TITE PROUD AFTER MATCH AGAINST GRÊMIO SAYS: "FLAMENGO IS A WORKING GROUP"

Flamengo beat Grêmio by 2 to 1 this Thursday (13/06), at Maracanã, for the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship. It was the first match in the sequence that Mais Querido will have with absences from the Copa América. Thus, in the press conference after the game, coach Tite praised the strength of the red and black squad.

“I asked the president if he knew why we had won. He replied: ‘team’. He responded to what was represented. Flamengo does not have eleven players who start. Flamengo is a working group. And when I say working group, fans, management, coaching staff and athletes are included. That wins”, said Tite.

The coach was asked about Luiz Araújo, who came on in the first half and scored the two goals of the Red and Black victory. Tite then praised not only him, but all the athletes who played in the match, in which Flamengo had many absences.

Maybe that's where he will be represented. Not just Luiz Araújo, but all those who played in a game in which we had five national team absences, three injuries – Carlinhos, Allan and Ayrton Lucas -, two injuries in the first half. If you don’t have a team, a working group, it’s not enough. Including with fan support.”

“Yeah an athlete that we also have as one of our starters. It's a shame that we can only enter with eleven starters. But, the safest thing of all is that we have given the same content to everyone, even those who have played fewer minutes. This is our security. So, when the athletes enter, they are already 'routineed' with their training”, said Cesar Sampaio.

“Rationalize the calendar. Leave money aside and preserve the health and quality of the show”, said Tite.

“We are all mobilized regarding the tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul. Part of the effects are felt with the displacement of teams from RS. So, we feel empathy at this moment”, said Cesar Sampaio.

“I spoke to Roger (Juventude coach), I repeat here: the Championship is already unbalanced due to this. We have to try to reduce this difference. He is already unbalanced. He is unbalanced by what happened in Rio Grande do Sul. It's unimaginable, it's just those who experience it. We are unable to speak here. Only those who suffer and lose a loved one can experience the scale of this. We are talking about something that is much more, far beyond football. So, it's already unbalanced”, said Tite.

We can use common sense. The CBF is thinking about relocating some games. I don't want to equate it with the loss of Rio Grande do Sul, but we were also devastated, because we lost important players and these injuries, which hurt us. So, it's something we should think about. If you have common sense, that would be good too.”

“It’s not just the opportunity for those who enter , but from those who still play well too. Otherwise you’ll be left with a ready-made crutch of ‘We changed a lot’. Whoever is producing has to produce and whoever enters also has to produce. And then what we say is formed. With all the opportunities. Moving so many people and maintaining movement coordination is very difficult. Here's my thanks to the fans who understood this. After ten minutes, he started to support the team, because he understood the difficulty of the confrontation. These base kids, the more experienced athlete too, the more support he feels from the fans, the better he will produce. There will be more possibility of performance, more chance of victory, more ability to respect the Mantle. That's the relationship. This affection that the fans showed, specifically to Wesley, was very evident. Thanks. You are respecting Flamengo's entire history.”

“Yes, because the field speaks. More than the coach's will, the field speaks.”

“I don't hold anyone back. I wanted to go in with twelve. I was even thinking of a way to include Lorran and Arrascaeta, but it's not possible”, said Tite.

“We are very careful, he is a young athlete. His technical quality is a differentiator, but he has been gaining minutes and experience with players in that position. Having the possibility of working on a promise with players like Arrascaeta, Pulgar, Nico, Gerson, in short, there is a lot to grow. We are careful and give it time. It has responded very well. He's a fantastic boy, who enchants”, said Cesar Sampaio”.

“I'm going to ask whoever is watching to take a trip back in time. Think back to when you were seventeen. For me it's damn long. That was when I debuted at Caxias. You put on your shirt, a tension. These are all aspects of evolution. Imagine us being seventeen years old, we will already find some of the answer.”

“Just as I said that the field spoke in relation to Luiz, the field spoke in relation to Gerson. Gerson was playing a lot. Then you take the player from where he is producing well, put him somewhere else. Who tells me that if it had started with Gerson on the inside and Luiz on the outside it would have been this performance? Who assures me? Now it's easy, but that's the line of thinking. Is Gerson breaking through on the side? It remains and we will try to organize where it is not. Otherwise we will be left without coherence. Did it happen in the game? There it is. I called Gerson, now go inside, because creation is also inside, it's central, it opened up the possibility and leaves Luiz to do it inside. Especially because Luiz was producing well, but Gerson came in and produced more. This competition at a high level is important for the team.” What was it like facing an offensive team?

“It was a beautiful spectacle on the part of both teams. teams. A loyal, competitive search for the goal. They both have this characteristic. After we scored the goal too, when there was a pivot play and Grêmio came out, I knew it was going to open up spaces, because we had two arrows on the sides. It was no longer a frame one. It was an arrow with a side too, on the right side. Let me make an important acknowledgment: Thank you Léo Pereira and Léo Ortiz. There are two players who have been adapted, Ortiz played the entire base as the first midfielder, but he was and has been playing as a defender. If necessary. Léo Pereira is not his specific role. And he brings them in as a builder... And if they don't perform well, the situation is exposed, because it's not their place. And they were helpful and ready. I went to talk to Léo Pereira, who was returning from injury, I didn't even finish speaking and he said: 'You can count on me, professor. You can place it on the side. I'll play, no problem'. When I spoke to Ortiz: ‘I’ve already played at the base in this situation’. In fact, he took a hard time from me. If you have a cramp, you don't need to go beyond the ball line. I played a little, to show how they exposed themselves.”

“I see it the same way. I told the athletes two things. The first is that in the two titles I have in the Brazilian Championship, which is an extremely balanced championship, the group is fundamental. It's not the eleven, the group is fundamental. And second: If you maintain your leadership, great, keep it that way. But, you have to be in the G-4 in the last rounds. The last rounds that decide. The end decides.”

“Today we had to work hard to harmonize. We lost in all three sectors against a team that deserves all our respect, who beat us last year. So, we have to diagnose game by game. Even because of the injuries, we depend on the Department of Health, on re-presentation. We have focused game by game. This is a competition that we have to plan game by game. There's no point in making plans for a second, third, because sometimes you can lose the reference, the strategy for the next game. It is difficult. You have changes in the three sectors and manage to harmonize, in addition to the loss of athletes, and maintain the athletes' trust. Today, this minute, this victory, brings this confidence to the athlete himself. It's week by week, trusting in the next game.”

“I understand individual situations. There are games that ask for one thing, others ask for another. Sometimes the need is clinical, as happened. After wear. Opportunities will arise for everyone.”

“The ‘I’ doesn’t play. Flamengo is a Manto, it is a club, it is its fans. He is the biggest reason, the athletes who are exposed. I remember Gerson once said 'It's a great honor to play for Flamengo, but it's a huge responsibility, a huge demand'. So, it belongs to a direction, which has a responsibility to the Mantle. It's from a fan base that this affection passes on. After ten, fifteen minutes, when she started hugging the athletes, I looked and said 'yes, that's it'.

I can talk how respectful the relationship with Neymar was always at all times of work. We had a relationship of loyalty, saying things, right or wrong, always talking to each other. While he was always receptive to all athletes, especially young people who joined the team.