They didn't forgive! Tite and Flamengo's board are harassed by fans at Maracanã

In a tense game at Maracanã, marked by the fans' dissatisfaction, Flamengo achieved an important victory against Athletico-PR in the final minutes. Gerson's goal, in the 44th minute of the second half, brought a breather to coach Tite, who had been heavily criticized throughout the match.

The decisive play began with a beautiful exchange of passes between Arrascaeta, De La Cruz and Wesley, who found Gerson free to head and open the scoring.  The fans, who protested intensely with chants of “shameless team”, exploded in celebration after the goal.

Up until that moment, the pressure on the coach and the red and black squad had reached a critical point, especially when the team was facing difficulties in controlling the game and creating clear chances. Even with the victory, the fans who were present did not enjoy the victory and protested at the end of the game: "You have to be willing."

During the game the fans protested the entire time against Tite, Landim and Marcos Braz. At Maracanã there were more than 28 thousand people present, the worst of the season so far. 

With the hard-fought victory, Flamengo remains in 4th place in the Brazilian Championship, adding 45 points. Although the result momentarily relieved the pressure on Tite, CRF still faces a challenging sequence of games and needs to find more consistency to remain competitive and fight for the top spots in the table.

On Sunday night (29), Flamengo faced Athletico-PR and spent another match without scoring goals. Rubro-Negro even managed to create plays, but the attack was unable to be effective. Thus, Mais Querido fell to fifth place, with only 45 points gained in 28 rounds. MATCH SUMMARY

The match between Flamengo and Athletico-PR started with Mais Querido dominating. This is because, in the first few minutes, Rubro-Negro managed to throw the ball into the opponent's area through corners and Léo Ortiz almost managed to open the scoring after a rebound given by goalkeeper Mycael.

The team from Paraná also had his moments of dominance and forced Rossi to make a great save after Zapelli took a clear free kick. The negative highlights of the first half were David Luiz, who suffered with Cannobio and Gabigol, who did not take advantage of the chances he had to open the scoring and received a yellow card after disagreements with Gamarra. At 42', Gerson takes a risk from outside the area, but the opposing goalkeeper manages to save.

In the second half, the confrontation was the same as in the first half, but Athetico-PR took advantage of a chance and Pablo managed to make a good move, arriving in the Mais Querido area. However, the player was offside.

So, Tite decided to make changes to the team and changed the left flank with Alex Sandro, the defense with Léo Pereira, the attack with Bruno Henrique and the midfield with De La Cruz and Arrascaeta. However, the team only knew how to circulate the ball at the edge of the area, but were unable to finish. At 32', Gabigol created a play with Alex Sandro, but despite the full-back managing to make the cross go just right, the attacker lost.

During the match and throughout the final minutes, the red and black fans did not forgave the team and protested strongly. The biggest targets were coach Tite and the board. However, in the 44th minute, Wesley sent a beautiful cross to Gerson's head, which he put into the back of the net to give Mais Querido the victory.

Just like last year, Flamengo is on track to repeat a season of frustration and lack of relevant titles, the result of mismatches in the strategies adopted on the field and off it. The defeat in the quarter-finals of the Libertadores, yesterday, against Peñarol (Uruguay), once again highlighted the poor work of Tite and his coaching staff. All marked by disastrous errors of route led by the board of Rodolfo Landim, Marcos Braz and company, in the midst of a tumultuous calendar of games and an unusual number of injuries in the squad.

Increasingly closer to a new square one in the coaching position, as there is no indication that Tite will have his contract renewed, the red-black player can only close 2024 with the Campeonato Carioca title, something derisory for the expectations generated by one of the most powerful squads in South America. From now on, GLOBO explains why this season turned into a disaster.

In the scenario of Brazilian coaches, Tite still presents himself as the best name, and is accompanied by a vast committee and well divided among competent people. However, it didn't fit into Flamengo. The work that began in October 2023 had the mission of organizing the squad and guaranteeing a place in the Libertadores. For this year, the idea was to evolve red-black football and make national and international achievements natural. At the same time, the Gaucho's six-year stint with the national team changed his football profile.

Before proposing more aggressive football, see Corinthians, Tite is looking for more of a positional game these days. Again, Flamengo's squad did not appear to be the most adept at this. Since the unforgettable 2019 season, the pillars of this team, such as Arrascaeta, Gerson, Bruno Henrique and even Gabigol, have worked in a more mobile scheme. Far from this characteristic, offensive sterility prevails, in addition to defensive fragility that has never been resolved.

In a calendar that can border on 70 or 80 games in Brazil, teams that set out to go far in all competitions are ironically punished with the wear and tear of their players. But this is a reality far from a solution, requiring a choice of priorities, and Flamengo chose to "embrace the world". After not winning anything in 2023, they wanted to start the new season with all their strength, and won Carioca absolutely.

The least demanding competition of the year, however, gave the wrong impression. Meanwhile, the club undermined its campaign in the Libertadores group stage, finishing in second place and always needing to decide away from home in the knockout stages. Already in the midst of the Brazilian Championship, in which the club is fourth, 11 points behind leader Botafogo, it is preferred to save money to focus on knockout competitions, a policy that has been in place since 2021 and was only successful in the following season. Now, virtually only the Copa do Brasil remains — semi-final against Corinthians.

This season also brought an extra challenge: the Copa América, which removed five players (Arrascaeta, De La Cruz, Viña, Varela and Pulgar) from Flamengo from various mid-year commitments, as the CBF did not stop its calendar in the middle of the dispute. Although the team performed well during the period, the physical part was taken to the extreme, with the remaining players needing to make extra efforts. To conclude, those called up returned, but also in a fragile situation and the team "crumbled".

The imponderable factor also helps explain a season that follows the script of failure. The main one: losing Pedro, the team's top scorer, for the rest of the year, due to a serious knee injury in a training session with the Brazilian team. Important names, such as Everton Cebolinha and Matías Viña, were also permanently injured. Injuries in the red and black team appear excessively in 2024.

It is worth noting that the spate of recurring muscular problems is also due to Flamengo's inability to choose their priorities. If all athletes play on all fronts, the bill will arrive at some point. In April, Diogo Dantas' blog reported that Tite's rotation at Flamengo was more concerned with performance than injuries. In the end, so many physical problems make it impossible to maintain a standard of play that meets expectations.

Chasing losses only when they already appear is one of the red-black management's most serious mistakes. There is no shortage of money for the club with the highest revenue in South America, which made Argentine Carlos Alcaraz its biggest signing of all time. The mid-year package still had Michael (injured), Alex Sandro and Gonzalo Plata, but bringing them in at the last minute still had little effect and revealed the lack of planning, while the opponents did it in an organized manner. Yesterday, Alcaraz didn't even step on the field in Uruguay.