Opinion – Tostão: Creating alternatives is fundamental, in football and in life

​I realize, in Brazil and in the world, that small and/or inferior teams organize themselves better and better defensively when they face stronger opponents.

When they lose the ball, they quickly retreat to form a low block, the expression of fashion, with more defensive marking, with eight to nine players close to the area. It can be two rows of four, one of five in the back and four in the front or the opposite, one of four in the back and another of five in the front. I prefer the two lines of four, because each defender has a secretary, in addition to leaving two players for the counterattack.

Evidently, most of the time, no matter how good the positioning, the small team loses because the pressure is great, because the ball hovers close to the area throughout the game and, mainly, because there is a difference in individual quality. Some of the more romantic coaches of the lower teams prefer to take risks, with the philosophy that if you’re going to lose, it’s better to try to win, even if you get thrashed.

The big top teams that put pressure on have also evolved, in an attempt to overcome the opposing hurdles. They turned the ball a lot from side to side to catch the open winger, light, with more conditions to dribble and cross. The Brazilian team did it very well against Paraguay, with Vinicius Junior on one side and Raphinha on the other. It’s the return of the points, fast and skillful.

Teams that put pressure on and that have great cruisers and headers have an advantage, since, because of the blocking at the entrance of the area, most of the goals come from crossed balls. The crosses are strong, curved, without the ball going up so much. Scarpa, from Palmeiras, Arana, from Atlético, Reinaldo, from São Paulo, and others do this very well. In corners, good headers, usually very tall, start from behind, take impulse and head accurately.

Many big teams alternate, in the same game, the two strategies, of scoring further and further back. Atletico Madrid, managed by Simeone, did this efficiently in the same game. Now, it hasn’t done well either way.

Fluminense, in Fla-Flu, for most of the game, scored further back, with competence, a task made easier by the fact that Flamengo does not have fast and aggressive players on the sides. Some teams, like Manchester City, sometimes play with three defenders and in the attack, climbing wing in the wing roles, very open and aggressive.

Creating alternatives at the right time is fundamental, in football and in life. Being one is important, but being more than one is seductive. Mines are many.

Polarity is creative and fascinating. Evidently, there are times when it is necessary to define, to make choices, without this meaning having just one possibility.

There is more than one way of doing and being. “What do I know what I’ll be if I don’t know what I am? To be what I think? But I think I’m so much!” (Fernando Pessoa)

palm trees in the final

In the first half, the game was lukewarm, lackluster on both sides, with no chances to score, with the Egyptian team scoring further back, until Dudu gave a great pass for Raphael Veiga to penetrate and score. In the second stage, right at the beginning, Veiga reciprocated and gave a great pass for Dudu to finish with precision. Al Ahly tried to react, but the Palmeiras defense, as always, performed very well. A well-deserved victory, in the style of Palmeiras, with a lot of marking and isolated moves and at speed.