Former Benfica coach Bruno Lage’s words about Kerem Akturkoglu! 'He was very happy…'

Former Benfica coach Bruno Lage spoke to journalists after a conference held at the Faculty of Human Kinetics (FMH) at the University of Lisbon.

'HE WAS HAPPY...'

To the question “Was the necessary work not done in the transfer for the left wing position?” Lage answered as follows: “Kerem Akturkoglu may give you such an impression, but it did not seem that way to us because there were always offers... I cannot say whether there were concrete offers before what happened, but I can guarantee that there were advances and setbacks.” “Then was it the decision not to put Kerem into the game?” Bruno Lage: “No. He had started the season well, he was very happy at Benfica. My decisions were always made by considering what was best for the team; we needed a deep squad to be able to give a good response. The departure of Kerem Akturkoglu and Bruma’s injury created an opportunity to enter the transfer market in January.1

When Mourinho said that the team did not “bite” when he arrived at Benfica, did your ego get hurt in any way? How did you evaluate Mourinho's words? He answered the question as follows: “I do not see this as a criticism, because as we gain experience, our back gets broader. My back is broad. I did not see this as a criticism. Coaches are different, ideas are different. Schmidt’s understanding of the game was different from mine, and Mourinho’s was also different from mine. In the future, maybe years later, when another coach comes, the ideas will again be different. What matters is to create the conditions for the team to train. When we arrived, we saw a team… Schmidt’s understanding of the game was different from mine, there were players like Carreras who began to play more often with us, and there were players who played in other positions. This is a matter of adaptation.”