“Roger Schmidt is no longer Benfica's coach”

STATEMENTS 

Roger Schmidt is no longer the coach of SL Benfica's professional football team. The announcement was made this Saturday, August 31, by Rui Costa, President of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, at a press conference.

In a press conference at Benfica Campus, Rui Costa thanked Roger Schmidt for his work, clarified that his successor will be known soon and looked to the future.

“As you already know, because before I sat down in this press room, we had to inform the CMVM that Roger Schmidt is no longer the coach of Benfica, I confirm that. I'd also like to thank him for these two years, and almost half a year, for all the effort and all the work that Roger Schmidt put into our club, for the two titles we've won, for the number of players we've developed in-house, but even though we had the ambition and the idea of creating stability in the club, and continuing with a coach for more than a year, even though we didn't win the league, after four games we decided it was time to change, given the results and the performances we weren't able to achieve and that we were aiming for. Therefore, I repeat, Roger Schmidt is no longer the coach of Benfica and we are now looking to the future. We're already working on a new coach, who you'll know very soon. It really wasn't the start to the season that we had expected, and so we felt that there was no way we could continue under these conditions and, consequently, change the coach at this time,” the President began, before answering questions from the press.

In the communication to the CMVM, there was information on negotiations with the former Benfica coach. How is the matter of compensation for the coach? What has changed from May, when you gave the coach a vote of confidence, to the present moment?

Regarding the contract termination, it's just as it says in the communication to the CMVM. As you can imagine, the coach was told that day that he was no longer Benfica's coach and that we had ended the relationship. As a result, we now have to deal with the complete termination, which will also be dealt with by Roger Schmidt's agents and lawyer. That's why we made the announcement in this way. What changed from May to now is exactly what I said before. We believed and thought that it was best for Benfica to give this stability and vote of confidence, given that we also fully believed that it was easier to do Roger Schmidt's first year than Roger Schmidt's second year. These four rounds have shown otherwise and we therefore felt that this was the time to change.

You said you are already looking for new options. Is Leonardo Jardim involved in Benfica's future?

I didn't say that we were already working on new solutions. I said that we were already working on Benfica's future and that you would soon know who Benfica's coach was. There's no point in talking about names, I've seen and read a lot of names in the press, some of whom are even employed, so Benfica fans will know first-hand who Benfica's new coach will be. Don't make me speculate on names now. What is certain is that it will be very soon.

How did coach Roger Schmidt react when the decision was announced? Will the team have someone in charge on an interim basis? Can you confirm the news from a few minutes ago that Marcos Leonardo has been sold to Al-Hilal for 40 million euros?

Let's not mix things up. Today, we're here to talk about Roger Schmidt and Benfica's coach, in this case, the coaches, because, as he's no longer Benfica's coach, we'll have to come up with another coach quickly. Remember that, at the moment, the Championships will stop for the FIFA break and, therefore, there will be no interim coach, because we will certainly have a new coach by the time we start training again. We're working towards that, towards the future, fully believing that, despite the handicap we've created for ourselves of losing five points in four games, we have the value and quality to turn the situation around, and that's what we're thinking about. The new coach will have time to work on what he can work on at this stage, because there's one thing I'd like to point out: although we're on a FIFA break, and it might seem that the new coach will have a lot of space until the next game to work on the team, remember that we'll only have five or six players at Benfica Campus at the moment, because the rest will be on international duty. And so he'll work in a different way, he'll work on the analysis he has to do so that when he has the players at his disposal he'll be in a position to set up the team, work on it and prepare it for the future, because we fully believe, despite this handicap, that we have a lot of margin and a lot of quality to turn the situation around. Of course, when you get to a day like this, it's always disappointing for everyone who works. It's disappointing for me, it's disappointing for Roger Schmidt, but there was an understanding. He's a great man, I cannot forget that. It's one thing for the coach and, therefore, professionally, for us to understand that it was time for a change; it's another thing for human relationships, and that, the human relationship, has not been damaged in the slightest.

From the answer you gave just now, you somewhat implied that this start of the season has been lost. Do you really believe that Benfica, with this squad, which wasn't built for the coach who is coming in, has the quality to turn things around and still try to fight for titles this season? A lot of the criticism that has arisen against Roger Schmidt in recent days has also been associated with you in some way. Do you think you're fully capable of continuing as Benfica's president for the rest of the term?

I'll start at the end. I work hard for Benfica, every day, for the good of Benfica, and so I will continue to do so. That's why I'm already planning for the future. We understood, as I've said several times, that this was the time to change coaches and my focus now is essentially on that. I'm not thinking about elections. Honestly, I'm not here to think about elections. I'm here to think about Benfica's future, I'm here to think about Benfica's day-to-day, and that's what I focus on every day, that's what I work on every day. My focus at the moment is to solve this problem that has arisen in terms of the coach and, in the next few days, to present a new coach who will be a guarantee for Benfica's future as well. Regarding the chances we have, or don't have, of winning titles this year, I'm fully convinced of that. It's true that when you build a squad, you also build a squad very much in the image of a coach, but we don't build a squad only in the image of coach Roger Schmidt. The coach who joins Benfica will have, with absolute certainty – and he will be able to confirm this in the future – a squad of excellent quality. It's a squad that's ready to win, no matter the coach we have. It is in this expectation, in this hope that we have, and it is also in this profile that we will follow the line of reasoning of bringing in a coach who has more or less the same profile, in terms of tactical system and quality of players, to continue Benfica's future, with the utmost conviction – I repeat what I have said, I believe, more than once – that this season is not lost. We have this handicap here, but it's in our hands to recover it. We have all the time in the world to do it and we have enough quality in the squad to do it too.

Given the results and Roger Schmidt's attrition since last season, do you regret not making the decision at the end of last season? You've said that Benfica will have a coach when you return to work. When will that be?

As I said, we have five or six players available at the Benfica Campus today. All the others will be with their national teams, so there will be a few days off for these five players. And when they return to work, in the middle of the week, at the end of the week, we'll already have the new coach working with the team. We don't have crystal balls, and as I said, we believed in stability and in what we had done together, especially in Roger Schmidt's first year. And we thought it was easier to repeat the 1st year than the 2nd, and we tried to do that. We tried to improve, we tried to understand what didn't go well in the 2nd year, in search of what was, above all, Roger Schmidt's first eight/nine months at Benfica, when we were all dazzled by the Benfica team and the coach himself. So it was in that capacity that I made the decision. 
At the time, I thought continuity was the best option. At the moment, I think it's better to part ways, in this case, and start a new cycle with a new coach.

You've spoken several times about the future and looking ahead. At the moment, how do you look to the future?

With optimism, with a lot of optimism. I don't know how to be any other way. On the other hand, I know the quality of the players we have in the squad and what they can do. It's been a start to the season that has missed all our expectations and the expectations of all Benfica fans. We've lost five points in four games, we haven't put in a performance that gives us the security we need for the future, and that's why we've made a change. I hope this change will brighten up the atmosphere, brighten up the players, bring another aura to the team, another atmosphere around the team. I know that the Benfiquistas will always be with the team, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them, even yesterday [Friday, August 31], in the draw at Moreira [de Cónegos], it certainly wasn't for lack of support from the fans. We have to change the situation, it's up to us. I'm an optimist by nature, so I fully believe in Benfica's strength, in the strength of Benfica's squad. I'm very convinced that this will be a positive season for the club.