In the middle of the week, I started to like football a little more, seeing three great matches: Liverpool’s 4-0 thrashing of rivals Manchester United, Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Brighton and the draw in 0-0 between Flamengo and Palmeiras.
In this tie, Flamengo had more of the ball, but each team had three clear chances to score, as reported during the broadcast by the narrator Gustavo Villani, from TV Globo. More important than the possession of the ball and the number of shots, even on target, is the number of goalscoring chances, although this is not exact information as there can be different opinions about what a clear goal chance is. A team can shoot too much and not create any scoring opportunities, and also the opposite, have numerous chances without finishing.
Flamengo and Palmeiras played better in the first half than in the second, because of the fatigue resulting from the way of playing, pressing, and the lack of routine to adopt this marking. The human being is a rational animal, who thinks and lives by habits. It is necessary to train them and repeat them.
On the same day, Liverpool gave a ball at Manchester United. Thiago Alcântara once again gave a lesson in precise, beautiful passes, full of special effects. Fantasy can go hand in hand with efficiency. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Thiago received a standing ovation, when he was substituted, minutes before the end of the game, and even received a huge hug from coach Klopp.
But the best part of the game, as the master Juca Kfouri has already written, with journalistic technique and with tenderness, was to see all the Liverpool fans sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, after seven minutes of the game, in solidarity with Cristiano Ronaldo ( CR7), because of the loss, in childbirth, of one of the twins. At Anfield, emotion and reason go hand in hand.
The following day, Manchester City put on a show of collective football, with passes from foot to foot, from the defense, in the 3-0 victory over Brighton, and returned to the top of the Premier League, one point ahead of Liverpool. . Another midfielder, De Bruyne, more complete than Thiago Alcântara, was once again the highlight. He unites the best of a midfielder with the best of an attacking midfielder.
Football has evolved. About 15 years ago, Barcelona, led by Guardiola, revolutionized the way of playing, with pressure marking and passing exchange, characteristics that have spread around the world. However, each country, each coach, each team and each player has its particularities. Everyone does it in their own way.
Brazilian football has also improved, individually and collectively, with the help of new coaches, Brazilians and foreigners, but, on average, it still has many deficiencies. One of the reasons for the big drop, for decades, was the overvaluation of individual shots, scorers and dribblers and a forgetfulness of collective play and midfielders, representatives of the pass and control of the ball and the game. Passing and dribbling go hand in hand. Heroes aren’t just the ones who push the ball into the goal. The adoration for the individual has to do with the excessive ambition of Brazilian society.
One of the dilemmas in football is knowing, in the big moments, which is more important, technique and body movements or lucidity, creativity and emotion. Possibilities go together, like the body and the soul. One cannot live without the other.
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