Roger credits São Paulo win, shrugs off boos: “I just want to work” | OneFootball

Coach Roger Machado shared the credit for São Paulo’s 4-1 thrashing of Cruzeiro on Saturday night at Morumbis, in the 10th round of the Brazilian Championship. The manager praised the squad’s tactical discipline in the win and explained the use of a system with two wider wingers.

“São Paulo’s identity is the way we found to better balance the team. I saw an alternative structural setup to the one we had been playing with, feeling the need for what we were able to do today throughout the entire match. It’s a structure I like, because you have connections down the flanks. It’s not simply a matter of playing with wingers that you’ll create plays from the byline. You can also play with superiority through the middle. Today the idea was to give Luciano more freedom to roam, with Marcos [Antônio] and Bobadilla moving closer to him. It worked well, especially the strategy we came up with,” the coach said.

“We knew that, because of Cruzeiro’s players’ technical quality, they would push us back into our own half at times. But because they stretch the field with six players on the last line, it would give us outlets after winning the ball back, in behind the full-backs. It’s a win for the players, who embraced and worked on the strategy even with little time to rest, and it worked well. A great performance,” he added.

The coach also revealed that the idea of using a strategy with pacey wingers came after Lucas Moura’s injury, when he fractured two ribs in the match against Atlético-MG. The initial idea was tested against Internacional, with Artur coming in alongside Luciano and Calleri.

Then this Saturday, against Cruzeiro, Roger opted for an attacking quartet made up of Ferreira on the left, Artur on the right, Luciano as a No. 10, and Calleri as the focal point. He then explained why he chose to play with only two holding midfielders and four attacking players.

“Cruzeiro’s strengths, at certain moments, if we did a good job of blocking the central player, could give us an advantage. It’s an opponent that puts six players on the last line: the center forward, the two wingers, the two full-backs, and they build up with four players. That gave us the spaces we found to open the scoring, winning the ball in the middle and switching play from one flank to the other with lots of space to attack. You can have as light a team as you want, if the players are tactically committed, it usually works. And they were very committed. We made an adjustment before five minutes had passed. Matheus Pereira was drifting into space behind us, we already knew that, and from then on we managed to win the ball and counterattack efficiently,” he explained.

Roger plays down boos

Roger Machado also played down the boos from the fans and made an appeal to the supporters, asking for backing for the work being done. The coach’s name was booed by part of the crowd at Morumbis during the lineup announcement.

“I respect all opinions and the feelings of the fans, but all I want is to work. I’m a serious professional who works incredibly hard. I need the fans’ support, their trust in us. The players are dedicating themselves day by day so we can take São Paulo where the fans want it to be,” he said.

“To be honest, I didn’t even hear the fans booing me. But it’s all fine. Just as after the first two wins they also chanted my name. There’s no problem at all. The more results we get, the less that will happen and the more support I’ll have. It’s all fine,” the coach concluded.

Roger Machado’s São Paulo now returns to the pitch this Tuesday, when it opens its Copa Sudamericana campaign. Tricolor will visit Boston River-URU at 9:30 p.m. Brasília time at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo.

League table situation

With the result, São Paulo returned to winning ways after three rounds, having come from two defeats and one draw. The Tricolor paulista also moved up to 20 points and will go to sleep in second place in the Brasileirão after Fluminense slipped up against Coritiba. São Paulo now hopes for Bahia to stumble as it hosts Palmeiras this Sunday.

São Paulo’s next matches

Boston River-URU x São Paulo (first round of the Copa Sudamericana) Date and time: 04/07 (Tuesday), at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Centenario Stadium, in Montevideo (Uruguay)

Vitória x São Paulo (11th round of the Brasileirão) Date and time: 04/11 (Saturday), at 4:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Barradão, in Salvador (BA)

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