Abel Ferreira on Allan’s Palmeiras renewal: ‘I spoke to Barros’ | OneFootball

First of all, congratulations to our Palmeiras. Second, I want to dedicate this win to Lito. Keep going, don’t give up. Regarding the question, it was a special day for all of us. Palmeiras is all of us: fans, players, coaches, everyone who loves Palmeiras. It’s a special day for the Palmeiras Family. Since 2020, when I arrived at Palmeiras, the only constant has been change. Change at every level. Internally, we created a culture and, to create a culture, we need habits. Habits require high standards, and that means processes. At Palmeiras, it’s been six years of work and a huge challenge in always looking for solutions after selling players. But you remember my first signings: Kuscevic and Breno. Before that, Leila was criticized for not signing players. She has always acted responsibly, without losing ambition. And it looks easy. You look at teams and see how many back young players and still fight to win. None. That’s down to the work being done in youth development. We invest a lot. No player comes up without Castanheira’s approval. He is responsible for that approval, and the coach decides when he goes in. Heittor, for example, came on scared out of his mind. That’s part of it. It’s good for him to understand that the pressure is huge, but that’s how it starts: five minutes, then 20 minutes.

I’ll say it again: Brazilian football spares no one. Not the players, not the coaching staff. Our squad is very thin, very thin. It’s a shame because we have three injured players who would give us other solutions. We need to assess what Arias and Gómez have. We’re going to take our chances with what we have in the competitions we’re in.

Arias — the one who made that possible was Leila. We sold one for 40 and paid 25 for him. The conversations I had with him were crucial. He told me he could play on the right, on the left, and in the middle. But I asked where he likes to play, and he told me it’s on the right. I said it was difficult because of Allan, but we knew, we knew the player, and we spoke with him. We have Felipe, who can play there, and Khellven too. Since I’ve been here, we’ve played in several systems. I remember perfectly the great win against LDU, when we played with three center-backs. We knew that Santos, in the way they defend, are different, just like Fortaleza. Santos defend man-to-man with cover. I think we played a solid game, but we had two or three chances we can’t miss. That’s part of football. I know they didn’t want to miss.

Look, the system is static. Then it becomes dynamic, it rotates. Chelsea, Atlético Mineiro — do you know how they play? It’s hard for me to talk about formations with you. Everyone has their own opinion. A system gives you whatever you want. A three-center-back system can be attacking, and a back four can be very defensive. I like playing with three center-backs. They can give me seven players attacking. It gives tremendous strength on set pieces. I do everything I feel is best for Palmeiras.

What is talent? For me, this is the greatest talent. In terms of dedication, nobody is better than Giay. He misses passes, he misses crosses, but he gives everything, everything. And with time, I guarantee it: with a little calm and affection from the fans, he’ll start getting assists, and you’ll see the player he is. And I’ll say this: what gives me the most pleasure is when we arrive and build a group that didn’t have the same talent as this one. Now we’re bringing the two things together. We could already have sold him, and we didn’t. And what he did on that assist is something that goes beyond football, something that spreads to others.

I won’t find anywhere else what I have here. Not at Barcelona, not at Real Madrid. It’s hard to be at a club where you have a voice, freedom, and everything else. And I’m happy to be at a club where three people work for the club: Barros, Abel, and our president, Leila.

After the LDU match, I told Barros: ‘I think we should renew this player’s contract. He’s performing above what he earns.’ And not only are we going to renew it, we’re also going to buy the rest that’s still outstanding. Palmeiras had 70%, and we ended up buying the remainder. It’s very easy to work at this club.

1. 8/30 (Sunday): Mirassol vs Palmeiras (Brasileirão) - 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time)
2. 9/2 (Wednesday): Santos vs Palmeiras (Copa do Brasil) – 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time)
3. 9/6 (Sunday): Botafogo vs Palmeiras (Brasileirão) – 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time)

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