the role.
And already, Amorim’s huge impact on the Sporting squad has been underlined by the noticeable drop-off in form under his successor.
New Head Coach Joao Pereira of Sporting CP before the start of the Portuguese Cup match between Sporting CP and Amarante FC at Estadio Jose Alvalad...
Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images
Sporting on losing streak
Sporting won their opening game under Pereira 6-0 against lower league team Amarante in the Portuguese Cup.
Since then it has been alarmingly downhill, with Sporting losing three games in a row.
Sporting 1-5 Arsenal
Sporting 0-1 Santa Clara
Moireirense 2-1 Sporting
Sporting’s lead at the top of the Portuguese league has now been cut to two points, with second placed Benfica having a game in hand.
They are back in action this week in the Champions League against Club Brugges, away from home, looking to get back to winning ways.
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Joao Pereira discusses pressure
Ruben Amorim’s successor’s poor start has prompted some questions, following the three straight defeats.
And he was asked if he needs the three words every manager dreads, the ‘vote of confidence’ from the board.
Pereira denied this, quoted via Mais Futebol: “Would I have liked to have heard a vote of confidence? The biggest vote of confidence that the president, Viana and the board could have given me was to put me in this position. There could not have been a bigger vote of confidence than that.
“I feel pressure every day, but of course. When the board, the president and the sporting director choose a coach, they choose him to win. Everyone lives for victories and the more you win, the more peace of mind you have.
“After eleven consecutive victories and having three defeats, there is some apprehension, but the important thing is that we are all together and rowing in the same direction and no one abandons anyone else.”
Pereira’s success highlights the impact Ruben Amorim had at the club, with their results collapsing following his exit. This says more about the Manchester United head coach than it does Pereira, who has been put in a very difficult position.
It’s not just Pereira who has come on board either, with Amorim taking the majority of his Sporting coaching staff to Old Trafford along with him.
At the other end of the spectrum, Amorim is taking over a Manchester United side at the bottom, trying to scale the mountain, rather than Pereira’s situation, where he is trying desperately to stop Sporting from falling down it.
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