I’m back with another chapter of my Sporting CP story… and things aren’t going too well. While it hasn’t quite been 84 years since the Leões scored before half-time, we haven’t exactly given our fans much joy in the opening stages of this season.
In case you missed it, you can revisit Part 2 using the link provided. There, I go into more detail about our results from the past two months – including our historically bad record at starting matches.
Today’s post will recap our results on October and November, where the focus is mainly on the Europa League. We start off by travelling to Vienna for the second time in less than two months. Maybe Thursday night football will mean at least something to our opponents?
AUSTRIA WIEN vs SPORTING (Europa League – Group C, Match 2)
When we battled past Austria Wien in the Champions League qualifiers, our usual 4-3-3 system really struggled to break through their low block. With more teams using similar defensive tactics against us and frustrating our attackers, I decided it was time to do something about it.
I often have to resort to a 4-4-effing-2 at some point in my Fuller FM stories. While I’m not quite that desperate yet, this 4-2-4 is certainly a far cry from vertical tiki-taka. Perhaps a more direct approach would be the key to bulldozing the Viennese defensive wall…
Oh yes, boys! That’s more like it! We broke our first-half hoodoo in just the fifth minute, as frontman Pedro Mendes looped a deep header into the net after Ivan Petryak‘s corner was weakly cleared.
The second member of our new front two would also get on the scoresheet before long. Andraz Sporar made no mistake from the penalty spot after Austria Wien midfielder Juan Domínguez made the very big mistake of wiping out our left-back Kévin Rodrigues in the area.
We carried a 2-0 lead into the break, and that should’ve been that… until Eray Cömert lost his head five minutes after the restart. The Swiss centre-half’s studs-in challenge on Christoph Monschein in the centre-circle might’ve stopped a Viennese counter-attack in its tracks, but it also earned him a straight red.
Going a man up gave Austria Wien the incentive to finally come out of their box and give us a proper game. When forward Andreas Weimann – a familiar name to many English football fans – narrowly beat Luís Maximiano on the hour mark, the travelling Sporting fans started to get a bit anxious.
Thankfully, our hosts never troubled us again, and we recorded a second straight Europa League win. Our next game three weeks later would be at home to 2nd-placed FC Midtjylland, who scored late on to draw 1-1 at Krasnodar.
TONDELA vs SPORTING (Taça da Liga – Round 3 Group C, Match 2)
You may remember that Luciano Vietto made an explosive start to our first Taça da Liga match at Vitória de Guimarães. The winger also did that at Tondela, but instead of pole-axing an opponent after two minutes, he powered in a cross from left-back Marcos Acuña after four.
And that was basically the only real highlight from an otherwise poor game. Several Sporting players missed chances to double our lead, including 17-year-old winger Joelson Fernandes, who looked rusty on his first outing after breaking his ankle in pre-season.
Those misses didn’t matter, mind. Tondela didn’t cause Acuña or the rest of our defence any real problems as we beat them 1-0 at the Estádio do Fontelo for the second Sunday in a row.
We now had two narrow wins on the board, which was two more than our Group C rivals had between them. That saw us become the first team through to the Taça da Liga’s finals week in mid-January.
Two weeks later, following an international break, we looked to make progress in that other domestic cup competition. For Round 3 of the Taça de Portugal, we had been drawn away to a team who played in red, had a golden eagle on their logo… and were named Benfica.
SPORTING vs BENFICA CB (Taça de Portugal – Round 3)
That’s Benfica de Castelo Branco – from the third tier – but we might as well have played our all-conquering Lisbon arch-rivals, as tough as we made this match look! Seriously, HOW THE HELL did it take us TWO HOURS to score against a bloody semi-pro team?!
Despite dominating possession and having 36 shots at goal, we were incredibly ineffective at troubling Benfica CB’s goalkeeper André Caio. Ten of the 15 saves – yes, FIFTEEN saves – he made were simple catches. At times, it felt like we weren’t even trying!
To be fair, our attacks were also regularly disrupted by some industrial defending from our hosts, who gave away 34 fouls, yet only had one player booked. Even so, their gameplan clearly worked, as they took us into extra-time. They would even have forced penalties had Acuña not banged in a cross from 18-year-old midfielder Gonçalo Batalha in the final minute.
