Marcão on Fluminense win: “We can’t lose our identity” | OneFootball

Coach details Ganso’s introduction to regain possession in the final stretch and highlights the team’s maturity in moments of pressure

Fluminense overcame Corinthians’ pressure in the second half and secured the away win after adjustments made by Marcão. The coach explained that the substitution in the second half was aimed at regaining control of midfield and keeping possession to activate the attacking unit, slowing down the home side’s momentum after the break.

In his analysis after the final whistle, the Tricolor boss pointed out the awareness needed to correct the team’s positioning and contain the opponent during the most unstable moment of the match.

— Corinthians came back very well in the second half. Building in our half and pressing in the final third. They were creating a lot even with our team organized. But spending too much time near our goal was very risky. We lost a little bit of possession, which is something we’ve been demanding. That’s why we brought on Paulo (Ganso). Lucho had a very good 45 minutes, but we understood that we needed Paulo. It got a little closer to what we wanted, and we managed to take the ball away from Corinthians to get it to Serna and Canobbio. We congratulated them in there. We knew that, playing under this pressure, they were going to give everything. The players were very tactically committed and were rewarded with a great win — Marcão explained.

Asked about the recent ups and downs the team had shown in previous matches, such as the games against Vasco and Platense, the coach praised the group’s toughness and highlighted the ability of the more experienced players to stick to the tactical plan under pressure.

— We can’t lose our identity, what we’ve planned for the matches. Today you’re playing against a very good team, with several talented players. At some point in the game they’re going to take control, like what happened in the game against Vasco. They made a lot of adjustments, with players operating on the inside. And then we need to close the lines and stay more compact so we can defend ourselves and, when the opportunity comes, create a scoring chance. We won the ball in central areas and had the chance to attack. The most important thing is for the players to know what they’re doing in the different phases of the game, even when the moment belongs to the opponent. We knew Corinthians would come to play, that they were in front of their fans, pushing to try to come back... The players carried out our game plan from the week and executed it very well — the coach emphasized.

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