2023-05-05 13:00:42
I will take a short break from studying the public issue in Beira-Rio to contribute with two cents on the moment of Internacional. I’m jumping the queue and posting on Friday to keep the Wednesday column thematic.
I don’t have very good articulation skills, so I’ll take the liberty of throwing the opinions here almost like aphorisms, or in more modern terms, almost like a series of tweets.
Realize that the considerations below are not exclusive, that is, if I criticize the team, it is not to exempt the coach, or vice versa. There’s blame left for everyone.
By leaps and bounds, the team has been showing some interesting times, which give hope to the fans. But these times are interspersed with generalized blackouts that make fans angry, and with good reason. It is commendable how much of the crowd remains vibrant with the team.
For example, we played a very questionable game against Metropolitanos. And even so, Beira-Rio sold out on Sunday against Flamengo. Second example, we played another very questionable game against Goiás. Even so, there were 37,000 people in Beira-Rio on a rainy day, at 7 pm, and in an atmosphere of war, for the match against Nacional.
We don’t have a complete quality game in 2023. We have a lot of players who owe a lot. Wanderson, despite being the team’s waiter, doesn’t score goals. Pedro Henrique, having been top scorer for Gauchão, no longer shines. Coincidence or not, since he renewed his contract with a raise.
The Keiller is simply not the same as last year. Vitão also looks very exhausted or unfocused. Our defense is leaked in basically every game.
Luiz Adriano did not disembark. I think it’s a shame. I know he is a very technical player. But if the technique is not up to date, he could at least demonstrate indignation, but it does not happen. He seems out of place on Earth.
Bustos, before the injury, was already bad. He came back against Goiás without knowing how to attack or defend. Yesterday came in and did not help at all. Of course he has the rhythm of the game, but, again, he wasn’t well before.
This problem of the defense being leaked in all games is related to the lack of defense line protection. We don’t have flyers.
Gustavo Campanharo played against Flamengo. Against Goiás and yesterday it already seemed without a leg. I thought he had come with game rhythm. In the first move yesterday, he was booked and spent the rest of the game just fencing, until he was substituted without physical condition. In other words, we still haven’t solved the volatility problem.
And this lack of a midfielder, especially the first midfielder, also destroys the team’s offensive phase. No one steps into the half circle, asks the defender for the ball, and makes the first pass. Nowadays, that’s a must in football. That’s why we’re so dependent on Alan Patrick. Basically he is the only midfield player, and needs to act as a worker and playmaker.
Well, I believe that when so many players are bad at the same time, it’s not one or the other’s problem. It’s the team’s problem. And especially the coach’s problem. There’s something very wrong with Mano Menezes’ work.
I disagree with those who say that our team lacks quality. For me, this is Internacional’s best squad since 2015. In fact, it’s better than the 2015 team, because the defense is more complete. In 2015, we had Fabrício (later Geferson) and the defender was Alan Costa.
To tie this opinion together, I cannot forget that this team was runner-up last year. Basically the same team. Why not repeat the performance? Is it that hard to keep the team? I remember that Mano said with all the letters that maintaining the team was a virtue. Suddenly became a problem?
Let’s say it wasn’t the same team as last year. Even without preparation, wouldn’t this team be enough to beat the opponents in Gauchão? Flying through the CSA?
Mano’s campaign this year: eight wins, eight draws, two defeats. The season is only going to get tougher. We still have sixteen Serie A clubs to face (we already got three in Brasileiro and Grêmio in Gaúcho). The beard passed and this is the retrospect. I think we should have won more games even without first, second, or third midfielder.
Yesterday Metropolitanos lost 4×1 to Medellín. And we won 1-0 at Beira-Rio, in the last minute. Is this right?
Regardless of the players being bad, it’s very little, considering the whole. And this is the coach’s fault.
And Mano is very, very stubborn. He doesn’t give Lucca chances, even though the kid saved us in the three Libertadores games. He doesn’t take Keiller out of the goal, even though he almost eliminated us against CSA. He doesn’t play Matheus Dias, even though he connects the passes that Johnny and Baralhas can’t.
He’s a stubborn German who wants to win his way, even if it means losing and getting knocked out.
So we arrived in the direction. If they had prepared better, if they had brought at least one good player this year, or if they had only communicated better with the fans, the pressure would be all on Mano. And they could fire him at a time like this.
But I believe they can’t anymore. They lost this card, because Mano has more credit on the market than the management. Management doesn’t say anything about anything. And that’s why now they’re going to die hugging each other.
I really hope that we are closed with Valencia and Cuellar. And the arrival of Aranguiz is very good. Their merit. But that might be too late.
I congratulate the management, because in three years they managed to put together the best team at Internacional since 2015, as I said before. And the best: no craziness. Without increasing the club’s astronomical debt. However, this team could die at the hand of a jockey who will arrive in July with nothing to dispute.
We can only pray for Mano to stop being stubborn. There’s no one in there who can share the technical choices with him. The last guy with a heavy wallet to talk to Mano was Autuori, and it seems that since he left, things have gone awry.
The month of May will be a marathon of games, and we can end it without conditions to advance in the Libertadores, and/or eliminated from the Copa do Brasil. In this case, by the middle of the month, I wouldn’t spare anyone in the Brazilian. We have the opportunity to get out of the queue if we don’t stumble in single games like we usually do.
One more management failure: the planning of football for simultaneous competitions. Why maximum strength in Gauchão? Worse, maximum strength and fall in the semifinals. We cannot trust Lucca, Matheus Dias, Estevão, or anyone else. Our bench has five or six players for three tournaments, especially since we didn’t try anything in the first three months, and now the rope is tight.
I stretched. There are many things wrong. And we’re not going to fire Mano. In fact, I’m even afraid of this hypothesis, because I think the market is worse served by coaches than keeping the German withered.
What to do? To twist. To participate. We have a good team, yes, don’t fall for this weak one. Could be playing a lot better. And we hope this much better one appears soon. At least in time for us to win one of the three tournaments.
If he does not appear, the leadership is not re-elected. The MIG returns, the pranks with businessmen, we join the LIBRA, which will diminish us for fifty years, and only God knows what end it will give. But it is in the hands of the current leadership, and it could slip through the fingers. Hope not. I want to go to Goethe and I want to get drunk, if you’ll allow me.
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