Opinion – Tostão: The alleged wisdom of technicians and analysts is sometimes denied

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In Libertadores, Athletico and Palmeiras played a tight, ugly game, with very few chances to score and an absurd number of balls thrown from defense to attack, especially by the team from Paraná.

Athletico does not have the individual quality of Palmeiras, although it has hired several good players, but it manages, against Palmeiras and the main Brazilian teams, to equal the possibility of victory. It’s a virtue. This has been going on for several years and it became even more evident with the pragmatic Felipão. Athletico is already a great team and a great club in Brazilian football.

All the coaches in the world, each in their own way, want to win. All are utilities. Some, in addition to efficiency, are more concerned with the quality and beauty of the show. Those are the specials.

Do Palmeiras want more to win the Brasileirão or the Libertadores? Abel Ferreira, the athletes, the board and the fans want to win both titles. There are good conditions for this.

Flamengo’s 4-0 rout over Vélez, pushed by its vibrant fans, is a symbol of the current superiority of Brazilian teams in South America. It will be another Brazilian final in Libertadores. Flamengo’s current squad is even better than 2019’s, one of the reasons Jorge Jesus has almost always used the same team.

Pedro has been excited, deserves the call-up and has a chance to shine in the national team, but creating the expectation that he will play for the Brazilian team the same as he plays for the club is reckless, a lack of knowledge of reality and the technical differences of the team and opponents. Which duo is better: Pedro and Gabigol or Gabigol and Bruno Henrique?

Flamengo, which has played great individual and collective football, uses a tactical design from the 1990s, with four guards in the center, two forwards and no open player, who can attack and defend. This is contrary to modern football, as all the great teams in the world play with wingers or, in the scheme with three defenders, with wingers. It is yet another demonstration that the best strategy is the one well executed, with the players in the right positions.

The alleged wisdom of technicians and analysts, including myself, is sometimes disproved. The field speaks and teaches. This doesn’t mean that statistics and painstaking scientific details aren’t critical. Knowledge has several sides, technical, physical, emotional and unexpected details, which are reflected in the performances and results.

Players, coaches and professionals from all areas need to evolve. For this, it is necessary to train on the pitch, in learning with coaches and in day and night dreams. It is necessary to dream.

Football progressively evolves in the details. I saw, on Globo Esporte, the image of a free kick training session at Real Madrid. There were several robots, similar to humans, forming the barrier, and they jumped, at the same time and at the right moment, when the ball was thrown over them. Robots seemed more effective than players in the real game. All that was missing was the robot lying behind the barrier.

Man and machine are getting closer each day, and there is no turning back. The machine also brings great benefits. The problem is the human being’s eagerness to embody it, to identify with it. That’s what happens when someone creates a character, falls in love with him, and the two become the same person. Will the new man dream too?

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