Under pressure, Roger rues São Paulo's inconsistency in comeback loss | OneFootball

Coach Roger Machado was unable to give stronger explanations in the locker room at São Januário after the 2-1 comeback loss to Vasco this Saturday (18) in the Brazilian Championship.

Aware that the result further increases pressure that already feels unbearable, the coach was even asked about the Rio side’s first goal, scored from the penalty spot after VAR intervention. But he chose to be blunt and pointed to his own team’s shortcomings in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).

“I haven’t seen the footage yet. But I’ve seen similar situations before, and a foul at the start of the play could have been called. However, our defeat was not down to the refereeing, but to our instability on the pitch,” he said.

“Given the nature of the game, which was built around looking for counterattacks, with Calleri holding up the first ball and helping us build moves, we managed to do that. We scored our goal and had at least one more chance to come away with the win, already in the second half. But, facing the same approach Vasco showed in the first half, with two wide wingers, they kept sending balls into the box,” he added.

Roger also addressed Tricolor’s defensive posture at São Januário, pointing out what led him to choose a deeper defensive line, drawing Vasco closer to the middle third of São Paulo’s half. It worked in the first half, but proved costly after the break.

“Because we were defending a little deeper, we weren’t able to connect the counterattacks that would push Vasco back into their own half again. The two goals were different, but they came from the same source: crosses from wide areas. It wasn’t by choice; Vasco pushed us back and we couldn’t put our counterattacks together. The substitutions were made with that in mind, with Tapia bringing a more physical game, but it wasn’t possible. It’s a defeat we deeply regret. A good first half, and a very poor second half,” he said.

The introduction of another attacker by Vasco caused São Paulo to drop back and stop threatening the home side on the counter. More comfortable, Renato Gaúcho’s men sent in more than 20 crosses and found the winning goal.

“We prepared the team knowing that Vasco is the side that sends the most crosses into the opponent’s box. In the first half, we managed to neutralize a good part of those plays, either by doubling up out wide or by being well positioned inside the area. In the second half, with one more winger on the pitch, Vasco had more variation on both sides and we had more difficulties,” he added.

The result leaves São Paulo stuck on 20 points. They are temporarily in fourth place, but could end the round in sixth, dropping out of the Copa Libertadores qualification zone for the first time.

The Morumbi club will now try to bounce back by playing again in front of their home fans next Saturday (25), against Mirassol, in Campinas (SP) (Morumbi will be unavailable due to a concert). Before that, they open their Copa do Brasil campaign against Juventude at 7:15 p.m. (Brasília time) on Tuesday (21), at Morumbi, likely with Roger under even more pressure from the stands.

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