Brasileirão beats coach change record after the first round

O 2023 Brazilian Championship already broke the record. In the era of running points, which began in 2003, there had never been so many coach changes after just one round.

When the second batch of games starts, this Saturday (22), there will be four different names on the bench in Serie A teams. The previous highest number was from last year: two.

The last change took place this Thursday (20), when Fernando Lázaro left his position at Corinthians. He remains at the club as an assistant on the permanent committee.

To show that Lázaro’s future had already been sealed before he was informed of it, 30 minutes after the resignation was announced, Cuca was already the new coach. The new coach will sign a contract until the end of this year, when President Duilio Monteiro Alves’ mandate also ends.

Cuca thus closes the cycle of training the big four in the state. Before him, Aymoré Moreira, Carlos Alberto Silva, Emerson Leão, Nelsinho Baptista, Oswaldo Brandão, Oswaldo de Oliveira and Rubens Minelli also worked at Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos and São Paulo.

The Corinthian board was under pressure to change command since the elimination in the quarterfinals of the Paulista Championship, at home, to Ituano. The last straw was the defeat, also at Neo Química Arena, against Argentinos Juniors (ARG), this Wednesday (19), in the Libertadores group stage.

After the match, the football manager, Alessandro Nunes, signaled that Lázaro’s permanence, the board’s bet at the beginning of the season, would be difficult.

“We have to take into account the results, we are in a shirt where the result needs to accompany the work of any professional. We breathe results in the club where we are”, said the leader.

Next week, Corinthians will have the return game against Remo, for the third phase of the Copa do Brasil, on Wednesday (26). In the first confrontation, the team from Pará won by 2 to 0. On the following Saturday (29), there will be the classic against Palmeiras.

Monteiro Alves’ dream of consumption was Tite, but the coach has no interest. After leaving the Brazilian national team at the end of last year, his desire is to work in Europe.

Lázaro was fired 24 hours after Rogério Ceni left São Paulo for the bad results in the field and for the relationship problems with the squad. Dorival Júnior is close to being announced as his replacement.

Unlike Corinthians, which debuted with a 2-1 victory over Cruzeiro, São Paulo started the Brazilian badly. Lost by the same score to Botafogo. Ceni’s dismissal occurred after the 2-0 victory over Puerto Cabello (VEN), in the Copa Sudamericana.

After the first round, Coritiba also changed coaches. Fired Antonio Oliveira. When he takes the field against Fortaleza on Sunday (23), he will be coached by Antonio Carlos Zago.

Flamengo will also have a change in command for the second game in the tournament. The interim Mario Jorge will give way to the Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, hired to replace the Portuguese Vítor Pereira.

“Many opportunities passed for me to come. Flamengo was plan A, more than any proposal in Europe. I decided to stay here. I am grateful for the opportunity”, said the Argentine in his presentation.

The current chairs surpasses that of last year, when Marquinhos Santos left América-MG after the first round and Alberto Valentim, Athletico.

Prior to that and from 2003 onwards, there was never more than one manager change between the first two league games.

The number for 2023 may still increase because the board of Atlético-MG is pressured by the fans to fire Eduardo Coudet. The Argentine was quoted as one of the possibilities at Corinthians.

One week before the start of Série A and after losing the state title, the Goiás fired Guto Ferreira.

In 2021, the CBF placed an item in the championship regulation that each club could fire only one coach without just cause during the competition. But there was a loophole for the departures in “common agreement”, expedient that started to be used by the teams to circumvent the rule. The limitation does not appear in the documents of this year’s Brasileiro.