IDOL AND TEACHER! CHECK OUT HOW FILIPE LUÍS HELPS IN PLAYERS' TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL AT FLAMENGO

Flamengo overcame the absences, ending the season Copa América with a positive balance and remained in the fight for the top of the Brazilian Championship table. The performance had as one of the ingredients the use of young people raised at the base, in the face of numerous absences.

The person who started to integrate this transition process with the professional was the former full-back Filipe Luis. He was announced as Rubro-Negro's under-20 coach a month ago.

"Filipe Luís is a sensational guy. It's a win-win. He brought a lot of his experience, his experience, he has a very good approach with the players. And we are sharing with him all our methodology, work, the entire structure. It's been very good for both sides", said Vitor Zanelli, vice-president of the base.

Filipe Luís 'close' to professional

Filipe Luís took over the under-20s after playing for Fla's own under-17s, he was champion of the Copa Rio in the month past. He was promoted after the departure of Mário Jorge, who took over the Saudi Arabia under-17 team. The former full-back knows day-to-day life in a main squad. He retired at the end of 2023 with the red and black shirt, after becoming a professional player in 2003, for Figueirense, and arriving at Flamengo in 2019.

The management profile changes a little. Filipe Luís was a player and brings that experience under his belt, while Mário Jorge had good knowledge of working with young players. He started in 2011, with Audax's under-15s, and went through the Vasco academy before landing at Gávea, for the under-13s.

Filipe Luís spent a good part of his career as a player in Europe

In previous interviews, he said that his style as a coach is a mixture of everything he learned from the coaches he worked with, and cited Simeone and Jorge Jesus as some examples. The now coach has contacts with the professional's staff. Together with the under-20 committee, he accompanied some athletes who went to do activities with the main squad at the end of last month.

"There were 13 athletes who went up and the committee also went. It's not because it's Filipe, that's the club's process. This construction has to give us all the success we're experiencing. In September, we were Brazilian champions in the Libertadores. There were only two. Look at the reconstruction we had to do in five months", he pointed out.

Flamengo will compete in the U20 World Cup in August. The team was champion of the Libertadores category in March, beating Boca Juniors, from Argentina, in the final.

"The fact that [Filipe] went from under-17 to under-20 was It's a matter of opportunity. We realized that it could be very good for all coaches to move up a category. We are doing everything we can to make it work because our main objective is to win the World Cup." used professionally during the Copa América

Flamengo had nine games in the period between international friendlies and Copa América and five important absences. Tite then used seven boys from Ninho and another six were related and stayed on the bench.