Jardim eyes Benfica clash, on Flamengo pressure and Mbappé link | OneFootball

Flamengo coach spoke to the press this Friday (10)

On the eve of Flamengo facing Benfica (POR), coach Leonardo Jardim spoke to the press about the likely lineup and the transition work from the academy. In addition, the manager commented on Kylian Mbappé, France’s star, whose national team secured a place in the 2026 World Cup semifinal.

Flamengo and Benfica face off at Estádio Algarve this Saturday (11) at 3:30 PM (Brasília time), in a match worth the traditional title of a friendly tournament in Portugal. It will also wrap up the Rubro-Negro’s series of games in Portugal.

DO YOU PLAN TO USE THE ACADEMY KIDS?

Coluna do Fla reporter Simon Lédo asked about the use of young players in the first team after the mid-season break. Leonardo Jardim spoke about the challenge of integrating prospects into the senior squad.

— You know Flamengo better than I do. For an academy player at Flamengo to break into the first team, he has to be a super player, he has to be a Paquetá, a Vini Jr, he has to be a super player. If he isn’t a super player, it’s hard to wear the Flamengo shirt, because at the first mistake he’ll be called out, there will be very strong criticism, so many of these youngsters will have to take the path slowly. Like Evertton (Araújo) is managing to establish himself. But I don’t forget, I’ve followed Flamengo for a long time, and when Everton started appearing in the first team he was also heavily criticized, heavily criticized, he only played backward, he only played sideways -, he began, before adding:

— That’s why it’s not easy, it’s not easy to be young at Flamengo, but I certainly always have a soft spot for them, because I built my whole career by paying attention to young players, I launched dozens of youngsters at the highest level at every club I’ve been at. I value putting them in the lineup, but I’m certainly at the club that is possibly the hardest in my career for bringing through young players. While at Sporting, Olympiacos, and Monaco I introduced some youngsters with some ease, here at Flamengo it’s not easy to bring them in because the pressure on them is very big -, he concluded.

ROOTING FOR FRANCE?

Jardim revealed that he is rooting for France in the rest of the World Cup. It is worth remembering that the coach was responsible for launching Kylian Mbappé into professional football when the French star was just 16 years old and played for Monaco (FRA).

— I had the happiness of working with dozens of young players who reached the highest level. Mbappé is one of the icons among those youngsters I introduced. Of course, today I’m happy. I was happy with France’s victory yesterday. For three reasons, mainly because I have many friends in France, where I have a home and where my son and my family currently live; I also have a great friendship with Deschamps, a friend of many years; and I also have a player in the national team who was developed by us. That’s why it’s a team I’m going to support. After Portugal-Brazil went out, I’ll have to support France until the final -, he revealed.

READ OTHER ANSWERS FROM LEONARDO JARDIM:

ABOUT BENFICA

“I think that more than studying the opponent, we need to focus on our own ideas. We’re here to play the last match of the tournament in Portugal. A match between two very strong badges, an emotional game, a celebration for the fans, especially for our fans who don’t have the chance to watch Flamengo here in Portugal. Many of them live in Portugal, and it is important for them that we always show a good version of ourselves, a good game, because when we are far from our country and we are immigrants, our hearts beat differently. I myself have been an immigrant for many years, I know what it is like to be an immigrant, and I think we have to greatly respect these supporters and these people who are in Portugal trying to improve their lives”.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS TIME IN PORTUGAL

“Certainly for this group, for these attacking players plus the goalkeepers, it is about reactivating the team and the ideas involved. We had a longer period of work, that is important, and they gained a little bit of extra stamina for what comes next, for the second quarter. As for the others, who are with the national team, some of them are injured and we don’t know when they will return. So it is always important to work, because the break was mandatory. I had already said that I would have preferred there to be no Club World Cup and no break, because then we would work with all the players, but that was already decided. We have to organize ourselves this way and try to make sure that the players who are here mainly gain the ability to come into this start of the league, especially in these three games, because the base will certainly be made up of the players who were here with us”.

POSSIBLE WAYS TO USE SAMUEL LINO

“He is certainly an alternative, in strategic terms, to use Lino. I had already done that with Coritiba and developed that idea in these preseason matches. That happens because we don’t have any attacking midfielder, we don’t have Paquetá, who can play there, we don’t have Arrascaeta, we don’t have Carrascal. And without those players, without any attacking midfielder, we have to find alternatives. And I usually joke that they pay me to come up with alternatives even within the group itself”.

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