Sporting de Braga announced the dismissal of Daniel Sousa on Sunday night. The 39-year-old coach lasted just four official games with the Minho club, led by António Salvador.
The club also announced that assistants Francisco Matos, Maxi Pereira, Ricardo Ribeiro, Abel Pimenta, Carlos Gomes, and Miguel Bastos have left the club, effective immediately.
“SC Braga informs that Daniel Sousa is no longer the head coach of the first team, effective immediately. With him, the assistants Francisco Matos, Maxi Pereira, Ricardo Ribeiro, Abel Pimenta, Carlos Gomes, and Miguel Bastos also leave the club. SC Braga thanks Daniel Sousa and his coaching staff for their dedication and effort to the club over the past few months. The name of the new coach of SC Braga will be announced in due course,” the club stated.
This comes shortly after a home draw against Estrela da Amadora, 1-1, and a goalless result against Servette in the third qualifying round for the Europa League. Against the Israelis Maccabi Petah Tikva, they had won 5-0 and 2-0 in the second qualifying round.
“We should have had more control of the game, been more composed with the ball. Not naïveté, there are other factors we can’t control, a set of issues,” admitted Daniel Sousa after the draw with the team from Reboleira. Against Servette, he expressed dissatisfaction with the team’s performance.
It is worth noting that Daniel Sousa was announced at the Minho club even before the end of last season, in April, as the replacement for Artur Jorge, who left for Botafogo. He stood out while serving Arouca last season, after experiences with Gil Vicente and as an assistant to André Villas-Boas.
He is the second coach from Liga teams to leave after the first round. Tozé Marreco ‘slammed the door’ at Gil Vicente even before their debut in the league.
Carvalhal is a possibility
Meanwhile, according to what Maisfutebol has learned from a source close to the process, training for Sp. Braga this Monday has been moved to the afternoon and will already be with the new coach, with Carlos Carvalhal being one of the names on the table.
From what has been gathered, the Bragança management felt that there had been no qualitative progress from game to game since the start of pre-season, and the last two results and performances ultimately precipitated the decision.
Sp. Braga denies problems between Daniel Sousa and Salvador
Earlier this morning, an official source from Sp. Braga denied the existence of any “divergence” between coach Daniel Sousa and Sp. Braga’s president, António Salvador.
“SC Braga officially denies that the departure of coach Daniel Sousa is due to any type of divergence between him and president António Salvador,” stated an official source from Sp. Braga, to Maisfutebol.
Article updated at 00:13