ROSSI EXCITES FLAMENGO FANS, "WE ARE STRONG"

After the tragic elimination of Flamengo in the Libertadores, against Peñarol, the journalist Renato Maurício Prado, wrote in his 'Uol' column, questions, for him, without answers, regarding the work of Tite and the Flamengo board in the current season.

Following in full:

1. How can a team that needs to win not shoot on goal? In two entire matches, against Peñarol (which spends less than 15% of Flamengo's salary on its football), there were only two shots towards the rival's goal.

2. How can a coach leave the club's most expensive signing, Carlos Alcaraz, on the bench, preferring to exchange Fabrício Bruno for David Luiz, as if that would make any difference?

3. How can a coach who calls himself a "chameleon", for "knowing how to play in different ways", attribute the resounding failure of his work to the injury of a center forward, Pedro, around whom the team's entire scheme was created?

4. How this scheme never worked, even with Pedro on the field, during most of the poor Libertadores campaign, with defeats to Bolívar. Palestinian and what not?

5. How could the work of a year, considered by many to be the best Brazilian coach in activity, been unable to produce even a draft team with the supposedly best squad in Brazil?

6. How did Carioquinha's impregnable defense become a sieve, Swiss cheese, even though it has admittedly good quality players?

7. How did De La Cruz and Arrascaeta start to play so badly? What's wrong with preparing both?

8. How do Rodolfo Landim and Marcos Braz still think they will win their respective elections with another year of collecting failures, like in 2023?

9. How can Flamengo believe that they will win the Copa do Brasil by continuing such poor work?

10. How has Tite not been fired yet?

Gerson regretted the elimination of Flamengo to Peñarol, this Thursday (26), in the quarter-finals of the Libertadores. The teams drew 0-0 in Uruguay — the Uruguayans had won the first game 1-0, at Maracanã. The midfielder spoke about Flamengo's anxiety in the search for a goal in tonight's game and assessed that the classification was lost in the first game. What did he say?

Anxiety about scoring a goal. We had a good first half, we accelerated the game in the second half, we got into his game. It's sad, difficult to talk about. Frustrated with the result, we lost classification on the first leg, at home.

Gerson, on ESPN

They played both series for one ball, they got it and it's their credit. That's what they planned. It's difficult to talk, it's sad, we wanted things. Now we have to raise our heads, we have Brazil and the Brazilian Cup ahead of us.

Léo Pereira

We are angry about the game we played at home, but after we scored the goal we started to accelerate a lot. We were very impatient and left something to be desired at home. Here we impose ourselves, I don't remember a clear chance for them. It's about apologizing to the fans, we still have the rest of the season, we have to work hard to win the title in the Copa do Brasil or the Brazilian Championship.

Fabrício Bruno

The team's next opponent Flamengo will be Athlético-PR, in a match valid for the Brazilian Championship. The duel is scheduled for 8pm, at Maracanã.

The elimination of Flamengoin the Copa Libertadores was not an accident on the road, but a reflection of structural problems and mistaken decisions that have been accumulating for months. The lack of evolution in the team's performance, combined with questionable choices by the board and Tite's inability to correct obvious deficiencies, ended up resulting in a failure that was already underway. It is no surprise that the team fell by the wayside against Olimpia, especially considering the stance and planning adopted.

The main point of criticism begins with the assembly of the squad. Since Pedro's injury, Flamengo has lacked a suitable replacement. The option to keep Carlinhos and Gabriel, the “Gabi-ex-gol”, as attacking alternatives, proved to be a serious error. Carlinhos is a young man still developing and should not be played in such a pressure situation. Gabriel, once the protagonist, is going through a technical and emotional phase far below expectations, and was unable to find himself in the team under Tite's command.

The lack of planning was evident when, instead of looking for alternatives on the market, the board opted for internal solutions that did not have the capacity to replace Pedro's presence in the attack. This disproportionate reliance on limited pieces was costly and exposed the inefficiency of the offensive sector in decisive moments. The mistaken view that Flamengo could maintain the same level without its main striker proved to be a blunder.

The situation gets worse when analyzing the collective performance. Flamengo, which until then was known for its dominant style of play, has lost that identity. The team started to become predictable and with glaring flaws in marking. Under Tite's command, a tactical adjustment and a recovery of confidence were expected. However, this did not happen. On the contrary, the team seemed to lose itself even more on the field, showing a lack of defensive organization and, mainly, an absence of creativity in the construction of plays.

Another highlight was the performance of the defense, which fluctuated throughout the competition. Individual mistakes and the difficulty of positioning correctly in basic moves cost important goals and ended up determining elimination. Players like Fabrício Bruno, who stood out in the Brazilian Championship, did not maintain the same level in the decisive games of the Libertadores. This highlights the need for a reformulation in the sector and the search for pieces that can really add value to high-level competitions.