Crespo backs rotation, frustrated by São Paulo defeat: "Nothing positive" | OneFootball

Coach Hernán Crespo once again mentioned the need to use the Paulista Championship as a ‘testing laboratory’ at the start of the season. São Paulo has been rotating its squad, which happened again in the 3-2 defeat to Portuguesa at Morumbis this Wednesday, in the fourth round of the State Championship. Despite this, the coach did not hide his frustration with the negative result in front of the tricolor fans.

“I’ve already said it. It’s the start of the season. I don’t have space to try, I think this is the moment to give a chance to those who need minutes. I think it’s the right time. Clearly, no one likes the result, because in the process of the team’s growth, we have to try, see what works or not,” Crespo commented in a press conference.

“The calendar doesn’t allow this to happen inside the training center, but in front of the public, with results, in a competition, and things happen that would normally happen on the training pitch. It’s the time to build a playing idea, to promote the physical development of many players. In the process, everyone would prefer positive outcomes. Tonight, there was nothing positive,” he added.

São Paulo’s play seemed very concentrated on the flanks, especially the left, with Ferreirinha. The forward created some dangerous plays and was frequently sought out by his teammates. The strategy was devised by Crespo, but it didn’t work.

“We thought Portuguesa might play with a lower block. We put Lucas and Ferreirinha, two players with those characteristics, to create, with Calleri in the middle, but it didn’t happen. To play a certain type of game, you need courage to have the ball and play, intensity, aggressiveness. None of that happened in the first half,” explained the Argentine.

Does the table position worry you?

With the negative result against Portuguesa, São Paulo saw the pressure in the Paulista Championship start to increase. The Tricolor suffered its second defeat in the State Championship and dropped to 12th place, with the same four points as at the start of the round.

Crespo, however, did not seem worried about the situation and made it clear that the main objective is to reach the quarterfinals, but without giving up on the squad rotation.

“No, we’ve already talked about it. The idea is to put the car on the track. In the meantime, give chances to players who need them, bring in academy players, give them the chance to make mistakes. The situation itself, no one likes it, São Paulo cannot allow itself to lose to Portuguesa, with all due respect. It happened. We already know what we can’t repeat,” he said.

“In the meantime, we’ll try. See what works and what doesn’t. In training, doors open. In the midst of it, try to fix things. But there are things no one likes. I have to draw conclusions and understand what we can’t repeat. With pain, because no one likes to lose,” the coach concluded.

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