Professor Carlos Queiroz

It's become cliche over the last decade to constantly badmouth Professor Carlos Queiroz so let's look at the facts.

Season 1994/95 Queiroz's Sporting had 34 Games, 23 Wins, 9 Draws, 2 Losses with 59 Goals Scored and 21 Suffered and if Victories in 1994/95 were worth 3 points then the 23 Wins and 8 Draws would ammount to a brutal 78 points.

In 1994/95 Queiroz finished 2nd with 78 points behind an FC Porto who ammased a brutal 91 points which is the highest points score in the Portuguese League in the last 15 years.

Let's look at the Champions over the past 15 years (with numbers adjusted to 3 points per win):

2005/06, FC Porto with 79 points, 54-16 on Goals.
2004/05, Benfica with 65 points (record low), 51-31 on Goals.
2003/04, FC Porto with 82 points, 63-19 on Goals.
2002/03, FC Porto with 86 points, 73-26 on Goals.
2001/02, Sporting with 75 points, 74-25 on Goals.

2000/01, Boavista with 77 points, 63-22 on Goals.
1999/00, Sporting with 77 points, 57-22 on Goals.
1998/99, FC Porto with 79 points, 85-26 on Goals.
1997/98, FC Porto with 77 points, 75-38 on Goals.
1996/97, FC Porto with 85 points, 80-24 on Goals.

1995/96, FC Porto with 84 points, 84-20 on Goals.
1994/95, FC Porto with 91 points, 73-15 on Goals.
1993/94, Benfica with 77 points, 73-25 on Goals.
1992/93, FC Porto with 78 points, 59-17 on Goals.
1991/92, FC Porto with 80 points, 58-11 on Goals.

(Trivia note, of the last 17 years no club has ever become Champion with only 51 Goals Scored except for the 2004/05 Benfica)

So after carefull consideration we arrive at the conclusion that Queiroz's 78 points would have been enough to become Champion in 6 of the last 15 seasons and no less than 5 times in the last 9 seasons.

In fact Queiroz collected more points in 94/95 when he finished 2nd than Sporting did in 99/00 and 01/02 when the club actually became Champions and Queiroz also suffered fewer goals than Inácio and Boloni, he had fewer Losses than Inácio and Boloni and even scored more goals than Inácio's 1999/00 Championship winning team:

1994/95: 34 Games, 23 Victories, 9 Draws, 2 Losses, 78 points, 59 Goals Scored, 21 Goals Suffered.

1999/00: 34 games, 23 Victories, 8 Draws, 3 Losses, 77 points, 57 Goals Scored, 22 Goals Suffered.

2001/02: 34 Games, 22 Victories, 9 Draws, 3 Losses, 75 Points, 74 Goals Scored, 25 Goals Suffered.

What is Sporting's record for most Victories in Away Games? 11.
When was that record set? In 1994/95 when Sporting won 11 of 17 away games.

What is Sporting's record for Fewer Losses in Away Games? Zero Losses.
When was that record set? In 1994/95 when Sporting in 17 Away Games won 11, Drew 6 and lost Zero.

2 Losses in 34 games. Has any Sporting Team in the last 17 years suffered so few Losses in a season other than 1994/95? NO!!!

Carlos Queiroz's Sporting at one point went 20 straight games without a loss and has the 2nd best defencive mark of Sporting's last 17 years, only surpassed by Waseige/Octávio's 1996/97 Sporting which only suffered 19 Goals in 34 Games

People critic Queiroz saying he had Sporting's best team of the past decade and couldn't do better than 2nd place and in fact he did have Naybet, Oceano, Stan Valckx, Sá Pinto, Balakov, Carlos Xavier, Figo, Jorge Cadete, Capucho, Iordanov, Peixe, Paulo Torres, Dani, Nuno Valente, Pedro Martins etc which is in fact a great team but can somebody tell me in retrospect which team with the passage of time does not look great on paper?
Paulo Bento finished with 72 points (up from F.D.P. Peseiro's 61 points) but if in 5 years Moutinho is in Manchester United, Nani at Barcelona, Liedson has led Portugal to the finals of Euro 2008, Ricardo has 100 Caps, Polga is regarded as Sporting's best ever foreign Centre-Back, Custódio is the heir to Costinha etc I want to see who isn't going to say that he had some sort of "dream team" in 2005/06 and didn't get more than 72 points.

Queiroz's expertise in defence is alos felt outside Sporting:

How many goals did Manchester United suffer in 38 League Games in 2001/02 without Queiroz? 45 goals.

How many goals did Manchester United suffer in 38 League Games in 2002/03 with Queiroz? 34 goals.

How many goals did Manchester United suffer in 38 League Games in 2003/04 without Queiroz? 35 goals.

How many goals did Manchester United suffer in 38 League Games in 2004/05 with Queroz? 26 goals.

And Carlos Queiroz lifted the 1994/95 edition of the Portuguese Cup and with a young and excting team who have perpetuated his work a decade after he left the club.



André