Confirming the Brazilian title, regardless of what happens at the Intercontinental, Filipe Luís will end 2025 as a winner and a survivor. Winner for accumulating achievements. And survivor for being the first coach, since Vanderlei Luxemburgo, in 2011, to start and finish a year ahead of the red and black.
Filipe Luís is not Flamengo’s most striking character. Arrascaeta, with his 23 goals and 18 assists until the beginning of December, is the great “game solver” of the season. Rossi and his saving defenses in the first phase of the Libertadores, including the penalties against Estudiantes and the performance against Racing, were decisive. Jorginho is the team’s compass. Filipe Luís is the one who managed to transform a club that was always in turmoil into something balanced.
The figure of a convinced coach, but also open to learning and changing his mind, made Flamengo go through the year with firm and determined momentum. If he didn’t charm every day, he didn’t play badly almost any day. The end of the season rewards the control coaches seek in an uncontrollable sport.
The average number of goals conceded is less than 0.7 per game — the lowest since 1977. Quite a merit for a team that is not reactive and dominates matches from the midfield and attack, not from the defense.
What Filipe Luís did to give his face to a winning team was to remove what was left of Jorge Jesus from the room and place his own furniture. The feeling given in recent years is that Flamengo was winning thanks to a formula created by the Portuguese coach, of aggressive and robust play. And whoever came closest to it, the bigger the prize.
The current commander paused Flamengo. The game became Jorginho’s and Arrascaeta’s moves. One sets the pace and the other decides on the most difficult sector. Hard-working players were incorporated into the team, even though they shined less in the eyes of those who expected an overwhelming team. Samu Lino won the dispute with Cebolinha, Plata put Pedro on the bench in a few rounds. Alexsandro’s experience and consistency gave the team more than Ayrton Lucas’ rises, and Pulgar returned from injury to the starting lineup, leaving Saúl’s resume on the bench.
Economic dominance can give the feeling that there is less merit in winning at Flamengo — after all, it is easier to be champion at a rich club than at others that do not have the same ability to sign and keep players. However, from Domènec Torrent to Tite, no one has achieved the stability and performance achieved by the newcomer.
Filipe is neither a teacher nor a teacher. He gives the feeling of having been a good student. One who studies a lot, but, above all, observes. His team has the discipline, conviction and effort of so many versions of Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. But he also has control with the ball and “dictates the pace” of teams that the former full-back had as rivals. In his management of the group, he did not “marry” anyone and made difficult choices so that individualities did not overlap with the collective.
In times when coaches still call pink shirts a deer thing, he wears black and goes unnoticed in games. His role is to provide balance so that Arrascaeta, Jorginho, Rossi and company do their best.
A coach’s duty is to improve his players, and that’s what Filipe was able to do to win it all… and give the feeling that he can do it again next year.
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