Cruz blames loss on errors at the back, backs XI, wants tighter marking | OneFootball

Serving as São Paulo’s interim coach this Saturday (16), in the loss to Fluminense at the Maracanã, in the Brazilian Championship, Milton Cruz did not have much of substance to say in his post-match press conference.

After all, everyone knows that the Morumbi club begins a new phase on Monday (18), when Dorival Júnior takes charge of the team for the third time in its history.

Even so, there was no way to hide the disappointment over the setback, which leaves Tricolor without a win in six straight matches and facing a real risk of dropping out of the Copa Libertadores qualification zone once the round is completed.

Perhaps because of the temporary nature of his role, Cruz tried to be as direct as possible in his analysis and admitted: São Paulo might have had better luck in the match if not for the defensive mistakes that led to the two goals scored by the Rio side in the first half, which ended up shaping the final result.

“If it weren’t for the mistakes we made in the first half, maybe we would have won the game. We had more chances than they did. But football is like that. Sometimes you create and can’t score. They managed to score twice from two of our mistakes,” he said.

Another point that called for explanation was the lineup chosen for the match. Cruz went with a 4-3-3 featuring an overlapping full-back setup on the left, with full-back Wendell effectively playing as a winger. According to him, the tactic worked, since it even surprised the opponent.

“Zubeldía (Luis, Fluminense’s coach, who worked with Cruz at São Paulo) spoke to me on the pitch and said he thought I would come with three center-backs, because in these situations I always play that way, but I changed the strategy,” he added.

According to him, the large number of absences in that area (Alan Franco and Rafael Tolói are out injured and Arboleda remains unavailable) ended up contributing to his decision not to field three center-backs, his preferred system.

“I always like to think in terms of three center-backs, but it wasn’t possible. Alan and Tolói couldn’t play. The defensive midfielders, Bobadilla and Danielzinho, have already played as the holding midfielder. Pablo Maia had a test at the training center and couldn’t come either,” he noted.

Cruz concluded by agreeing that one of São Paulo’s main current problems is the lack of firmness in midfield marking. And that he will talk about it with the new coach.

“Dorival will study carefully whether he can add another ball-winning midfielder; we really need one. Luan came on well today. Today we held up well, aside from the individual mistakes we made. It’s not easy coming to the Maracanã; I think we had possession on par with Fluminense. It was a good strategy, it’s just a shame that we made mistakes on the goals,” he stressed.

With the defeat, São Paulo remains on 24 points. They will go to sleep in fourth place, but depending on the combination of the remaining results in the round, they could drop to sixth.

Now it is time to think about the new era with Dorival in charge. The coach arrives on Monday (18) and makes his debut on Tuesday (19), at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time), against Millionarios at Morumbi in the Copa Sudamericana. In the Brasileirão, the next match is against Botafogo at 5 p.m. (Brasília time) next Saturday (23), also at home.

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