Technical details and chance change the story of a match – 04/04/2023 – Tostão

The daily work and the strategies used by the coaches are extremely important, but football is much more than that. It is also a sport that is physical, psychological, surprising and, above all, one of individual talent. Players run through the technical fundamentals and make the choices, often in the blink of an eye. Technical details and coincidences change the story of a game, a championship and even football.

Because of this multiplicity of factors and uncertainties, there is no longer room for commonplaces, such as that Vítor Pereira won the duel against Fernando Diniz. Someone must have said that Flamengo’s coach tied a “tactical knot” with Fluminense’s.

As expected, it was an even match. If Arias, alone in front of the goalkeeper, had scored in the first 20 minutes, when Fluminense was superior, the post-game analyzes would probably have been different.

I think that Flamengo, when playing with three defenders and two wingers who defend and attack on the sides, could have played with Everton Ribeiro in place of Cebolinha and Gabriel in Matheus França. There would be no positioning problems and the team would be stronger.

Playing with three defenders and two wingers is not necessarily the best or the only alternative to playing with two players on the sides that score and attack. Most teams in the world use two defenders, two wingers and two open midfielders instead of two wingers.

Atlético’s victory over América was also decided in detail. While America had 11 players there was balance. Hulk’s finish, in the winning goal by 3 x 2, was precise. If he were another striker, he would probably shoot hard, into the goalkeeper’s chest, and many would say it was a spectacular save.

Água Santa beat Palmeiras in the details and because it was superior. Once again, Palmeiras attacked, lost the ball and left large spaces in their midfield for the opponent to exchange passes and involve the defense. This is due to the excessive advances of Gabriel Menino, who plays more like an attacking midfielder than a midfielder, and the more backward positioning of the defenders when the team attacks.

As Palmeiras has many other virtues, collective and individual, it wins almost all matches against Brazilian and South American opponents. But if it corrected the error it would be even stronger. There is an exaggerated deification of the team because of winning so many titles. In victories there are also deficiencies.

Água Santa’s victory over Palmeiras, Caxias’ draw against Grêmio and the increasingly frequent victories of inferior teams against superior ones, in Brazil and in the world, are demonstrations of the importance of technical growth and the evolution of strategies of small teams. They are no longer content with playing on the back foot and winning 1-0. They also want to show good football.

There are too many games, in Brazil and all over the world. Can’t watch everything. I draw on the opinions of commentators I like and learn from. I miss PVC, which I saw almost daily on live broadcasts of matches and on television sports programs. Sometimes, I sit on the sofa to watch a game and only then I discover that I don’t have access to the channel or I don’t know the stations or dozens of streams where the game will be shown. I am lost in this technological world. I’m glad people near and dear save me.

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