Analysis: São Paulo has the most expressive result of the “Diniz era” with a solid and intelligent football | Saint Paul

But faced with this completely unfavorable scenario, was it possible to end the taboo and continue to maintain the leadership of the Brazilian Championship? For most fans, the answer would probably be no. But Fernando Diniz and the players contradicted the statistics and presented a solid and intelligent football to end the suspicions. Or at least a truce.

Until the Atlético-GO match, on the last day, São Paulo had conceded goals in ten consecutive games. To try to solve this problem, Diniz took Leo out of defense and put Bruno Alves on. To protect the entrance to the area, he removed Tchê Tchê and raised Luan.

Against the Goianos the decision had an effect: São Paulo did not score a goal and still scored three. Last Saturday, the coach kept the changes, but needed to define who would occupy the position in the middle of Gabriel Sara, suspended.

There were two options: Vitor Bueno (to have more offensive quality) or Tchê Tchê (to have a more qualified exit in defense and help sporadically in attack).

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The choice was made by Tchê Tchê, one of the key pieces of São Paulo’s triumph. With Luan on the field, the player stopped being the first midfielder and returned to being the second midfielder, his original position and in which he lived his best moments in his career.

With that, São Paulo had more men guarding the entrance to the area and released the wings to play. As a result, Igor Vinicius, on the right, and Reinaldo, on the left, shone.

The São Paulo side were the main exhaust valves of the Tricolor. Virtually every offensive move went through his feet. The first goal, in fact, was a good summary of that: Igor Vinicius suffered a penalty and Reinaldo converted.

The left-back could still leave the stadium with at least two more goals and an assist, but stopped at Jailson.

Even with the most advanced wingers, São Paulo had the intelligence to avoid Palmeiras’ counterattacks. Luan, Tchê Tchê and Daniel Alves were essential to make this recovery of the ball before the rival was organized on the field.

– Of course, we can give space to the side and we have more mechanisms to protect ourselves. When we make very strong transitions it is not because the full back is supporting, it is because we play incorrectly. Either we play too fast, or we force too many passes inside, or we make mistakes at the beginning of the build – Diniz said.

– When we play more consciously and consistently as we did today, knowing that we could not give in on a counterattack, which is very strong in Palmeiras, we could suffer. Sometimes we can release both sides, but it all depends on the build and where we made the mistakes – added the technician.

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Reading Fernando Diniz’s game made São Paulo breathe easy after a convulsed month of September and early October and under a lot of pressure. The most expressive victory in this year of the coach’s work can give light to the club having a calmer and more hopeful end to the year.

The next step is the Copa do Brasil, next Wednesday, at 7.15pm, when Tricolor will face Fortaleza, by Rogério Ceni, away from home, for the first leg of the round of 16.

Until last week, some more critics could say that the elimination was a matter of time. After the adjustments made to the defensive system and the ability shown by the squad to adapt to the playing styles, this thinking may be different.