"TEAM DIDN'T EXIST IN THE FIRST HALF", RECOGNIZES DINIZ ABOUT FLUMINENSE AGAINST FLAMENGO

Fernando Diniz was not at all happy with Fluminense's performance in the defeat to Flamengo this Saturday (09), at Maracanã, in the first game of the semi-final of the Campeonato Carioca. The coach criticized the team's attitude in the game, especially in the first half. Diniz was asked if the team's starting lineup, with Ganso and Renato Augusto in midfield, could have contributed to the poor performance. He said that one thing has nothing to do with the other.

"Based on the analysis of the game, to answer your question, obviously when a team plays the first half as badly as we did , the coach is responsible, there is no point attributing it to other factors.But this explanation that the fans want to know... If the team played badly, naturally they would say it was because of Renato Augusto, but it has absolutely nothing to do with it. If that were the case... the team improved in the second half, didn't it? Just because Ganso left? But Lima came in, who is another midfielder, not a midfielder", said the coach at the press conference after the match.< /p>

"What changed was the team's attitude. The team that didn't exist in the first half. If it were just due to marking, the team would have exchanged passes with more speed, created more chances. But we didn't create and we didn't score. It's always that easy thing, and football isn't that easy. It's not because Renato Augusto and Ganso played. We missed a lot of passes, we played poorly , he chose poorly whether to play short or long. The team didn't exist because of a whole, it's not because of this easy thing. If you want to think that, you can," added the tricolor coach.

"The team in the second half had a different stance, more volume, was more aggressive. That's why it improved, it wasn't because of the lineup. I always prefer to bet on what is most correct for the team. We lost a little more marking, but we were going to gain more quality, technical imposition, which didn't happen. Even with one down we played better than in the first half", he concluded.

Last year, Fluminense also lost 2-0 to Flamengo in the first game of the Carioca final, but won the title with a 4-1 victory in the second round. Diniz, however, states that the moment is now different and that what happened in 2023 cannot serve as a parameter.