Jardim hails Cruzeiro’s maturity in comeback win over Bragantino | OneFootball

“It was an extremely competitive game, with a better first half from Red Bull, I think until we switched the wingers, with Christian on the left and Wanderson on the right, and we improved our game. A very well-prepared game by the coach who knows our squad well, nullified situations we usually create and caused some difficulties in our game. After the switch, we balanced the game and improved. In the final part, we were already on top and managed to score the equalizer. In the second half, we returned with this setup and continued to create difficulties. For a layman in football, they don't understand, but Christian on one side and Wanderson on the other are completely different things. He (Seabra) played with a very deep full-back on Wanderson's side and forced him to go back, and on the contrary, forced Christian to move forward a lot, losing him in midfield. The players who came in worked towards the goal, from the beginning to seek the result and at the end to defend the result.”

“The collective is important. Many times the media talks about playing A, B, or C, but everyone has fundamental importance. Kaiki has had a very good season, it's no coincidence that in the last call-up he was in the group of 40. And Lucas needs no introduction, he reached Real Madrid, not just anyone reaches that level. We recovered him physically and gave him the confidence to play his football, like others who managed to enhance their value. Mainly due to their merits, who had the capacity for work, humility to listen, the ability to progress, and today they are more competent than they were in the past.”

“I will say what I told the players at halftime: Cruzeiro is an outsider in this position in the championship. And this sometimes bothers a lot of people. Certainly, whether it's opponents with a more aggressive, fighting attitude, or others, they don't make the game easy. Today we had to overcome that. The first goal is not to lose our heads, to do what is our game model, without losing our heads. I know we bother. Cruzeiro has its goals well defined, I want people to be impartial, work well, and judge the game for the game.”

“Nowadays we have more maturity. It was the first time we used Gabriel, Kaio, and Matheus and managed to keep the team balanced. Their left-back wasn't advancing, and I told Gabriel to play as a winger. And for him, it was good, he was always on the attack. And there was the option of Arroyo, but Gabriel has been with us longer, has more goals, and is important in the structure, I had to pass the responsibility to him to play there. Marquinhos and Bolasie came in, in defensive terms they already know the idea of the game, to play 5 minutes and defend well, they have been prepared for seven months, they already know where to position themselves. Those who are arriving are still gaining this ability to understand the collective strategy.”

“Our fight, I've said it and we prepared for it. It's nice to talk about it, but today, if we didn't have the ability to beat Bragantino, they would question our ability to stay in the G4. Jardim was hired for a project, to develop an idea and with objectives. I can't come here and say that the objective has changed. We have to be serious people and I like to be. This is our idea (to go to Libertadores). We will pursue that. The important thing is to fulfill what is our goal. We'll see the result at the end, but now it has to be the next game, Vasco, and try for the three points.”

“Everyone knows that the most important game is Vasco. It's the game where we will go with what are the best solutions for this game because it's the three points. There is no other game more important than Vasco.”

“He has importance within the group because he is a unifying person, has an excellent relationship with everyone. But he plays because he has important characteristics for a game, against Bahia I took a chance with Bolasie because the game was more in-depth, in the area, and he has presence. Today, in defensive terms, he would have a more direct game to win a ball upfront, with his entry we won first and second ball disputes.”

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