Intensity and hustle in football – 02/14/2023 – Tostão

The huge number of football matches, in Brazil and around the world, seems to have increased these days. Can’t see everything. I still haven’t learned to watch two games at the same time. But I’m young and I’m yet to discover this mystery. In addition, there are also many good and important things in the world to do.

On Saturday, Real Madrid, as expected, easily won the Club World Cup. Real reminds me of Santos in the 1960s, who exchanged passes in midfield, paced the game, then suddenly accelerated towards the goal.

Like Benzema and Vinícius Júnior in attack, Kross and Modric complement each other in midfield. Kroos, cold, seems to have a computer installed in his body, to not let him get anxious or increase his heart rate. Modric, more active, lighter and with a much greater technical repertoire, must have another computer, to calculate the movement and speed of the ball, teammates and opponents.

Real, instead of a trio in midfield, as usual, started to form a quartet. Rival Barcelona recently started to do the same, changing one of the fast wingers, the one on the left, for a midfield player, also forming a quartet.

They say that Ancelotti is already right in the Brazilian national team from June, when his contract with Real ends. It would be amazing. If confirmed, how will he organize the team, since Brazil doesn’t have a finishing striker and playmaker, like Benzema, nor two excellent midfielders, like Kroos and Modric, to play alongside Casemiro.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Manchester City and other teams like to value the midfield, to dominate the ball, which did not happen with the Brazilian team in 2022. Obviously, there is not just one way to play well and win. Strong, winning teams like Palmeiras, Liverpool, the teams led by Mourinho and many others like the quick transition, the long ball.

This Thursday, there’s a classic between Corinthians and Palmeiras. Palmeiras is more structured, but Corinthians, at home, generally grows. Just as there are a large number of needy people, depending on the approval and/or applause of others to live well, there are teams and players that depend too much on the support of the fans.

In the 1-1 draw between Cruzeiro and Atlético, since they couldn’t say that it was a technically very good match, they said it was a very intense game, the buzzword. They confuse intensity, an important quality in modern football, with hustle, with physical, truncated and bad play, with bombs, tennis and cups thrown on the field. There were a few beautiful moves, such as Hulk’s firecracker, in the free kick, and Wesley’s exquisite pass to Bruno Rodrigues to score Cruzeiro’s goal.

For Cruzeiro, individually inferior, it was a good result. The team managed to annul Atlético. If some players, like Wesley, Gilberto and Nikão play at Cruzeiro as in the best moments of their careers, the team could evolve a lot. Atlético, on the other hand, had a weak collective game, due to Cruzeiro’s marking and the lack of understanding between the players.

Everyone who works in football should not accept the aggressive and violent game that often takes place in stadiums, especially in classics. No referee in the world is able to control this situation. This impoverishes the spectacle, one of the reasons for the poor quality of our football.

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