Hernán Crespo went against the grain of his dejected players after the 3-0 defeat against Mirassol, this Sunday (19), in São Paulo’s worst moment of the season. With the new stumble, there are seven defeats in the last eight games, three in a row in the Brasileirão.
Even so, a winner when he took office – there are those who are already calling for his departure.
He made a point of highlighting that upon his arrival, the topic in São Paulo was the fight against relegation. Under his direction, he helped the team achieve a winning streak and move up the table. Without hiding the fact that he is still fighting for a place in the main South American competition, even with injury and off-field problems, with a fight between managers and fans, breaking with the presidency, Crespo opted for positivism.
“I continue to believe, and I have complete trust in these players. They are the same ones who made me believe in the possibility of playing in the Libertadores when I arrived and they only talked about relegation”, he said.
São Paulo’s next game is against Bahia, Saturday, at MorumBis. A direct confrontation in the Brasileirão, as the rival is currently in sixth place, closing the qualifying bracket for the preliminary phase of the Libertadores. There is an eight-point difference and Crespo will have the week free to rebuild São Paulo.
“We have to commit to returning to being this unfriendly, dangerous, aggressive team, respecting identity”, he stressed, once again showing optimism. “The argument is that we have to improve. But I continue to believe in the group, in São Paulo. We had an incredible run playing great football. Expectations were high. And who raised those expectations? The same athletes, the same committee. Why can’t we believe now? Let’s do our best. At this moment we have to recover the missing centimeter. At all ends. We have to go back to doing what we were doing before.”
Leaving the pitch in Mirassol, after his first game as a starter after a long period recovering from injuries, Lucas Moura said it was time to say little and show more. Other teammates did not hide their depression, which shows the extent of Crespo’s work until Saturday (25).
With agency
