Long into this very week, Sporting fans will be nursing the headache caused by Wednesday night’s officiating in their 2-1 loss away to Vitória de Setúbal, subsequently costing them a spot in the Taça CTT semi-finals.
With FC Porto also co-owning such pain, referees are sure to claim their fair share of ink in dedicated papers, not to mention the routine airtime already afforded to the men in the middle.
Both Sporting’s and Porto’s hierarchy are sure to lead the very public inquest into the competence pf refereeing and their reasons for doing so are obvious.
Nobody wants to lose in ways they cannot control, even more so when it results in elimination, but the Lions should also be wise enough to recognise their problems extend beyond the point of unfair officiating.
The limelight drawn by referees this week will only serve as a smokescreen as to why Sporting found themselves in such a precarious position at the Estádio do Bonfim in the first place. Poor displays were previously mimicked at the hands of Rio Ave, Vitória de Guimarães, Sporting de Braga, Tondela and Legia Warsaw, as the concerns over the Lions’ squad depth grow no end.
Cruel Summer
As with any misfiring project, it’s important to trace its steps, in this case going back to the summer of 2016, as Sporting aimed to replicate what can only be considered title-winning form from the previous season.
Such is the reality of Portuguese football, however, the Lisbon outfit have had to cope with the natural order of regression in the form of selling key players – a rebuilding process that’s often easier to draw up than to actually conduct.
Negotiations in the summer saw the sale of João Mário to Inter Milan reserved for the final weeks of the transfer window, as Islam Slimani followed suit in his deadline day switch to Leicester City - two necessary, but also potentially dangerous sales should the club allow them to be.
Slimani claimed a large chunk of the goals scored (31) by Sporting last season, whereas João Mário took up a pivotal role in the fluid 4-4-2 formation Jorge Jesus swears by, and so the mission of recruiting players with a means to not only replace former stars, but also hand the team that extra edge in light of UEFA Champions League qualification, had to be spot on.
It wasn’t.
The Ins
Typically, shopping commenced early in Lisbon, as Lukas Spalvis, Alan Ruiz and Radosav Petrovic arrived in July to strengthen the Lisbon giants. The latter promised very little throughout pre-season and, subsequently, has featured just three times in the current campaign.
A serious injury robbed Spalvis of the time to represent his new club in the first half of the season, whereas Ruiz, with 11 appearances behind him, has provided positive flashes, but the general consensus leaves him some way short of cracking the first team.
More arrivals came by the truckload, as it became clearer that Sporting were to relinquish control over Slimani and João Mário, subsequently landing Bas Dost, Corinthians duo Elias and André Felipe, Luc Castaignos, Douglas, Marcelo Meli, Beto, Joel Campbell and Lazar Markovic.
Unfortunately for the recruitment team, however, who set up the belief that the Lions could go all-out on multiple fronts with the squad assembled, only Campbell and Dost have performed consistently to a respectable standard, and even then their effectiveness pales in comparison to Slimani and João Mário within the specific remits of Jesus’ 4-4-2.
While their closest rivals, Benfica and Porto, both have clearer ideas as to what their strongest XI might be, with adequate back-up, Sporting have taken considerably longer to not only realise who fits last season’s recipe for success best, but also that their cord is simply too short.
Solutions, Solutions
The pressure is now building in the green half of Lisbon. Room for error is at an all-time low with regards to chasing the evasive league title, attached at the hip by Jesus’ reputation among a starving fan base. Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho will also be feeling that heat, knowing of the existence of those preying on any perceived mistake ahead of March’s elections for club presidency. ‘Os Leões’ need a consistent stream of results, and sharpish.
A deep clean might well be required to get Sporting firing again, but the January transfer window can only go so far. Short-term, it appears a temporary shift away from Jesus’ famed 4-4-2 could be in order. Some of the best work in green and white has originated from the flanks, specifically from Gelson Martins and Campbell, so it’s only right they form part of the main focus in a recalibrated squad.
In compensating for João Mário’s work ethic roaming inwards from wide areas, three central midfielders, as opposed to two, would also be advisable. The key issue here for Sporting is that outside Adrien Silva and William Carvalho, nobody else has managed to fill their shoes adequately, subsequently leaving Jesus’ men an injury away from potential disaster.
Additionally, fatigue has compromised the effectiveness of both Adrien and William after a long summer of football, concerns met by Bryan Ruiz and his uncharacteristically below-par form of late. With cover failing to live up to habitual standards, an extra body or two in exchange for another pair going in the opposite direction would be welcome throughout January.
A problematic full back scenario is as synonymous with a Jesus side as it is existent in Sporting’s current set-up, but with João Pereira moving to Trabzonspor early in the window, a gap has opened up for the Green and Whites to at least solve one half of an issue that has proved to be their Achilles heel on many occasions.
But the aforementioned changes only scratch the surface on a team that has, to date, conveyed the image of being flawed. Complaints from Wednesday should not obscure the fact that an uninspired Sporting XI were 1-0 down against Setúbal for 60 minutes without any real response. It’s important for the Lions not to lose sight of that, amidst all the furore, while there’s still time to right the wrongs made over the summer.
By Patrick Ribeiro
