Luxembourg has an arduous task to be reborn at Corinthians – 05/03/2023 – Sport

Vanderlei Luxemburgo will be, next Monday (8), the fourth coach of Corinthians in four rounds of the Brazilian Championship. Something is obviously wrong with the alvinegro team.

“Man, something has to happen. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. If I didn’t need to do something, I wouldn’t be here. What I’m going to do, what I intend to do, will happen. I was hired to do something inside of the squad we have. There’s no way to change the squad”, said the coach.

This is where the problems begin for the 70-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, who is looking to revive his career, recover his prestige and extract the most from an unbalanced group, with clear gaps and aged key players. Something that was evident in his debut, on Tuesday night (2), defeat by 2-1 to the Ecuadorian Independiente del Valle, in Itaquera, for the Copa Libertadores.

Corinthians was not doing badly in the game, when Gil, 35, and Fagner, 33, took a while to react to a splashed ball. Lautaro Díaz, 24, was much faster and scored Cássio, 35. A shot that, in other times, the historic black and white goalkeeper would defend.

It is not surprising that Luxemburgo, after the match, named midfielder Matheus Araújo, 20, and striker Pedro, 17, by name, praising them without being asked specifically about them. Rejuvenating the team without alienating old leaders is one of the great challenges ahead.

Sornoza, who defended the club in 2019 and is now at Del Valle, spoke informally with journalists at the arena in the east zone of São Paulo and presented his diagnosis. “You can change coaches every week and nothing will change. As long as you don’t renew the team, you won’t win. The old athletes have accommodated themselves”, he said.

The alvinegra formation has not won a title since 2019, with a precise pass from Sornoza to Vagner Love against São Paulo. Since then, six coaches have come and gone – in addition to three different interim coaches – without establishing truly competitive teams.

Vanderlei is the seventh attempt after the farewell of Fábio Carille, one of many who left after clashes with the most experienced athletes in the squad. Luxemburgo hopes to break the pattern and arrives with the blessing of Renato Augusto – a 35-year-old midfielder who has been unable to avoid injuries and yet is clearly the best player on the team.

The configuration of the squad, with a defense full of veterans who do not like to play with the forward line, makes it almost impossible to effectively press the attacking field, something performed by almost all teams considered to be modern. In Itaquera, Del Valle exchanged passes in the defense and played with remarkable tranquility.

The phase doesn’t seem to help either. There were three balls on the opponent’s crossbar, which seemed cornered. Then, Róger Guedes made a clumsy pass, Maycon made a worse one. Murillo and Cássio took a while to react, Lautaro Díaz took the opportunity again to make it 2 to 1. Maycon left the field crying, apologizing.

“The analysis I do is that I have a group of quality, but that at the moment is very low due to the instability that it is experiencing. We believe that we will grow with the work”, observed the coach, who spoke of “picking up the pieces”. and tried to demonstrate confidence. “I’m sure the thing will be positive. I have no doubt about that.”

To achieve that goal, he warned that “players will be charged”. In the interview itself, given alongside Róger Guedes, he already gave a demonstration, still good-humored, of the tone. “He’s going to get tough from me here”, he joked, asking the striker, with good finishing power, to act closer to the goal.

Those who weren’t in a good mood were the fans, who left the stadium asking for the athletes’ will and cursing the club’s president, Duilio Monteiro Alves. Something considered normal by Vanderlei, who had two victorious passages through Parque São Jorge, in 1998 and in 2001. “We lost five in a row and were Brazilian champions. Things don’t scare me and they can change.”

Stopped since 2021, the Fluminense said that “Corinthians is something that no coach who wants to be working can reject”. “It’s not a challenge. It’s a great chance to do a new great job”, declared the septuagenarian, who dreams of reliving the times when he was called by the iconic journalist Roberto Avallone “Vanderlei Luxemburgo, comma, the strategist”.

The task is arduous.