Common points and differences in the crises of Vítor Pereira and Luís Castro in Flamengo and Botafogo

Destiny insists on bringing Vítor Pereira and Luís Castro closer together. The Portuguese, who already worked together at the base in Porto, arrived in Brazil in the same season (2022). This year, together in football in Rio, they are going through similar moments. Both failed to implement the work expected of them and find themselves under pressure even before the start of the Brazilian Championship.

The duo fell asleep and woke up with cheering crowds asking for their heads. Upon leaving Maracanã, where Flamengo lost to Fluminense, Pereira came across a police car in front of his condominium. Fans went there to protest. Already the wall of Botafogo’s headquarters dawned with a request to “Fora Castro”.

In addition to the nationality of the coaches, other elements unite the two crises. If it is a fact that none of them managed to implement efficient ideas in the field, it is also true that they face external obstacles. Among them, the impossibility of having complete casts.

At Flamengo, Pereira has only gained one reinforcement to date (Gerson). In addition, there are a number of physically worn out players. Some are or were injured (Pedro and, currently, David Luiz, Thiago Maia, Bruno Henrique and Varela). Others are dosed so that they are whole when they are cast.

To complicate matters even more, since arriving at Flamengo, the coach knew that the objective was to remake a job that had gone through the roof with Dorival Júnior. However, with the decision to win three important cups right away (Supercopa do Brasil, Mundial and Recopa Sul-americana), it had to step on the brakes and gradually start adjustments with the team considered ideal in 2022. time needed for new ideas to surface. But without results, external wear and tear was inevitable.

The final assessment of this work will only take place after Carioca. Until then, Pereira must accelerate the implementation of his ideas even without reinforcements and with injuries. The lineup change by several positions for Fla-Flu was just the beginning. And it did not generate negative repercussions among the players. In the locker room after the match and on a daily basis, there is an understanding that the work has good elements and that it needs time.

— We, if we were complete, would have more elements. There are a lot of quality people out there. When they come back, they will bring quality. We are working, focused on making the team evolve. The team believes, the players are committed. Those who work with us feel this union, we are on the way. To consolidate the work, victory has to appear – said the Portuguese after the defeat to Fluminense.

But Pereira misses a vote of confidence from above. There are no public statements by those responsible for Flamengo’s football in relation to their work. Deputy football Marcos Braz and director Bruno Spindel remain inmates at the troubled moment, and have been criticized.

His compatriot’s frying process is also intense. In a club-company, where the environment offers coaches more time, Luís Castro’s is no longer so elastic. His dismissal was on the agenda after a State in which the team’s performance declined.

“We have reassessments not only from the coach, but from everyone involved. The club’s focus is not just football at the moment, but football needs to deliver – said football director André Mazzuco after the early elimination at Carioca.

The unsuccessful changes promoted in the defeat to Portuguesa — making the team play in a 3-4-3 never tested until then — reinforced the idea that Castro cannot make the team evolve. The decline in performance occurred against teams considered weaker, such as Resende, Sergipe, Portuguesa and the Flamengo boys team.

But, just like Pereira, the Botafogo coach customizes a much more complex problem. Botafogo suffers even more from the limitation of its squad. Reinforcements requested by the coach since the end of 2022 did not come in the expected proportion. He wanted a goalkeeper, a winger, a winger on each side and a more centralized striker. The technician still lost some pieces due to sale (as in the case of Jeffinho and Junior Santos), due to injury or suspension. Seven of the eleven starters at the end of 2022 did not play in this sequence of games marked by a drop in performance.

As the final word always belongs to John Textor, the work still suffers from decisions that go beyond Castro. Like the trip to England in December, which postponed the start of the holidays; the maintenance of players that the coaching staff had already indicated they were not interested in, the poorly planned pre-season in the USA (cancelled to anticipate the debut of the main team in Carioca), the renovation of the pitch at Nilton Santos (forcing the team to become itinerant ) and the lack of definition about Cuesta’s situation.

But the American, as he painted the fans on the wall of the headquarters, “disappeared”. A fact that illustrates this issue is the fact that he only traveled to Brazil once in 2023 (against at least seven in 2022). Of course the work can be done from Florida. But, at this moment, this distance is more than symbolic.