Coach Fernando Seabra gave a press conference after Cruzeiro’s 2-1 defeat to Flamengo on Sunday night (30), at Maracanã, in the 13th round of the Brazilian Championship. The commander was questioned about the choices of some players and the team’s performance as a visitor. Check out the main excerpts:
Choose Kaiki and opt for Neris instead of Lucas Villalba:
“Kaiki played a great game in the last game and it would be unfair for him not to give him an opportunity in the next situation. It was his merit, and this has to do with the choice of Neris, since Kaiki is coming in after a long time and played a game with João Marcelo at his side. If we opt for Villa, we would need to move João Marcelo to the right side. We are equally satisfied with what we have seen in training with Neris and Villa. Villa have been seen a little more because they have been coming in and Neris has been working at the same level. We had peace of mind and security to make this choice. Neris’ performance today certainly reinforced this, he worked hard and played a very good game.”
Seabra also praised the choice of the trio of midfielders in Cruzeiro’s midfield, highlighting their ability to cover long spaces and rotate at high intensity. He highlighted that Ramiro, for example, ran more than 12km in some games and the leadership capacity they exercised:
“Our midfield is interesting. We need players who are tough and wide-ranging, who can cover a lot of space and move high throughout the game because we defend in large spaces. One of the things that is also important is reading and positioning. These are players who have shown good reading, excellent positioning, good adjustments and even very high work rates. We have reached two games in a row with Ramiro running more than 12km, a thousand meters at intensity, as has Lucas Silva. This guarantees that they will accomplish the tasks they need to accomplish. In addition, they have good reading, experience and know how to communicate well on the field. These are important aspects that add value to us.”
Seabra also spoke about the signings of Wallace and Matheus Henrique, believing that these players add value to those already in the squad, complementing their skills and important characteristics:
“In some aspects, the players being hired bring other characteristics. In Wallace, you have a large stature that is very important in aerial game situations and is an interesting option to also perform these functions through the center, either with two defensive midfielders or with three playing centrally. He has a very strong defensive characteristic, and is a player very accustomed to European football and has a very good command of the principles of zonal defense. We have other players, Matheusinho who is extremely dynamic, associative, with a lot of movement, who brings a short construction coming from the back and can come from the last third. These are important signings in the sense that they will add to what we have built and add different personal characteristics to the players who are here.”
Seabra explained that he chose to put Vital before Vitinho for two main reasons: Vital has the ability to unmark Matheus Pereira and is more effective with long-distance shots. Furthermore, Vital is better able to control the pace of the game, which was important at that moment to avoid counterattacks. Vitinho, being more vertical, was a strategic choice to enter later and intensify the pressure.
“At that moment, we wanted to put two midfielders inside to try to free up Matheus Pereira a bit, and Vital is a player who, with Flamengo’s defense closed and very solid, has a very good shot from the outside and would contribute to that in the game. He is a control player and Flamengo has a very strong counterattack and we needed a player who could push the opponent and leave us less exposed. Then we opted for Vitinho, who is more vertical and takes more risks trying to put pressure on us at the end of the game.”
Seabra explained that Cruzeiro faced two games away from home with one less player, but today they managed to compete on equal terms, creating more opportunities. However, he highlighted the need to continue working and developing solid playing form away from home to increase the team’s effectiveness.
“This is a very important point. I understand that we started the first three games with a draw against Fortaleza and a win against Atlético-GO. Then we had two away games in which we performed well, but the disadvantage of having one less player made the mission more difficult. Today we played with 11 players until the end of the game, we played an imposing game against Flamengo, we went head to head playing at their home ground and had more opportunities in the second half than they did. What we have to do is deepen this idea, keep working towards it so that we can develop a solid way of playing that will help us to be more important at home and be effective away. We had enough opportunities against São Paulo, Bahia and Flamengo to either extend the lead or make up for the deficit. In this sense, this ability to convert goal opportunities into goals is fundamental. At home we can do it, but not away. This is an aspect that we need to improve on.”
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2024-07-01 00:59:32
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