Opinion – Tostão: We only talk about intensity, but it takes talent

In this season of signings and players leaving, the superiority of those who arrive is evident over those who leave, which improves the efficiency of Brazilian teams. However, to make a leap in quality, it is essential to change the calendar. Everyone complains, and everything remains the same, because those who profit from so many games don’t want changes.

Because of the balance between the teams, the predictions are at great risk of going wrong, although the tendency is that Palmeiras, Atlético and Flamengo, who have the best squads, grow during the Brasileirão.

At the moment, the team that most pleases in the way of playing is Fluminense, directed by Fernando Diniz. The approach of players in midfield, through the center and on both sides, maintains numerical superiority over the opponent, to exchange passes, have control of the ball and the game and involve the opponent. Ganso has, in Fluminense, the conditions to do what he knows, with short and intelligent touches, which deceive the marking.

Obviously, Ganso lacks intensity, an essential quality in modern football, but one that is being overly valued, treated as a fetish. It’s just about intensity. It’s not enough to be intense. It takes talent, even more so in midfield, a place where plays are built. The intensity associated with the excessive number of games, as in Brazil, also facilitates injuries, which are becoming more frequent.

On Monday, in Botafogo’s 1-0 victory over Bragantino, the game was intense and terrible, with only kicks, long balls and crosses into the area. The goal could only have come out on a splashed ball, after an aerial play.

In addition to intensity, another keyword in modern football is space. It explains everything. Santos, in the defeat to Flamengo, advanced the midfield and left a huge space between the sector and the defense. Éverton Ribeiro, acting more in the center, lay down and rolled.

A huge difficulty for Brazilian teams is to be compact, due to the mistakes of the coaches, who make mistakes and hits, which does not mean that mistakes and successes are the reasons for victories and defeats. I repeat, for the thousandth time, one of the reasons for the intense change of command of the teams is the overestimation of the coaches, by the fans, by the managers and by the press, as if everything that happened in a game was because of the behavior of the coaches.

In Fluminense’s 4-0 victory over Corinthians reserves, Fred came in at the end and scored a goal, in his style. On Saturday, against Ceará, it will be the official farewell to the pitch. Fred deserves a lot of applause. He was a great scorer, an excellent striker, second only to the greatest players in the position in the history of Brazilian football, such as Ronaldo, Romario, Coutinho and Reinaldo.

styles

The great writer Milan Kundera, when he moved to France at a young age, said he was struck by the differences in behavior between the average people in the Czech Republic, who are more spontaneous, emotional and cheerful, and the more reflective, introverted Parisians. and formal.

They say Neymar will leave PSG. The main cause would be the antipathy and criticism of the French towards the player, for his stardom and distance from French culture. The opposite happened with Raí, who shone in France, also for PSG, at the time when the club was not so powerful. If Raí had as much talent as Neymar, he would have a Champs-Élysées statue.