What Renato Gaúcho worked on at Vasco this week | OneFootball

Renato Gaúcho’s absence from the delegation that traveled to Buenos Aires to face Barracas Central was due to a strictly tactical reason. While Vasco’s reserve team drew in their Copa Sudamericana opener under assistants Marcelo Salles and Bruno Lazaroni, the head coach remained in Rio de Janeiro alongside fellow assistant Alexandre Mendes. The goal was to use the free time at CT Moacyr Barbosa to improve the starters’ performance.

+ Vasco has the third-best goal conversion rate in the second half of the Brasileirão

Vasco’s tactical and defensive focus in training

The training period in the capital of Rio de Janeiro was devoted almost exclusively to tactical and defensive work. The football department’s internal assessment is that the team needs to find consistency in order to stop being so erratic across competitions. To that end, the coach guided the players with the help of videos and on-field drills focused on keeping the lines compact and improving the movement of the back line.

The coaching staff’s main mission is to eliminate the so-called “unforced errors” — mistakes that happen due to the team’s own lack of attention, without direct pressure from the opponent. The view is that the Cruz-Maltino side will become a much safer and more competitive team once it manages to maintain defensive balance throughout the full 90 minutes.

Renato Gaúcho and Vasco players after the defeat to Botafogo — Photo: Jorge Rodrigues/AGIF

Planning for the Campeonato Brasileiro marathon

The decision to rest the core of the squad was driven by the exhausting schedule. The next challenge is against Remo in Belém in the Campeonato Brasileiro. Since the trip to the north of the country will be long and tiring, the club chose to keep the starters in Rio, ensuring a “full week” of physical and tactical development — something that would have been impossible if the players had traveled to Argentina.

This is not a new strategy in the 63-year-old coach’s career. Last year, when he was in charge of Fluminense, he made the same decision and did not travel to face Union Española in Chile in the same continental tournament. Focused on his work, the coach watched the reserves’ match on television at his home, a moment recorded in a nighttime post on the social media account of his daughter, Carol Portaluppi.

Renato Gaúcho, Vasco head coach, watching the match against Barracas Central — Photo: Reprodução

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