The great magic of football is to unite art and science, planning and unpredictability, certainty and uncertainty. If the referee had expelled defender Lyanco after stepping on Dudu’s arm in the classic between Cruzeiro and Atlético-MG, the story of the match had everything to be different because of the great advantage of having one more player. Most people opined in favor of Lyanco’s expulsion, as I agree.
Gabigol was expelled deservedly. He has shown once again his emotional uncontrolled, as he has been expelled other times in recent years acting for Flamengo.
Until 30 minutes of the first half, when the game was 0x0 and each team had 11 players, there was a dull balance. The only clear chance of goal was from Cruzeiro, lost by Gabigol. After the striker’s expulsion, Atletico-MG pressed, as expected, and won 2-0. Cassio failed in the first goal.
Until 30 minutes, when Cruzeiro and Atletico-MG had the same number of players, both teams showed that they need to evolve if they want to have a chance to win a major title, such as Brasileirão. Hulk, once again, was the highlight of the game, with two goals. He unites talent and physical strength, a consequence of his physical size and professional seriousness.
Cuca was brilliant when changing a defender for another striker, as well as retreating one of the midfielders to start the backwards, as Cruzeiro had only Mateus Pereira further. This is what the former Militão coach could have done when Botafogo got a player less from the beginning in the Libertadores final.
The enormous importance of coaches in training, command, lineup and conduct during matches is unquestionable. However, in especially balanced games, sporadic, unpredictable details, they change the story of a match, such as the expulsion of a player, a referee mistake and dozens of other factors.
When the team wins because of an occasional detail, the coach is widely praised for conduct. When the team loses, it is criticized, even for actions that have no importance. Commentators, often with great arguments, try to find a single strategic reason to explain the performances and results, as if the coach were solely responsible for victory or defeat. For analysts, justifying the history of the game by inexplicable factors would be to deny science. Chance and science go together.
One of the frequent difficulties of technicians is to live during the matches with the unpredictable, with what was not planned or rehearsed. They panic. One of the great virtues of a coach is to be able to, in the face of surprises that occur during the game, to take unplanned attitudes.
In the last two eliminations of Brazil in the Cups, in 2018 and 2022, to Belgium and Croatia, teams that were not among the favorites, unpredictable factors contributed greatly to the defeats of the Brazilian team.
Many coaches, usually veterans, even updated, prefer conduct based on their positive experiences than on the evolution of sports science.
It is scientific negationism, magical thinking, to think that the truth is always in what they believe.
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