Our reward – as if we deserved one – was to visit LigaPro side Leixões in Round 4. But having made such a big deal of such small opponents, how would we fare in our next Europa League game against Midget Land?
SPORTING vs FC MIDTJYLLAND (Europa League – Group C, Match 3)
Slightly better, but those little Danes were great at punishing any defensive errors. We certainly looked in a sorry state on 13 minutes, when Sory Kaba’s flick-on from Evander’s free-kick was powered home by defender Alexander Scholz to give Midtjylland the lead.
Our response came within four minutes, as on-loan playmaker Reinier got his first Sporting assist for setting up a delicate curling finish for Luiz Phellype. Our big Brazilian forward scored again in the 34th minute, stabbing in the rebound after Sebastián Coates‘ header had hit the bar.
However, we wouldn’t take a 2-1 advantage into the break. Instead, Rodrigues’ trip on Lasse Vibe allowed Evander to equalise with a swerving direct free-kick – a real sucker punch that his boxer namesake Holyfield would’ve been proud of.
The Wolves dealt the knockout blow in the 66th minute, as Rodrigues left former Brentford striker Vibe too much space. The 33-year-old received the ball from young Nigeria midfielder Frank Onyeka and then unleashed a 20-yard rocket that effectively sealed my first Europa League defeat as Sporting boss.
Midtjylland now led Group C on seven points – one ahead of us. Krasnodar were now breathing down our necks in 3rd, with a 4-0 thrashing of Austria Wien leaving them just two behind.
FAMALICÃO vs SPORTING (Primeira Liga – Match 9)
After his struggles against Midtjylland, things didn’t get any better for Rodrigues at Famalicão. In the 10th minute, our left-back upended the hosts’ right-back Dimitri Foulquier in our box, and the penalty was smashed home by Peru midfielder Wilder Cartagena.
Speaking of ‘wilder’, that was just how you would describe Famalicão centre-back Jorge Segura’s two-footed challenge on Rodrigues in the 34th minute. The Colombian was given his marching orders, and we were given a lifeline.
Five minutes after the sending-off, we were back level. Luiz Phellype’s header from Zeki Çelik‘s right-wing cross might have been blocked by David Carmo, but he made sure to bury the follow-up and score his first league goal this season!
The second half proved frustrating for our attackers, as a number of saves from Famalicão’s goalkeeper Jed Steer (eh?!) kept the scores level. Though the hosts had made a shaky start to this season and lacked the confidence to really go for victory, a draw was perhaps a decent result in the circumstances.
SPORTING vs BELENENSES SAD (Primeira Liga – Match 10)
But a draw was NOT acceptable here, at home to a Belenenses SAD outfit who barely avoided relegation last season. It was yet another of those games where we dominated our opponents, yet weren’t clinical enough to take all three points.
As ever, Acuña’s deliveries from left-back gave the visitors a few headaches, but our attackers were far from their best. In fairness, Luiz Phellype was genuinely unlucky with some of his shots. On the other hand, Sporar offered very little after coming on to partner Big Phil up front.
Meanwhile on the right wing, Cabral had two clear-cut chances early in the second half. One of them saved by Cláudio Ramo, whose 7.1 match rating was world-class for a goalkeeper on FM20. The other was halted by a last-ditch tackle from defender Gonçalo Silva, who bruised his shin in the process.
21 shots on goal, 10 on target, 59% possession – no goals. It felt like I’d tried everything in my playbook to get this Sporting team firing again, yet NOTHING was working.
Benfica and Braga were nine points ahead of us as we rolled into November, with the unbeaten Ávilas holding a game in hand. Porto were also above us in the standings, despite having a few struggles of their own. We simply couldn’t allow them to pull clear as well.
FC MIDTJYLLAND vs SPORTING (Europa League – Group C, Match 4)
Alright, Christopher. No more messing with tactics and throwing ideas at the wall in the hope that something sticks. It’s time to properly rebuild the 4-3-3.
