Opinion – Tostão: Dorival Júnior has overturned some old and modern clichés

Until Thursday night (18), we will meet the four semifinalists of the Copa do Brasil. While in Europe the main focus is on national championships, in Brazil, increasingly, the focus is on cups, Libertadores, Brazil and South America.

Flamengo’s 5-0 victory over Athletico at Maracanã, with the two reserve teams, has nothing to do with this Wednesday’s game (17th), in Curitiba. If Flamengo’s holders are clearly superior, the difference between the reserve teams is much greater. In addition, nobody has the advantage of goals, and, at home, the Hurricane usually gets possessed.

Of the five goals at Maracanã, four came from a corner. Set-piece goals are becoming more frequent in Brazil and around the world. It is a technical advance, as long as it is not an obsession of coaches or the only strategy.

The four goals occurred for collective and individual merits of Flamengo and for failures of the Paraná team. In these plays, in addition to having tall and well-positioned defenders, it is necessary to have a player, who can even be a short one, in front of the opponent, to block him in the race to take momentum and head.

Dorival Júnior has overturned some clichés, old and modern. One is that reserve players need to repeat the starting positions. In Flamengo, they are two very different teams. The reserve team has open ends, which mark and attack, which does not exist in the main team.

Another cliché is that coaches need a lot of time to form a great ensemble. Dorival quickly got the team right by scaling the players in the right positions. More important than the time for chemistry is to place athletes with characteristics that complement each other.

As in 2019, today there is euphoria with Flamengo, but if Athletico is eliminated from the Copa do Brasil, which will not be a zebra, they will return, which should not happen, the criticism of the coach and the players, even more that Flamengo is nine points behind Palmeiras in the Brasileirão, although the team is in the semifinals of Libertadores.

The same disappointment can occur with Fluminense. The team has a goal advantage, but nothing is decided against the good team of Fortaleza, in Maracanã. If Flu is eliminated, criticism will return that Fernando Diniz’s work has time to expire, especially after the 3-0 defeat to Inter.

In that game, Fernando Diniz adhered to the fashion of saving players, replacing, when the game was still 1-0, the three best players from the middle to the front, Cano, Ganso and Arias. He missed the chance to turn the tide. Saving players who have physical problems is more than necessary, but saving to avoid injuries and/or because there will be a match three days later is an exaggeration, even more so since the team was doing well in the Brasileirão.

São Paulo, with the advantage of one goal over América and, mainly, Corinthians, with the disadvantage of two to Atlético-GO, are at risk of being eliminated in the Copa do Brasil. The disappointments would be enormous.

Corinthians, with the hiring of several good players and a well-known Portuguese coach, thought they would soon form a great team. São Paulo has a good chance of being South American champions, but it will be a little celebrated title, as the club and the ambitious Rogério Ceni have bigger dreams. The coach’s greatest desire is the Copa do Brasil, a title that São Paulo lacks.

Everything is uncertain.