José Eduardo on Sporting’s signing: Surprised by the criticism | OneFootball

José Eduardo analyzed some of Sporting's reinforcements for the 2025/26 season. In this interview, exclusively for our Newspaper, the former player of the Alvalade Club praises Luis Suárez, who debuted scoring with the lion on his chest, in the past match against Arouca (6-0), and says he was surprised that many fans thought Ricardo Mangas was not good enough to play for the lions.

"It seems to me that the signing of Luis Suárez was very positive, by the signs he is showing here. From what I see, he has the conditions. Now, it depends a lot because there are two positions in a football team that are very much dependent, which are the goalkeepers and the finishing forwards", reveals the defender who represented the lions between 1979 and 1983.

"If the team does not perform, it is obvious that the forward suffers from it. Likewise in the case of goalkeepers, if the team does not defend, the goalkeeper is always the preferred victim. But, it seems good to me, I think he has the conditions to do a good job", says José Eduardo about Luis Suárez.

Next, the former player who became champion for Sporting talked about the arrival of Ricardo Mangas and confessed to being surprised by what was said before his signing: "Ricardo Mangas is a player I already knew. I was surprised by the criticism, saying he was not a player for Sporting. And I was like 'But didn't they see him play at Vitória de Guimarães?'. He always played at a high level. I'm not surprised at all by his performance".

José Eduardo also talks about how the competitiveness in the position between Mangas and Araújo can benefit Sporting: "If the coach knows how to support the discomfort of the one who is not a starter and knows how to do this kind of rotation and management, the team wins, the Club wins and the players lose nothing. On the contrary, they appreciate", he concludes.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.