Roger Machado reveals what it takes to unleash São Paulo’s attacking trio | OneFootball

Roger Machado sees no obstacles in fielding the trio of Lucas, Luciano, and Calleri in the attack for São Paulo. The coach praised the players in the 2-0 victory over Chapecoense last Thursday at Canindé, in his debut leading the team, but revealed a condition for the three to play together.

In Roger's opinion, the Tricolor can have the offensive trio as starters in any match, as long as there is a “sacrifice” regarding the defensive part. He sees the players willing to take on this challenge.

“I believe it’s possible [to have the trio as starters]. We can also talk about Cauly, André, Ferreira, Tapia. These are trios that worry the opponent. We have three midfielders behind them, Lucas as a midfielder is very willing in the defensive part. We will start to adjust this, but I think it’s possible, it requires a sacrifice from everyone. Today’s game showed that they are willing to make this sacrifice,” he analyzed.

Lean Squad?

The coach admits that São Paulo will suffer from fatigue throughout this season but avoids labeling the squad as small. He believes it is possible to manage the players' energy during the games and values the fact that some of them can perform more than one role on the field.

“It’s hard to talk about a small or large squad. This season has two parts, the fatigue will be divided in half. You can manage the players' fatigue because the championship will stop for two months. Our squad has players who can perform more than one role, which makes the group seem larger. We also have the youth base. I prefer to work with smaller groups, introducing the younger ones into the model. I think we have the conditions to manage this calendar well,” he commented.

The young left-back Nicolas Bosshardt might gain a new role within this setup. Roger intends to observe the youth academy player acting as a midfielder.

“Before going to the locker room, I was told that Nicolas has already played inside. I asked him, if he is willing during training, I could take a look. We will look for replacement pieces for that position. The season is long and so is the fatigue,” he stated.

Roger's Plans

The debut victory does not satisfy the coach, who is already thinking about São Paulo's next match against Red Bull Bragantino. He plans to field the best available players and will assess each athlete's physical condition in the coming days.

“It’s a job with all departments. Tomorrow there’s an activity, we will implement concepts. We start evaluating who is fit for the next game. Those who are fit, I want to take to the game, but if there is a risk of losing someone, we will hold back. Today the field was heavy. We are dealing with it game by game. These early runs in the Brasileiro are very important to keep the dream of being champions alive,” he concluded.

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Standings Situation

The victory took São Paulo to the top of the Brasileirão standings alone. The Tricolor has 13 points, three above the runner-up Palmeiras, who were defeated by Vasco. It’s four wins and one draw in five games for the team, now led by Roger Machado.

Next São Paulo Match

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