Filipe Luís on getting the best from Lucas Paquetá at Flamengo | OneFootball

Lucas Paquetá played in the midfield line in the match against Sampaio Corrêa-RJ

Flamengo steamrolled Sampaio Corrêa-RJ 7-1 last Saturday (07) and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Campeonato Carioca. After the match at Maracanã, coach Filipe Luís revealed the reason for fielding Lucas Paquetá in the midfield line and how he intends to maximize the new red-black signing.

— The number of times he touched the ball influences the quality of the opponent's game. Inter has a team of great quality, they took the ball away from Flamengo many times during the match, so he touched the ball less and made many mistakes. I put him in this role because he was the only one available from the professional squad, in addition to a tactical adjustment for him — began Filipe Luís.

— The idea was for him not to just be involved in creating plays, but also to get into the box. For me, the problem with a player switching positions so much is that the defensive role changes a lot from one to another. Everything depends a lot on the defensive role. It's not the same defending as a defensive midfielder, winger, or attacking midfielder. That's the main problem with him changing positions so often. These are tactical details that end up getting lost as well — he concluded.

WHAT IS THE CONTEXT OF THE SITUATION?

Lucas Paquetá joined Flamengo at the end of January, when he was bought from West Ham (ENG). The red-black team shelled out 42 million euros (about R$ 260 million at the current exchange rate) to close the deal with the Premier League club.

Thus, Lucas Paquetá debuted for Flamengo coming on for Pedro, against Corinthians, in the Supercopa do Brasil. Soon after, the midfielder started against Internacional, playing in the attacking line, closer to goal. However, in the match against Sampaio Corrêa-RJ, the player was fielded alongside Everton Araújo and Jorge Carrascal.

WHEN DOES FLAMENGO PLAY?

With Lucas Paquetá available, Flamengo will play again this Tuesday (10), against Vitória, at Estádio Barradão, for the Campeonato Brasileiro. Finally, the match will take place at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time), for the third round.

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