EYE ON THE RIVAL! VASCO COACH HAS PROBLEMS SCALING THE TEAM AGAINST FLAMENGO

Coach Ramón Díaz will have headaches when choosing Vasco, Sunday (22), in the classic with Flamengo. Doubts hover over all sectors of the field, but not all of them are negative for the coach.

Starting with the defense. Medel is back after defending the Chile team in the Qualifiers. Vasco's captain, the defender has a guaranteed return. However, the great game played by Maicon in the victory over Fortaleza, qualifies him to fight for a place among the starters.

Maicon has had solid performances for Vasco under the command of Ramón Díaz, being a starter in the games against Palmeiras, Bahia, Fluminense, São Paulo and Fortaleza, all on the right side of defense. As the team is used to playing with Medel and Léo, a change in defense is ruled out for the classic.

Untouchable

In midfield, the Vasco will have the return of Paulinho. The player is treated as the team's absolute starter, so much so that Ramón Díaz greatly regretted his absence against Fortaleza. With the return of the midfielder, the tendency is for Marlon Gomes to leave the team. Vasco's youngster was substituted at half-time in the game against Fortaleza because of muscle pain, and is a doubt against Flamengo.

The possible absence of Marlon Gomes further increases Rossi's absence. The attacker felt the hamstring in his right thigh again, which took him out of the games against Santos and São Paulo. With the player out of the classic, Ramón Díaz loses a safe option to play on the wing, a position that has been a real unknown.

Pec, Vegetti and...

For the sector , Vasco has Gabriel Pec consolidated as a starter, able to play on both wings. Serginho and Orellano had opportunities, but lost space. Alex Teixeira didn't even start a match with Ramón Díaz, coming off the bench in just two games.

In this way, Payet was the left winger in the games in which he started, the last against Fortaleza. However, after Rossi's entry at halftime, the number 10 played in the middle, increased his production and scored the winning goal. The Frenchman has shown that he has a place in the team, as long as it is not on the side of the field, but to do so Ramón Díaz will need to reconfigure the team.

New roles and positions

The most viable is to play Paulinho on the right side of the field. This way Gabriel Pec would play on the left and Payet would be more centralized, alongside Praxedes, who could eventually retreat to form a midfielder duo with Zé Gabriel. Despite being considered an offensive midfielder, Praxedes has been Vasco's leader in tackles since he debuted in the team, with 21 such actions, according to the website Sofascore.

It is also worth highlighting that Paulinho has already played open for the sides of the field in the teams he passed. In Vasco itself, it is common to see the midfielder escaping at speed down the right side. In this way, he provided an assist for Vegetti to score, in the 5-1 defeat of Coritiba, in São Januário. To make these changes, Ramón Díaz will have two training sessions before the classic with Flamengo.