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Again, the difficulty of Flamengo to defend is crucial. Because, in short, the poor protection of the area in two almost consecutive crosses changed the course of a match that the team had under control and decreed the elimination in the Brazil Cup in the 3-0 of São Paulo, a very big goal for what the game was, by the way.
Errors similar to the most flagrant of the time of Domènec Torrent, when the red-black drama was going to spread, to be uncoordinated when he pressed, and badly, in the attack. In this sense, the team has improved. On the other hand, it seems to have lost a good part of the offensive mechanisms that worked with Catalan. Which leads to a conclusion.
Flamengo’s first elimination in 2020 has a lot to do with their too tough season. There is no squad that can withstand the Covid outbreak, serial embezzlement, and two managerial changes in three months. Rogério still has not had time to repair the defense, nor has he finished displaying what he thinks of an attack that before his arrival seemed adjusted – and embezzlement does not help the new coach. Without discussing whether it was right or wrong to fire Domènec, one of Flamengo’s problems at the moment is that it always seems to start over since Jorge Jesús left.
At this point, and given how crazy Brazilian football is, the fall of the Copa do Brasil may offer a few weeks off to train. But they will not come before the knockout with Racing for the Libertadores.
But it is curious to have ended in a 3-0 defeat in a match that Flamengo dominated in the first half. But he did it for 85 meters of field, never finding the final step, the infiltration, the occupation of the area. The good red and black game went to the entrance of the area of an uncomfortable São Paulo who adapted to a different style than usual. And in that sense, the time that Rogério Ceni has not yet played in favor of Fernando Diniz, a year ago in office in São Paulo. Either to make your team more efficient when defending, or because of the ability to adapt to different types of games, with less possession, less control of the ball and quicker escapes to attack.
First, because Flamengo was pushing hard, which is an evolution that Rogério Ceni quickly achieved. When scoring up front, the rubro-black team does not have as much space. With that, Flamengo hit a São Paulo that had difficulty playing. The ball was red and black, the question was what to do with it when the game reached the finishing zone.
The idea was to have Willian Arão between defenders Thuler and Léo Pereira. From there, Vitinho, who started on the right wing in 4-2-3-1 rubro-negro, went to the center, joining Arrascaeta as another midfielder. Matheuzinho opened the field on the right and Michael on the left.
Flamengo often found Arrascaeta between São Paulo’s defense lines. But the option of depth was missing. On two occasions, the Uruguayan had the ball in excellent condition, but failed to reach Bruno Henrique.
Tactically out of date, São Paulo began to bet on quick attacks on the back of the Flamengo defense, after all the draw forced the Cariocas to take risks. But it was with the red and black defense positioned behind that the two fatal centers arrived in the second half and the two goals from Luciano in ten minutes. In both, the defensive line of the Rio team misbehaved: the knockout was almost done.
In practice, the game would end once and for all in the 17th minute, on the penalty lost by Vitinho. And, it must be said, in the 180 minutes the tie was highly conditioned by the terrible individual errors of Flamengo. The 5 to 1 in the total score is very strong.
It was curious, and perhaps an effect of the crazy Brazilian marathon, the feeling that Rogério Ceni threw in the towel before the end, putting Lázaro, Lincoln and Pedro Rocha and taking Bruno Henrique, Vitinho and Arrascaeta, the latter in physical recovery. As if thinking of upcoming dates. Before, the coach had surprised when he put the young half Pepê in the place of defender Thuler. Instead of getting more offensive, Flamengo got disorganized and even saw Pablo make it 3 to 0. He continues the race against time of a Flamegno who is trying to fulfill this 2020.
