On February 05th, when Marcelo Buarque made his debut as the under-20s coach against Boavista, Flamengo began a string of strong results. Since then, they've played five games, winning four and losing only one. Under his leadership, the red-and-black team has jumped from fifth to second place in the Taça Guanabara, the first round of the Campeonato Carioca. The coach is pleased with this positive momentum.

"We don't invent anything. We continued with some of the things that Cleber dos Santos (former U-20 coach) had been doing and we were incorporating, within our vision, some others that we thought of. Luckily for me, the players had a good understanding of what we proposed. We changed the way we played, starting with the game against Vasco (Marcelo Buarque's third), and they understood it very well. The team is growing at a good time in the competition," he said.

Of Flamengo's four victories under Marcelo Buarque, all were routs. The most notable was the 4-1 victory over Vasco da Gama away from home. In the five matches since February 05th, Flamengo has scored 17 goals, resulting in an average of 3,4 goals per match.

"We haven't conceded a goal either (only five goals in five games). Finding balance within the team is important, especially defensively. Defending isn't easy, and the attack must get the ball in. This also depends on the quality of the players. I pushed the team a little further forward. I moved the full-backs forward, and we got up front with a larger number of players," explained the Gávea coach.

See below the four victories of the under-20s under the command of Marcelo Buarque.

Boavista 1 x 4 Flamengo

Vasco 1 x 4 Flamengo

Flamengo 3 x 0 Madureira

Resende 2 x 6 Flamengo