Cuca transformed Athletico into a serious and competitive one

If you want to know a football team, examine its behavior in victory and defeat.

During the period in which Felipão directed the Athletico, the team played more concerned about not conceding a goal than scoring it. It was a football between ugly and one that required a lot of collective effort, which was not enough to excite.

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But it served to take him, in 2022, to the final of Copa Libertadores de Américamelancholically lost in Guayaquil for a Flamengo tired and ended up taking the title because his opponent didn’t show the ambition to surprise him.

The experiments with assistants Paulo Turra and Wesley Carvalho were costly, as Furacão lost time and money with the failures recorded in the main competitions in which they participated. He came Osorioand another frustration, given the Colombian’s verbiage, unstable behavior and no definition of what he actually intended to accomplish.

Finally, the board woke up – or fell out of bed – and tried to hire the competent, tested and successful Cuca to try to save the club’s centenary year. In eight games, the coach transformed Athletico into a serious and very competitive team.

Since taking charge, Cuca has simply put into practice a policy of regaining the players’ confidence, rotating the squad with the best players at his disposal.

He also removed those who were hired by commercial interests from agents who sensitize the top hats dressed as executives, defined the tactical standard and began demanding productivity on a daily basis.

That’s it, even the then hard-working and dispersive Canobbio became a top scorer. If that’s not a coach’s competence, I don’t know anything about football anymore.

After thrashing their opponents in the decisive Paranaense and South American matches, Furacão debuted in the Brasileirão, subjecting Cuiabá to a rigorous, thorough and detailed dominance that ended with 4-0 on the scoreboard.

As that athlete in the bar would say, better than that, just two of that…

+ See all columns by Carneiro Neto