Tite loses on Botafogo debut and speaks on fatigue; watch | OneFootball

Tite’s debut for Botafogo ended in a 2-0 defeat to Mirassol this Saturday at the José Maria de Campos Maia Municipal Stadium, in the 28th round of the Brazilian Championship. The result was not the only point analyzed by the coach.

In his first interview in charge of the team, the black-and-white coach sought to explain how accumulated fatigue and the difference in preparation between the teams affected the course of the match in the interior of São Paulo.

Botafogo had played in midweek, while Mirassol had the week free to prepare. For Tite, that difference became more evident as the game went on, especially after the opponent opened the scoring.

“Looking at the whole context, there were moments when we were superior and others when Mirassol was superior. We started the game better, but the goal caused an imbalance. That’s an analysis, not an excuse,” said the coach during the press conference, before continuing:

“Playing from Wednesday to Saturday was always going to bring that fatigue factor. Mirassol, because they didn’t play in midweek, came out at full speed from the start. We could have scored on Medina’s counterattack, there was Toledo’s chance, and two great saves by Walter,” he explained.

Hakim Ziyech gains ground in Tite’s first key decision

One of the new coach’s first moves was to bring forward Hakim Ziyech’s debut. Signed in the last transfer window, the Moroccan playmaker came on at halftime and took part in Botafogo’s main attacking moments in the second half.

The coaching staff’s initial idea was to use the player for a shorter period, but the need to chase a comeback led Tite to change the plan. Hakim Ziyech’s individual quality was decisive in that decision.

“(Álvaro) Montoro was one of the players who felt it the most in the previous match. He put in a lot of effort in the last game. Huguinho was also already on a yellow card, and the other change was to seek more aggression with (Cristian) Medina,” the coach explained before concluding:

“(Hakim) Ziyech gives you individual quality. I pushed his process forward more than I should have. The instruction was for 30, 20 minutes. But, because of the team’s need, I made that change earlier because of the quality he has.”

Botafogo needs to respond in the standings

The defeat left Botafogo on 35 points and in 11th place in the Brazilian Championship. The result also marked the beginning of Tite’s work with a team seeking to recover ground in the competition.

The debut therefore served for the coach to identify the first issues to be worked on, while the use of Hakim Ziyech already appeared as an option to increase the team’s attacking ability.

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