Jardim has used 20 Flamengo players, only four yet to play under him | OneFootball

Leonardo Jardim has used 20 of the 24 available players in his opening three Flamengo matches, signalling rotation while preserving a steady defensive core. With Brasileirão, Copa do Brasil and Libertadores to contest through the year, he will need to rotate and tweak his XI.

According to Globo.com, the club lists 27 professionals, with three currently unavailable: defender João Victor at the Libertadores Sub-20, and Saúl and Bruno Henrique in the treatment room.

In all three games the starters were goalkeeper Rossi, centre-backs Léo Ortiz and Léo Pereira, and left-back Alex Sandro. Midfielders Pulgar and Jorginho and forward Pedro have also been retained in Jardim’s side. Rossi and Ortiz are the only players yet to be substituted.

Jardim said he shuns splitting squads and wants a unified group with two options per position. He added that everyone has the quality to execute the team’s ideas, changes will follow needs, those currently playing more could feature less, and keeping the same 11 for 11 months is difficult.

With a comfortable margin by early in the second half of Saturday’s clássico, the 3-0 win over Botafogo, he handed first minutes under him to Vitão, Ayrton Lucas and Evertton Araújo.

Four available players are still awaiting a first outing under Jardim. Goalkeeper Andrew is likely to feature more, while Dyogo Alves is currently squad cover. Defender Danilo and midfielder De la Cruz also remain unused.

Source: Globo.com