In the Brasileirão, uncertainties and variations in performances and results are frequent, even more so in a championship with few technical differences between many teams. In the first round, the three best placed teams from last year did not win. Palmeiras drew, and Cruzeiro and Flamengo lost.
As Paquetá generally plays in a position close to Arrascaeta, Filipe Luís can play him from the side to the middle, as Carrascal plays, or place him in the centralized midfielder position, alongside and close to Jorginho.
Palmeiras, in the draw with Atlético MG, used, as they always do, with good results, crossed balls in the area and long throws from defense to attack. However, Abel should alternate this stance with having more control of the ball and exchanging more passes to involve the opponent. For this, he has two great midfielders, Marlon Freitas and Andreas Pereira.
As everywhere in the world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to exchange passes in midfield due to pressure marking. Teams have been using long throws from defense to attack a lot, which can give good results as long as this is not the main strategy. This is how Palmeiras’ equalizer was scored by Vitor Roque against Galo.
Cruzeiro, in the 4-0 defeat to Botafogo, repeated the strategy used in the defeat to Atlético Mineiro, of scoring by sector without putting pressure on whoever has the ball. Under Leonardo Jardim’s command, the team pressed too much, played with more intensity and recovered the ball more quickly to reach the goal.
In São Paulo, calmer with the victory over Flamengo, Crespo should position Marcos Antônio to play from one midfield to the other, as he has the skill, mobility and talent to score, build and advance, instead of using him as an offensive midfielder, between the opponent’s midfield and defense.
Brazilian football, with the expected professionalization of referees, the expected improvement of pitches, the hiring of good coaches and players from other South American countries, even from Europe, such as Paquetá, should evolve in the coming years. To achieve this, it is essential to put an end to the enormous turmoil caused by players during matches, sometimes with a bad example from coaches. All of us in the sports chronicle also need to improve.
Journalists from other areas, writers and poets who like football could write and speak more about the subject, as was more common in the past. By writing, speaking very well and without vices, clichés and football, they would enrich the sports chronicle, even if they didn’t know the technical and tactical details well. Football is not just strategy. It is also a theater of teachings, entertainment and emotions.
Master Armando Nogueira, journalist, writer and poet, with whom I lived and learned on TV Bandeirantes, said he watched the games at Maracanã alongside Nelson Rodrigues. When the game was over, Nelson would hold him by the arm and ask: “How was the game? Who was the star player?” Nelson went to the newspaper’s editorial office and, with his delirious and spectacular exaggerations and metaphors, wrote the most beautiful and pleasurable texts I have read about football.
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