Find out how Eduardo Baptista changed minds at Internacional | OneFootball

Eduardo Baptista has not yet taken charge of Internacional, but he is already facing one of the challenges of his arrival: distrust. Introduced on Thursday, the coach managed, in less than an hour of interviews, to change part of the fans’ perception of his appointment.

RTI Esporte Agency has learned that Inter’s board assessed Baptista’s demeanor during his presentation. Internally, the club saw confidence to take over a squad under pressure, objectivity in his ideas, and frankness about the difficulties.

Baptista also reinforced traits that weighed in his favor in the decision. He showed a willingness to embrace the pressure and convinced the board that the squad can still respond in Brazil’s Série A.

The choice, at first, was not received unanimously by the fans. On social media, the coach’s name was compared to other professionals previously considered by the club, such as Luís Zubeldía and Diego Aguirre.

What weighed in the coach’s selection?

Alessandro Barcellos stated that Eduardo Baptista was the only coach with whom Internacional actually negotiated. The board, however, consulted other professionals during the search for Paulo Pezzolano’s replacement.

In this context, the assessment of Baptista was not limited to his résumé. The club was looking for a coach willing to take the job immediately and capable of dealing with a high-pressure environment without using the moment as justification for possible difficulties.

At his presentation, Baptista reinforced exactly that profile. When asked about Internacional’s situation, he avoided treating the scenario as a problem with no solution. “It’s my great opportunity, I don’t see a fire. I see a difficult situation, but I see a lot of possibility.”

Coach will have little time to respond

The positive initial impression, however, still needs to be confirmed in the day-to-day work. The board expects Eduardo Baptista to quickly establish organization, improve the team’s collective behavior, and find a lineup capable of picking up points.

RTI Esporte Agency has also learned that the coaching staff intends to use the first training sessions to observe the players individually before making deeper changes. The evaluation of the squad will be important in determining who will have opportunities going forward.

Eduardo Baptista will also have direct involvement in choosing the team and defining priorities for the final stretch of the championship. The previous coaching staff left behind a high-pressure scenario, and the new coach will need to find answers in a short period of time.

The presentation, therefore, served as the first contact with the fans and with the club’s political environment. The speech reduced part of the initial resistance, but the result of this change in perception will be measured on the pitch.

For Eduardo Baptista, the convincing phase ended quickly. Now begins the most important stage: turning the confidence shown in his presentation into organization, performance, and points for Internacional.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.