One of the big changes I made was to pull our line of engagement back a bit, which I find helps sort things out when there’s a disconnect between your defensive, midfield and attacking players. I’ve also turned off more urgent press for the team, and instead set individual instructions for the the front five players to press more than the back five.
The defensive midfielder is now a half-back, which allows him to form a front three with the central defenders while our wing-backs bomb forward. I’ve also shifted our attacking advanced playmaker towards the right of midfield, and put the BBM on the left, so that our left side isn’t too vulnerable to counter-attacks.
Now, if THAT doesn’t work, then I’ll probably sign Valentin Eysseric and Lee Angol in January, because I’m genuinely out of ideas!
The early signs at Midtjylland were promising. We played much more fluid football in the first half of his match and created several good scoring chances, but were perhaps unlucky not to have converted any of them.
That said, we went into the break trailing 1-0. Vibe had put the Wolves ahead after 20 minutes with a far-post header from Marc Dal Hande’s left-wing cross, putting our Europa League campaign in serious peril.
The turning point came six minutes into the second period. Our defence dealt with one of Evander’s free-kicks before Luiz Phellype pumped the ball long to our lone man in the Midtjylland half. Petryak chested the ball and then dribbled past right-back Joel Andersson before cutting a low finish into the far corner.
It had been a difficult start to life at Sporting for our Ukrainian inside-forward, but this would very much be Ivan’s day. 20 minutes later, after collecting a square ball from Rodrigues, he smashed in a second goal from a somewhat difficult angle.
Unlike the last time we took a 2-1 lead against Midtjylland, there would be no fightback from our Danish opponents, who indeed did well to keep the score down late on. We had retaken control of Group C, and with 3rd-placed Krasnodar having drawn 1-1 at Austria Wien, we knew that a draw in Russia would see us through with time to spare.
BOAVISTA vs SPORTING (Primeira Liga – Match 11)
Our retweaked tactics got their first league airing at mid-table Boavista, who were blown away in the first half. Half-back João Palhinha opened the scoring on 18 minutes, though he needed a couple of attempts to get the ball past goalkeeper João Gonçalves and break his Leões duck.
Five minutes later, we went 2-0 up in breathtaking fashion. After successive one-touch passes from Palhinha, Reinier and Sporar, the ball came towards Wendel, who instantly rocketed it in off the woodwork from about 30 yards out! It had been a while since we had one of our typical Sporting screamers!
Reinier was dictating the midfield, and by the half-hour, he had made it 3-0 with a delightful assist. After the 18-year-old’s direct ball found Sporar through a channel, the Slovenian broke free of the last defender and carved in a low finish.
All Reinier’s performance needed now was a first goal for the club, and that arrived early in the second half. Reinier used his dribbling skills to glide effortlessly past Boavista’s holding midfielder Rodrigo Fernandes (one of our young loanees, ironically) and then easily beat the keeper.
That 4-0 win was followed by even more good news, as Braga had lost by the same score at Marítimo, and Benfica had succumbed to Porto for their first league defeat this season. With the top two both slipping up, we were suddenly back in the reckoning!
Another international break preceded our Taça de Portugal match against Leixões. Maximiano finally broke into Portugal’s senior squad, and midfielder Manuel Ugarte was called up by Uruguay for the first time, though both lads had to wait for their maiden caps.
LEIXÕES vs SPORTING (Taça de Portugal – Round 4)
We looked rusty after that break, and Valentin Rosier was particularly so on what was the injury-prone right-back’s first start since August. A poor clearance from Rosier in the 16th minute was quickly punished by Angola midfielder Paná, whose 20-yard drive gave Leixões a shock lead!
That was the wake up call we needed. Cabral took just five minutes to restore parity, jinking past a couple of home defenders before firing home. Mendes then completed the turnaround by scoring from the rebound after an angled shot from Rosier was saved.
Mind you, I wasn’t too happy with us only leading our LigaPro opponents by one at the break. I demanded an improvement in the second half, which spurred us to score a third goal within four minutes. Rodrigo Battaglia opened his account for the season after the versatile midfielder’s header from a Cabral free-kick looped into the far end of the net.
