The game is dangerous – 03/12/2024 – Tostão

During the 1-1 draw between Vasco and Nova Iguaçu, commentator Eric Faria (SporTV) drew attention numerous times to the huge spaces left by Vasco in the middle, where Nova Iguaçu exchanged passes and created many scoring chances. This occurred due to little filling in the midfield and, mainly, because the three defenders were glued to the penalty area, even when the midfield advanced marking. This is an old and outdated stance, still common in Brazilian and South American football.

Atlético-MG, once again, used this same tactic in the 2 x 1 victory against América, who exchanged many passes in the middle, but did not take advantage of the chances to score. Fluminense, in the 2 x 0 defeat against Flamengo, advanced marking in midfield and the two veteran and heavy defenders, Felipe Melo and Thiago dos Santos, remained very close to the penalty area. When Fluminense’s midfield managed to return, they scored close to the two defenders, so as not to leave spaces. On the other hand, it gave all the facilities for Flamengo’s talented midfield to approach the area with ease.

Flamengo, with Tite, is more solid and more compact, with fewer spaces between sectors. The defenders have had an intermediate positioning, between the penalty area and the center of the field. It’s balance, the coach’s magic word. Midfielder De La Cruz moves easily from one midfield to the other, always with great quick and forward passes.

Many big European teams play with defenders almost in midfield. They are quite compact. The distance between the furthest player and the most advanced player is around 30 meters, which makes it very difficult for the opponent to keep the ball and exchange passes. However, there is always a catch: these teams leave large spaces behind the defenders in front, which is sometimes negative, as happened in the 1-1 draw between Manchester City and Liverpool, two of the best teams in the world. The game could have ended 5 x 5 due to the countless missed chances.

Liverpool is the only team in the world that faces Manchester City and is not dominated, suffocated and does not retreat to counterattack.

In the middle of the second half, Guardiola, in an attempt to keep the ball more, used the classic playmaker, Kovacic, which worked. But he removed De Bruyne, to the surprise of everyone and the player, who complained — which never happens. Guardiola has already replaced De Bruyne on other occasions at important moments in the game. I have the impression, and I could be wrong, that the admiration that Guardiola has for De Bruyne is less than that which I and everyone else have for the Belgian player.

This Wednesday (13), Bragantino, at home, faces Botafogo, who won the first game 2 x 1, in the fight for a place in the group stage of the Libertadores. Coach Pedro Caixinha will probably repeat the strategy of advancing defenders and pressing to recover the ball in Botafogo’s field, as he has done successfully against big Brazilian teams, even at the risk of leaving large spaces in the defense for counters. quick attacks from Botafogo.

Football is a dangerous game, full of risks and uncertainties. Correct or incorrect strategies can go wrong or right because of countless factors. Unexpected details often change the score. After the match, with the fait accompli, there are always great arguments to explain the result.

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