Crespo: São Paulo could have beaten Flamengo in draw | OneFootball

Coach Hernán Crespo was pleased with São Paulo’s performance in the 2-2 draw with Flamengo this Wednesday (5) at Vila Belmiro, for the Brazilian Championship, but admitted in his post-match press conference that, based on his team’s performance, he honestly thought they could have left the field with all three points.

“It’s never easy to play against Flamengo, a lot of quality, the team did well, the draw is fair, I’ll regret the ending, we thought we could turn it around, but finishing the game with this feeling is really nice, considering Flamengo’s current moment,” he said.

“When we arrived, it was about building an idea. Then, to take risks, once they understood what we intended. If you look, today we put Ferreira in when everyone thought we’d put in a full-back. The foundation is solid, we know how to play, from there it’s about trying things, today we tried different things, something we’ve built over four or five months,” he said.

According to the coach, one of the points to praise in Tricolor tonight is the demonstration that the club, even with its problems, continues to remain competitive on the field.

“We have a good foundation. The key is to maintain it. Not to have ups and downs, good game, bad, boring, good… Sometimes we didn’t deserve a bad result. We have to keep a competitive level, which isn’t easy. Four months ago, people were talking about relegation. Now it’s about fighting for the top… Calm, step by step, knowing how to build. It’s very hard to build and very easy to destroy. Trying to bring calm to the environment, which isn’t easy at São Paulo. It’s about building and trying. Our financial and economic reality isn’t on the same level. Accept that with humility and build,” he pointed out.

One of the most talked-about points of the match was the coach’s decision to play Ferreirinha on the left wing. Without Wendell and Enzo Díaz, who were injured and suspended respectively, the winger became a game-changer for São Paulo, even scoring the equalizing goal in the final stretch of the match.

About his surprise move, Crespo said it was a one-off decision. And that it was only possible due to the level of knowledge he had of the squad and their capabilities.

“It depends on the game. The idea isn’t to play with 3 or 4 center-backs. Today, Carrascal, Plata, were they playing inside or outside? Carrascal inside, there was Sabino. Lino outside, Cedric. Plata, with Ferraresi or Arboleda. It’s one-on-one against Emerson Royal. Ferreirra had to defend and attack. You can do these things when the identity is very strong. You can start doing things, but that depends on time. We tried, today it worked, they played well. Ferreira was the best on the pitch, won an award, scored a goal. Today it worked, many times it does, other times it doesn’t,” he added.

After turbulent moments following elimination from the Copa Libertadores and a string of defeats, São Paulo seems to have found its way again and has now gone three matches without losing. For Crespo, there was no magic to ‘turn things around’.

“Nothing, we are the same people. I’m very happy, when we arrived, people were talking about relegation. Today we’re talking about fighting to reach the pre-Libertadores. The building process was huge. You know the difficulties, but it’s about trusting them, you need to have confidence. You need to build identity, security in your own characteristics. Show care, if you make a mistake nothing happens, we need to have professional balance. Those of us who live this, we need to have professional balance. When we don’t get the result, those outside are the solution. You have to have intellectual honesty when doing things,” he concluded.

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