Another of Cabral’s deadly free-kick deliveries killed Leixões off in the closing stages. The recipient was the fit-again Mattheus Oliveira, who too scored his first of the season with a volley from a difficult angle. With that, we secured a Round 5 date at home to Boavista.
KRASNODAR vs SPORTING (Europa League – Group C, Match 5)
Worryingly, three of our defenders picked up knocks in the same training session in the build-up to our big Europa League group game at Krasnodar. Neither Coates nor Acuña travelled to Russia with us, though Rosier did at least take a place on the bench.
Anyway, it all turned out great in the end. Luiz Phellype put us ahead after just 23 seconds, heading in a Rodrigues cross at the near post to instantly silence the home crowd.
The Bulls reacted to early adversity like… well, a bull in a China shop. Firstly, Iceland defender Jón Guðni Fjóluson saw red for a reckless challenge on Çelik in the 21st minute. Eight minutes later, his colleague Ramírez was left red-faced after a trip on Cabral gave us a penalty, which Luiz Phellype converted.
Ramírez’s day got even worse in the 37th minute, when Çelik nicked the ball from his feet to start a counter-attack that ended with Luiz Phellype setting up a goal for Cabral. Jovane then returned the favour a minute later, as Big Phil raced away to complete the first hat-trick of my Sporting reign!
Krasnodar were effectively crushed at half-time. Though we didn’t add to our 4-0 lead, a professional defensive display – especially from young Quaresma – got us through the second period untroubled and unblemished. Job done.
We had qualified for the Round of 32 alongside Midtjylland, whose 2-0 win at Austria Wien kept them in contention for top spot. A victory in our final group game against the Viennese whipping boys would secure us 1st place, though any other result would give our Danish foes a chance to steal by beating Krasnodar.
VITÓRIA DE GUIMARÃES vs SPORTING (Primeira Liga – Match 12)
We finished November off with a struggle at managerless Vitória, who’d finally grown tired of André Villas-Boas and his fancy buzz words. Their new era began with goalkeeper Miguel Silva saving a 5th-minute penalty from Sporar after Wendel was shoved in the area.
Predictably, Sporar’s game fell off a cliff after his spot-kick miss, as he and our other attackers reverted to their old misfiring ways in front of goal. For a while, it looked like this would be yet another of those games where the lopsided shot counts belied the final score.
Then Petryak came to our rescue, contributing to two goals either side of half-time. Ivan firstly played a cut-back to Reinier, who blasted in the opener from the penalty arc. The Ukrainian then got his name on the scoresheet after the break, sliding in Cömert’s flick-on from Cabral’s free-kick.
Things did get a little dicey towards the end, as an 89th-minute half-volley from defender Pedro Henrique pulled one goal back for Vitória, who then threatened to grab another. Thankfully, some brave defending got us over the line and completed a clean sweep of away wins in November.
Though we were still in 4th place at the end of the month, our deficit on the leaders was down from nine points to six. And with Braga having played two games ahead, we have the opportunity to catch them up over the winter.
YOUTH WATCH
For the first Youth Watch of the season, I’ll be having a closer look at Batalha, who made an assist on his senior debut to potentially save us from an embarrassing early exit from the Taça de Portugal.
Batalha is a promising midfield playmaker whose game has really kicked on in recent months. As well as having the technical skill expected of most Sporting prodigies, the 18-year-old works hard and shows great intelligence.
Gonçalo’s coach report also highlights that he is “very consistent”, and that has certainly shown in his Under-23s league performances. He has recorded an extraordinary average match rating of 7.95 across 18 games, in which he has provided six goals, nine assists, and more than twice as many ‘key passes’ as any opposition player.
In short, he’s probably a bit too good for this level now! Expect him to be loaned to a LigaPro team in January, so we can find out if he can yet mix it with the big boys.
And so, after a difficult first three months, finally there appears to be some new hope for this Sporting season. What do you make of my tactical changes? Do you believe they might be making a difference, and what more could I do to improve them? Feel free to let me know in the comments or @Fuller_FM on Twitter.
I’ll be back with another chapter on Friday evening, as we enter the second half of the campaign. Until then, stay safe and enjoy the rest of your day.
Fuller FM 
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