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The image of the most valuable squad in the country and in South America clinging to cell phones and cheering on Cássio’s defenses, only breathing relieved by Internacional’s inability to find a (legal) goal in Beira-Rio, is the last impression left. of the Brazilian Flamengo title. 2020, but in 2021 for the outlier season of the pandemic.
Double Championship. Two very different achievements, not only because of the drastic changes in everyone’s life, including the absence of an audience in the stadiums. But mainly because the football of the best team in the country since 2019 arrived in homeopathic doses. Or in spasms.
The absolute favorite experienced the deepest crisis, that of Jorge Jesús’s departure, before the start of the competition. The rest were consequences, which resulted in the dismissal of Domènec Torrent and the ups and downs of the team led by Rogério Ceni. With the final act in a new defeat for São Paulo, the fourth of the season. Not Fernando Diniz’s team at the best moment, but Marcos Vizolli’s team, after being surprised by the bluff and relegated to Botafogo in the previous round.
Impressive how the red and black game did not fit at any time against the tricolor of São Paulo. 11 to 3 in the aggregate and periods of dominance, but always marked by wasted chances and serious failures in defense. Again Hugo, the goalkeeper who mis-mounted the barrier on Luciano’s free kick and handed the ball to Daniel Alves, who served Pablo on the second goal.
Once again the team had the brand of its coach. Adopting an unconvincing positional game, worse offensively than Dome’s. With Isla and Bruno Henrique opening the field, but without depth. Everton Ribeiro and De Arrascaeta look for the game between the lines, but making many mistakes, and Gabigol turning around, but without company in the opposite area. Gerson led the ball too much for the one who was being marked with a foul relief, Diego Ribas turned too much again and Filipe Luís tried to attack the attackers directly.
No sign of the mobility and dynamics of the second half from 4 to 2 over Grêmio and the first half of the 3-0 victory over Sport. Forget about the gaucho team phase and the fragility of the people of Pernambuco. It is a matter of execution. Bruno Henrique never appeared on the right side of the attack. Gabigol eventually moved to the left sector. Again a cast in a cast, dependent on individualities.
Because Ceni demonstrated from the beginning of the work the need to leave his signature. Even stating that the proposal was to rescue the ideas of Jorge Jesús. In the debut, the squad of the much disputed Gustavo Henrique, great pivot of the crisis with the defeat suffered by São Paulo and Atlético Mineiro. A clear message: “it will work for me.” It didn’t work most of the time.
After the good performances against Grêmio, Sport, Vasco and Bragantino, with matches every three days, the victories over Corinthians and Internacional reached the pincers, with slow and not very creative football. I worked weeks of training that always left the impression that the team was losing performance.
The argument in defense of the coach extolling the courage to climb the attacking quartet and Diego and Gérson in the middle, with Willian Arão behind, is valid. And, for better or for worse, Flamengo finished with the most positive attack (68 goals) and as the team that wasted the most clear chances, they shot. More inspiring than Abel Braga’s pragmatism at Inter, no doubt.
But much for the individual quality of the best team in the country. That even without being left behind he won again. No glare, no lights out. Very different from the 2019 show. In fact, inside out. Before great football was the flagship. Now only the cup remains. And the protests of color against the VAR.
Rogério Ceni celebrated the Brazilian title he knows so well in Morumbi. But the conquest came because of what did not happen in Beira-Rio. It didn’t have to be this way.
