Abel: "Tough blow" after heavy loss, slams Palmeiras’ attitude | OneFootball

Coach Abel Ferreira admitted the “hard blow” suffered by Palmeiras in the 4-0 defeat to Novorizontino, away from home, in the fourth round of the Campeonato Paulista. The Portuguese coach acknowledged the poor performance and understood that the team entered the crushing defeat “mentally” disconnected this Tuesday, in Novo Horizonte (SP).

“It’s a hard blow, but I’ll be honest. When we are a competitive team, we can win against any team in the world. When we are not, we can lose to any team in the world. That’s what happened today. We were not competitive. I hope we can make all our mistakes in these types of games. We know the responsibility that comes with representing Palmeiras,” the coach vented.

Palmeiras saw Novorizontino take a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to two goals from Robson. In the second half, the third goal came from a mistake by Luighi, who lost the ball at the edge of the area. The goal that turned the home team’s victory into a rout, in turn, was initiated by an error in ball clearance.

“As I said, it’s a hard blow and when we don’t mentally prepare for this type of game, this type of result can happen. Just look at how we conceded the four goals. If you analyze any of the four goals, it’s not normal for our team. And it’s not normal because we were not competitive. It’s a heavy defeat, but it will be even greater if we don’t learn from what happened here today,” said Abel.

Collective Responsibility

Abel Ferreira made it clear that the responsibility for the defeat to Novorizontino falls on everyone, even the newly promoted youth players. The coach lamented not having the full squad available but reiterated that the start of the season is for testing, precisely to overcome possible injuries to starters.

For Tuesday’s match, for example, Palmeiras was missing seven players: Vitor Roque (rested), Paulinho (right leg surgery), Facundo Torres (left thigh injury), Felipe Anderson, Figueiredo, Andreas Pereira, and Lucas Evangelista (transition).

“Let’s just make things clear. There are many injured players, we are not at full strength. Point number two: I’ve said more than once that we will bet on the young players, we will test them. Today, we saw goals we cannot concede. The responsibility of representing Palmeiras is enormous. We know the risks of betting on the youth. But the youth has never been and will never be a problem, but a solution. I, as a coach, know what I’m doing. In midfield, for example, I have no choice but to give opportunities to Larson, to Luis [Pacheco], who is doing very well. In defense, we can rotate, take advantage of Arthur. Throughout the year, there are many injuries, as happened last year. If not now, it won’t be in a Libertadores final that we will start testing them,” he emphasized.

“Yes, it’s a hard blow, perhaps the biggest defeat since I’ve been here. I’ll end as I started this interview. When we are a competitive team, we are prepared to beat any team in the world. When we don’t compete, as we did today, we can lose to a team that is in the fifth division, which is what happened today,” concluded the coach.

Situation in the Standings

With the result, Palmeiras suffered their first defeat in the Campeonato Paulista and lost the chance to take the lead, which could have happened in case of a win and a slip by Red Bull Bragantino. The Alviverde dropped to third place, remaining with the nine points from the start of the round.

This was also the worst defeat of the Abel Ferreira Era. During his five years at the club, the coach had never suffered a setback by four goals difference.

Now, Abel Ferreira’s Palmeiras will need to quickly pick up the pieces, as they have a classic ahead this weekend. The Alviverde faces São Paulo this Saturday, at 6:30 PM (Brasília time), at Arena Barueri, for the fifth round of the Paulista.

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