I repeat, even considering that Vinicius Junior deserved the Ballon d’Or for being more spectacular, Rodri’s choice, as the British newspaper The Guardian said, represents the triumph of players who do not have the exuberance of dribblers and scorers, but who are essential in the creating plays. I’ve been advocating this for a thousand years.
In football and in life, discovering what already exists is different from creating something new. Rodri, with excellent passing and a wide vision of the team, discovered the simplest, correct and efficient ways to circulate the ball from one midfielder to the other. Vini, with his enormous skill and speed, creates new, beautiful and productive things. The two complement each other.
In the beginning of football, teams played with two defenders, three midfielders and five forwards. The center midfielder was usually the team’s star player. In Brazil, over time, center midfielders were replaced by midfielders, just markers, who protect the defenders and cover the full-backs. This has been changing, slowly.
In Italy, decades ago, the great playmaker was midfielder Pirlo, called “regista” (conductor, maestro). He was the centralized midfielder, who commanded the game, as Rodri does today, while the two other midfield players, one on each side, were more markers.
Football has evolved a lot. Coaches, analysts and fans need to value sports science, technology, statistics and important information. But there is a huge exaggeration of comparisons and useless information in sports debates.
As Yuval Noah Harari, writer, PhD in history from the University of Oxford, wrote, there is in the modern world, in all areas, an excess of useless information, rubbish that should be thrown away.
Two strokes
This Sunday (3), Flamengo and Atlético-MG will play the first match of the Copa do Brasil decision at Maracanã. Flamengo, as they have been acting, must advance their marking, press, try to have more of the ball.
The team wants to win to have the advantage in the second game. Galo, as they have been playing away from home against strong opponents, should score from behind with three defenders and two midfielders and counterattack with long throws behind the backs of the forward defenders. The draw will be a good result for Atlético, who will decide at home.
As has happened frequently, two Brazilian teams are in the Libertadores final. This is a consequence of much larger investments, better professional structures and also the arrival of good Portuguese and Argentine coaches.
In the Copa Sudamericana, Cruzeiro and Racing make the final. Cruzeiro performed well in the victory over Lanús. Cassio was brilliant again.
Racing, which eliminated Corinthians, of all the Argentine teams I saw play in the Copa Sudamericana and Libertadores, is the one that pleased me the most. As usual, they blamed the coach for Corinthians’ disqualification.
The main changes that occur in the second half of any match are much more due to what happened in the first half than to the changes made by the coaches, in victories and defeats.
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