While Flamengo won 1-0 against Atlético Mineiro, Jorge Sampaoli’s team, Domènec Torrent to “reverse the pyramid.” The wingers Rafinha and Filipe Luis went to the center of the field before all Willian Aro and Flamengo formed in 2-3-5, an early 20th century formation and protagonist among the followers of Pep Guardiola.
It’s a radical concept to put five defenders with five strikers, no Brazilian coach would go down that road to check the opposing defense, but for Flamenpass it wasn’t enough to avoid a 0-1 defeat on Torrent’s debut.
A week later, the Brazilian champion scored 3 goals against newly promoted Atlético Goianiense.Torrent reveled in aligning Rodrigo Caio on the right side who turned against him and further a huge hole between forwards Bruno Henrique and Gabriel Barbosa.Suddenly Flamengo, unrecognizable from the time of Jorge Jesus, at the bottom of the table.
In Torrent, the Carioca club was looking for a successor with the same profile as Jesus; a coach with a modern and progressive concept of how to play football. The Spaniard has never been the club’s first choice, with former Watford coach Marco Silva and former Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim among the top illustrious candidates.Of course, Torrent – nicknamed Dome – also had strong credentials: as an assistant, he spent a decade with the top priest of the apprenticeship guild Pep Guardiola.
His undeniable agreement with Spanish, whose philosophy based on the immediate exchange of positioning, urgency and overtaking has long been the leader of the fresh coaching market, has been a primary asset in the hiring process.
His record as head coach, however, is more modest.In two seasons at MLS, he led New York City FC to the last four playoff games once.He was in the set of structure and covered the inverted extremes towards the end of his tenure.
But the concept that each and every coach at Guardiola’s school will excel by default is dangerously imperfect. At Arsenal and Anderlecht, it remains to be noted how Mikel Arteta and Vincent Kompany will shape their groups in the symbol of a typical Guardiola outfit.
In Brazil, Torrent discovered incredibly complicated things in his new club.His scenario is multiple: each victory is considered a component of Jesus’ legacy, while Torrent is singularly guilty of defeats.The parade of Jesus’ 12-month victory.who beat and defrauded the dogmas of Brazilian football and delivered a drama of ordinary chromatic intensity has become an incomparable paradigm.The fans, with a pathological obsession to win, and the media claim to prevail.
Torrent, however, was tasked with bringing stability to flamengo through respect and construction on the foundations that Jesus laid for an era of rubro-black domination.The Spanish coach has made concessions to his philosophy.In principle, he adheres to the “or jogo de posicao”: players remain in their designated spaces and wait for the ball to arrive.Against Coritiba, Torrent returned here to Jesus 4-4-2 and won his first 3 points, however The team’s game lacked arrogance last season.
In the first part of 2020, Flamengo’s march to the crown of Carioca, the local state championship, was never in doubt, but Pablo Mari’s departure to Arsenal replaced the dynamics of the total team His replacements, Leo Pereira of Atlético Paranaense and Gustavo Henrique de Santos, are the fresh Brazilian power plants, which protect in and around the surface , they’re not offering the same speed.As a result, Flamengo’s aerial play slowed down.
It was not another bass under Domenec, whose slow motion game is not in sync with a season that accelerates at a frightening pace.Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Brazil’s schedule has become even more crowded, grouping two seasons in a year and a half, which has forced some of the most sensitive clubs to play up to 145 matches in all competitions.Distances in Brazil, a country of the length of a continent, are enormous and travel times are long.Major clubs and players are caught up in an endless trend of gameplay and recovery with little or no time to train.
Last week, Domenec nevertheless enjoyed an uninterrupted time of education with his players before Sunday’s game in Santos.Last weekend, his team 4-3-3 opposed to Botafogo revealed how he wanted his players to occupy the area with Pedro Rocha hugged.Flamengo tied the game, but was the clearest indication to date of the direction torrent is leading his team.
Flamengo and Brazilian football – 4 coaches have already fired this season – will have to think beyond short term and instant gratification, although Torrent fails will have been the right choice, their concepts enrich Flamengo and the local game.They nourish the brain and a culture in general. In more than one tactic, it’s priceless.For now, Torrent just wants to have more time to compete with Jesus.
I’m an independent football journalist in Belgium.I have traveled to more than 20 countries to report on the match.This summer I went to Azerbaijan for Europe.
I am an independent football journalist based in Belgium, I have traveled to more than 20 countries to report on the match, this summer I went to Azerbaijan for the Europa League final, I went to Spain for the Champions League final, I covered the FIFA Congress and the first days of the Women’s World Cup in France and spent too much time on bed buses in Brazil’s Copa America.I contribute to INSIDE World Football, World Soccer, Josimar, The Blizzard and BBC Radio’s Focus On Africa, among others.I’m also releasing an ebook about my passion, the Brazilian team of the 70s.Graduated from Leuven Law School and Columbia University’s J-School.