Opinion – PVC: Palmeiras leads Brazilian, but rounds indicate balance

Palmeiras is the best team in the country and in the championship. Even so, the first 11 rounds indicate balance. It is not a triangular between Atlético, Flamengo and Palmeiras, as many people imagined. So much so that the leader has 22 points and the lowest score in eleven games since Figueirense (2004).

Abel Ferreira changes the strategy with each opponent and, even so, has the most repeated tactical design. Against Coritiba, he kept Zé Rafael and Danilo as midfielders, a four-man defensive line, Dudu on the right, Veron on the left, Scarpa organizing and Rony as a centre-forward. Raphael Veiga remains injured and Gustavo Gómez in the selection.

Scored the goal in a rehearsed corner kick. Of Palmeiras’ 78 goals this season, 42% came from set pieces.

Especially in a sequence of matches, with rare practices, those who play from memory have the advantage.
Because Palmeiras has had a coach for 19 months, during which time Atlético, Corinthians and São Paulo had three coaches, Flamengo had four, Santos had five, and Inter had six.

Sixth name in Colorado, Mano Menezes helped Internacional jump from 13th place to the fight for Libertadores. It is often said that it is more difficult to see the systems and define them. The moves change when attacking or defending, they also changed theirs against Flamengo.

Without Edenílson, he chose Rodrigo Dourado as an open midfielder on the right. He didn’t attack from that side, whose corridor was occupied by the side Bustos. On the opposite side, forward Wanderson had a defensive obligation and completed the four-line midfield, always ready to be the sprinter. He scored two goals.

Was it 4-4-2 or 4-3-3? It depended on whether or not he had the ball.

Internacional can be the pursuer of Palmeiras, as Corinthians, Atlético and São Paulo have a chance. A lot of people still bet on the Rooster’s reaction. Your marathon will include Copa do Brasil and Libertadores. Some of the strongest teams will run out of steam.

Reason to pay attention to Internacional, Corinthians and São Paulo. Rogério Ceni tries to give personality to a team that draws a lot and gave up his advantage five times in the second half. Against América, Rogério Ceni lost Diego Costa, as third defender.

He held Igor Vinícius in defense, opened Rodrigo Nestor on the right almost like a winger at the beginning of the match and then changed it due to the need to balance a difficult confrontation. Luan was injured and Patrick, his substitute, scored the winning goal. Lean and holy Vitória São Paulo.

Corinthians played well against Juventude. Vítor Pereira knows that he needs to define a base, he prefers to have three men in the middle and three in the attack. Sometimes he needed to play with three to have Mantuan as a winger, because he had an injured right-back (Fagner), a weak one (João Pedro) and another accused of racism (Rafael Ramos). The Portuguese coach knows that the performance needs to be more stable. Even so, he is in second place and is the most direct pursuer of Palmeiras.

The championship will be a long obstacle course. But it gives signs. Palmeiras had not won at Couto Pereira for 25 years, since the 1997 Copa do Brasil, or 33 years for the Brazilian. Winning easily as he did on Sunday (12) is a sign that the team is going far.

It’s gale…

Dorival Júnior arrived at Flamengo with an apparent pact with historic players and those he knows, such as Thiago Maia. Lost by 3 x 1 and Flamengo will close the round in 16th. The red-black with no identity has had five coaches since Jorge Jesus and spent R$22 million on contract terminations.

ten changes

With the dismissal of Paulo Sousa and the hiring of Dorival Júnior, two new changes of coach. There are already 10 in 11 matches, more than the 9 recorded during the entire 2021/22 Premier League season. The epidemic of exchanges reduces the chance of having five, ten clubs with good collective play.