Team ends in 4th place after another highly disappointing season. The extreme weakness of the squad was clearly exposed during the season, and not even the coach of the moment in the country saved Sporting in the end.
Sporting has been under some very difficult years lately and the result was a severe weakening on the squad. Bruno Fernandes’ talent was evidently not enough, but things evidently got more fragile after he left in January.
Signing with a class forward like Vietto was a good sign for the fans, but it was very short as there was very little investment apart from the Argentinean. Departures from Raphinha and Diaby and the unsettled position of Fernandes in the club surely didn’t help.
Dutch coach Keizer failed to give the team the dimension the fans would expect, and didn’t survive the first defeat, right on round 4. Silas came in, team improved, but remained on a very limited level.
Defeats against the top teams on the table, including Famalicão, exposed how fragile Leão was, and eventually chairman Varandas decided to spend a record-fee to bring Braga’s gaffer Rúben Amorim on board.
Amorim had an immediate impact, more in results than in the level of performances. Still, Leões had arguably their best period on the season with Amorim at the helm, but failed to pick any points when facing Porto and Benfica, losing the 3rd place in the final minutes of the season.
Sporting should assume next season as a growing year instead of going already for the title, which seems highly unrealistic at this point.
