What Santos can take from defeats to Palmeiras and Flamengo 💡 | OneFootball

Santos suffered two consecutive defeats in the last two rounds of the Brazilian Championship and sank into the relegation zone. First, Peixe lost to Palmeiras 2-0 at Allianz Parque. Then, they were defeated by Flamengo 3-2 at Maracanã.

With these setbacks, the Alvinegro Praiano remained in the relegation zone and occupies 17th place, with 33 points. The Santos team is only two points behind Vitória, who only drew with Botafogo this round and is in 16th place with 35 points.

Despite the negative results, Santos was able to take some positives from the two matches against the leaders of the Brasileirão. The fighting spirit shown against Flamengo, the Boys from Vila, the run of games for previously sidelined players, and the evolution of Willian Arão.

Good first-half performance and fighting spirit

Santos did not achieve good results, but there was some good news: the attitude shown by the team in the first half, both against Palmeiras and Flamengo. In the derby, Peixe withstood the initial pressure from their rivals and went into halftime without conceding a goal. Against Rubro-Negro, they only conceded in the 37th minute, but looked organized and conceded the goal after a scramble in the box.

Moreover, against Flamengo, Santos showed fighting spirit with some changes made by coach Juan Pablo Vojvoda. Although they did not manage to equalize, the Alvinegro Praiano pressured their opponent by scoring two goals in less than five minutes. Bontempo and Lautaro Díaz scored. This determination was praised by the coach.

“I take that from this, the not giving up on a difficult pitch, with an unfavorable score. I take that from the players, the commitment. I want, and I had already asked from now on: continue. Continue, don’t give up, we’re losing and let’s go, let’s keep going. We have to go, we have to fight. And I want that from my players. I demand that. I am suffering just as the players and the fans are suffering, but Santos will not give up, we will keep fighting,” said Vojvoda in a press conference after the game against Flamengo.

The coach even gave a brief analysis of the two games against Palmeiras and Flamengo and highlighted exactly this duality of Santos. On one hand, the team has not played badly. On the other, they have let important points slip away in the fight against relegation.

“The performance in these games was not bad. The team competed and that’s good. But at this stage of the Brasileirão, we have to compete and pick up points. I see the glass as half full. The team responds, the team fights. But if I see the glass as half empty, I say we didn’t get points. And at this moment, we have to get points. What I say to you, I say to the players. I want the team to play well, it’s true. Sometimes I get upset about that. I’m a coach who wants to play well and win. But at times like these, if I have to choose one thing, I’d rather play badly and win. I’m passionate about football and I want to win. If you guarantee me that we’ll play badly and win, I’ll sign here. But I can’t guarantee that. So we’ll keep working to play well and win,” he said.

Boys from Vila

The performance of the Boys from Vila against Palmeiras and Flamengo also deserves recognition. In the derby, Robinho Jr. started and played 65 minutes. The 17-year-old had a quieter game, but was one of Santos’ main outlets and pleased Vojvoda.

Against Flamengo, Robinho Jr. and especially Bontempo shone. The midfielder came on in the 17th minute of the second half, while the forward was brought on only in the 40th. Both of Peixe’s late goals, however, involved both players.

For the first goal, Robinho Jr. hit it first-time, point-blank, and struck the crossbar. On the rebound, Thaciano headed it back into the middle, Flamengo’s defense failed to clear, and Bontempo slotted it into the net. For the second goal, minutes later, Robinho shot and Rossi parried. Rollheiser played it back and Lautaro Díaz finished.

The Boys from Vila, therefore, responded once again and showed that the academy youngsters can be solutions to help Santos escape relegation in this final stretch of the Brasileirão.

Run of games for ‘sidelined’ players

The two matches also served to give more opportunities to some players who had been ‘sidelined’ at Santos, such as Zé Ivaldo and Thaciano. The defender regained his starting spot, while the forward was used by Vojvoda in both matches.

Thaciano had not had a run of consecutive games for the team since September. On that occasion, the player came on in the second half in the 1-1 draw against Atlético-MG and, later, in the 1-0 win over São Paulo. After that, he had only played about ten minutes against Ceará, on October 5.

Vojvoda even justified Thaciano’s inclusion against Palmeiras. “The game was 0-0, Palmeiras had more and more possession, as expected. I needed a number 9 who could make transitions, Tiquinho has different characteristics. I didn’t see the game for Tiquinho,” explained the Argentine.

On the other hand, Zé Ivaldo had not had a run of games since the consecutive matches against Fluminense and Atlético-MG. In the latter, the defender was sent off and ended up being left out, also due to the arrival of competitors Adonis Frías and Alexis Duarte.

Vojvoda has been testing alternatives in Santos’ starting lineup to get the team out of the relegation zone, and the return of previously ‘sidelined’ players could be useful in this moment of pressure.

(Photo: Raul Baretta/ Santos FC)

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