Cuca avoids excuses, slams Santos after Sula loss: “Game we couldn't lose” | OneFootball

Coach Cuca avoided making excuses to justify Santos’ defeat to Deportivo Cuenca-ECU on Wednesday night, away from home, in the opening round of the Copa Sudamericana. The absences of Neymar and Gabigol, for example, were mentioned by the coach, but were not used as excuses in light of Peixe’s inefficiency.

Neymar was rested for load management, while Gabigol is dealing with tendinitis in the adductor of his right thigh. Peixe also had Miguelito (muscle fatigue in the thighs), Escobar (fever), Gabriel Menino (right thigh injury), Vini Lira (ACL surgery on the left knee), and Tomás Rincón (lack of visa) unavailable.

“Besides those three players [Neymar, Gabigol and Miguelito], plus Escobar and Igor Vinícius, these are very important players. Neymar, Gabigol and Miguelito are very technical, they are badly missed, but we didn’t lose because they weren’t here. We lost because we weren’t able to score. We created the plays, but we weren’t able to finish them,” Cuca said.

Given this scenario, Peixe took the field with four changes. Rafael Gonzaga came in at left back, Arão played in midfield, and Moisés and Rony formed the attack alongside Lautaro Díaz.

“The tactical setup was very good, spaces were opening up for Moisés and Lautaro himself, but we were making mistakes on that final pass. We had total control of the game, the opponent created very few chances, in the second half Brazão didn’t have to make a single save, but we still ended up losing. Was there altitude? Yes, there was, but that wasn’t the excuse for our defeat. Today we made poor choices in attack when it came time to finish or to leave a teammate one-on-one with the goalkeeper. There was one play at the end, we got in free down the left, you have to cross it, not shoot. We’ll correct all of that by showing videos so that in the next match we get it right,” the coach reflected.

The coach may have been referring to a play by Barreal. The No. 22 received the ball on the left, broke into the box and, instead of crossing, shot over the goal in the 43rd minute of the second half. That summed up Santos’ game, as the team had 20 shots throughout the match and even hit the crossbar, but could not break the deadlock. Cuca also criticized Peixe’s forwards for their decision-making throughout the match.

“It’s not bad luck. In the first half, we had situations, not clear-cut chances. You’re in a three-on-two. Since we have wide players, we can’t, on one ball in a three-on-two, fail even to get a shot off. That’s rare, and it didn’t happen just once. We made mistakes. They have seconds to decide the play, think about what to do. Wait, pass it, or play a one-two and wait for the right moment. We didn’t wait for the right moment, we rushed the plays in three-on-two situations and didn’t even get shots off. We created many opportunities, had 20 shots on goal, and didn’t score a single goal. I can’t say it’s bad luck. What was missing was proper finishing, because if you score one, you open up the opponent and score the second,” he said.

Cuca laments goal conceded

Cuca also lamented the “atypical” goal Santos conceded in the defeat to the Ecuadorian team and criticized Peixe’s positioning. Lucas Mancinelli took advantage of the opponent’s defensive lapse, and Brazão’s as well, quickly took the corner and scored directly from it.

“And the worst part, besides not scoring, is conceding the goal the way we did. I even thought it wasn’t a corner, I was preparing a substitution and didn’t even see the goal. A low corner kick. A positioning mistake by us, by the player at the near post, and by Brazão as well. And we ended up losing a game that, in my opinion, was impossible to lose. Because of the control we had, the chances we created, the possession. And it wasn’t impossible — we ended up losing,” the coach said.

Now Cuca’s Santos shifts its focus and returns to the pitch in the Brazilian Championship. Peixe hosts Atlético-MG this Saturday at 8 p.m. (Brasília time) at Vila Belmiro in the 11th round.

Standings situation

With the result, Santos begins its Copa Sudamericana campaign at the bottom of Group D. Peixe starts the competition with no points, behind San Lorenzo-ARG (second) and Deportivo Recoleta-PAR (third), who drew in the other group match on Wednesday.

Santos’ upcoming matches

Santos x Atlético-MG (11th round of the Brazilian Championship) Date and time: 04/11 (Saturday), 8 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Vila Belmiro, in Santos (SP)

Santos x Deportivo Recoleta-PAR (second round of the Copa Sudamericana) Date and time: 04/14 (Tuesday), 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Vila Belmiro, in Santos (SP)

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