Artur Jorge hails Cruzeiro response after exit, praises Pereira | OneFootball

“First of all, I also want to say that it is important to mention our fans’ support today, because it is not easy, after an elimination, for them to be with us today and stay until the end encouraging the team, helping with what was our commitment. Once again, it was a balanced match against an opponent we played twice for another competition. We knew it was important to give a response today, especially from the point of view of competitive attitude, so that we could look ahead to this match and this competition, where it was important to win in order to continue the path that has been built by this team, by these players, in an extraordinary way, and also to separate the disappointment, the hard blow of being eliminated from the Copa Libertadores, from being able to give a response here today as they did, I repeat, especially in terms of competitive attitude, in order to win the game.”

“This was a game that had a particular aspect, I repeat, given what happened three days ago, in which we could also have been playing against memory. A memory that today could have been a weakness for us, or a strength.”

“I believe that in the first few minutes we showed some weakness in allowing the opponent greater control, but then we recovered what was also our pride, what has always been our competitive attitude, and what came to the surface was also our ability to fight for the game, to level it, to be superior at certain moments, and to get the win. It was extremely important for us to get this result today, knowing it was very difficult because we were playing against the current champion, just as we were eliminated by the current Libertadores champion, so this is our standard, and I would almost say our obligation, to give our best in every game, always seeking the result.”

“Criticism will always be with us, there is no getting around it. We can, and I have already told my players this too, if we do not have the ability to handle criticism or pressure, then we are in the wrong place.”

“Now, I also think, regarding criticism, and when it becomes individualized, I think it is in poor taste because Matheus is the best player in the Brazilian Championship, the numbers show that, in terms of his display, in terms of his performance. Do not forget that we came from 20th place in the league to 5th place now, at this point we are also only alive in the cup competition, and we have to be able to find some balance in our analyses and in the way we absorb the noise.”

“And then being able to get a response from players who, even with little or less playing time, still produce this level of performance—João Marcelo, Villalba, Fagner—players who perform like this because they train well, because within our day-to-day training demands, they are competitive athletes.”

“There are moments when I look to make that rotation because I think and believe that I am, or that we are, covered with the player who can fill that position. It was not the happiest game defensively from our full-backs at the Maracanã, and as such, we have solutions to try to rotate and even to understand how we perform with other players, and that was the case today. Today Villalba and Fagner played, exactly because they are players who are also ready to play, and today they gave a very good response as well.”

“When I talk about internal competitiveness, this is what I mean: the player being aware that the margin for error is very small, knowing that there are teammates right there who can become the option when we do not fully deliver. And for us to win more often, to continue on the path we have been on and to have the ambition to win something, we really have to be very competent and 100% competent in every game.”

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