Cuca admits poor form, blames home woes and eyes turnaround in coming games | OneFootball

“Starting from the end: Scarpa came off because we put in a playmaker in his place who gets into the box more. He was too far from the box and we needed someone closer to Hulk. That’s how it was. One playmaker out, a second striker in. If he had been playing so well, he wouldn’t have come off. I think the first half was very good, we created chances to score and failed in finishing, it was an intense, fast-paced game, back and forth. We had more possession and shots, but we weren’t effective and didn’t score. Cruzeiro, with an unassuming ball, scored an atypical goal, a great goal, and it changed the whole game, the context became different.”

“In five games, there have been four home defeats, if we include the Grêmio match. What used to happen in the past, the opposite is true today, we are really behind in that regard. There’s no way to explain what’s happening. We have to work to find solutions. Once again, we conceded a goal from a set piece, just like against Grêmio. And it’s not for lack of training.”

“We have to be realistic, we’re not playing as well as we can. We can play better. There are important players who can play. We’re not getting the best out of each one. It’s not for lack of work or dedication. It’s just not happening.”

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t win. Things could have gone better. Then we had to open up the team, I took a risk, took Franco off to have more creativity. Dudu got tired, Cuello too. Then the team got a bit disorganized, which happens. We put a defender up front to try to create a better aerial opportunity, but the game was already out of our control.”

“You have to believe, anything is possible. Just as we lost here, we can go to the return leg and get the result. It’s very difficult, Cruzeiro is in a great moment, everything is going right for them. Their moment is better than ours. They already have a settled team, a system, they gained time over us by not being in so many competitions, not having the same wear and tear, even though we rested the team, it wasn’t enough.”

“It’s very hard today to say anything positive to the fans after a derby defeat. The celebration they put on today was incredible. Yesterday too. I have no complaints about the fans. But it didn’t work, unfortunately the result didn’t come and we have to manage it. Without looking for someone to blame. The main one to blame is the coach.”

“Tactically, what do we try? Today I tried a front two, Cuello and Hulk, and we were doing well. Then we moved Cuello out wide, with Scarpa as the playmaker. Then we put in two playmakers with Igor and Reinier. Everything we could change tactically, we did. Sometimes it gets better, sometimes worse. If we had kept the team as it was, I didn’t feel we were creating enough to equalize. It still wasn’t enough, the team can definitely play better.”

“I don’t have a deadline. I do my best. Everything I can, I put into practice. I don’t have a deadline and I’m not sure things will improve. I want to work and make things better.”

“Today there were players who didn’t perform as they can. We don’t need to name them, but they play much better than they did. And it’s up to the coach to get the best out of each one, I have to improve in that aspect to get the most out of them.”

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