Flamengo secured their second consecutive victory after defeating Grêmio 1-0 on Saturday (July 18.07th). Besides having quality players on the field, the positive results are also a reflection of intense training. Approaching two months since his first training session at the George Helal Training Center on July 28th, coach Cristóvão Borges leads Flamengo with a focus on intensity. With words of encouragement, he keeps the pace high and demands a lot of movement, attention, and excellence.

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Physical trainer Rodrigo Polleto and assistant coach Cassiano de Jesus have been with Cristóvão for three years and are well aware of the coach's demanding standards. And he is always well-informed. In general, the Flamengo coach is not a fan of trivial methods or complacency in his routine. He studies different schools of football to assimilate the best ways to apply exercises; daily, he arrives about an hour before training to organize what has been planned for the athletes. One of his characteristics that has caught the attention of fans is the use of tape on the pitch to demarcate small spaces where the players perform very dynamic exercises. Everything has a reason.

"Cristóvão is a very studious coach, always looking for new training ideas. We try to stay attentive to new situations that arise, variations. The most important thing is that we have a work method. For example, we use tape on the pitch to carry out training in reduced fields, marking spaces with calculated dimensions. This makes the work more dynamic. We place a lot of emphasis on ball possession, with great intensity. Cristóvão values ​​organization a lot, as it achieves a higher level of concentration from the players. We set everything up before the scheduled time, and when the athletes arrive, they see everything organized. This also helps to convey credibility. They observe that there is a plan, that everything is already pre-marked. He studies many different schools of thought in football, and within these contexts, he seeks his own method," said Cassiano.

With their bodies and minds rested after two days off, the team began thinking about Goiás as early as their return to training on Tuesday (July 21.07st). Whenever possible, amidst travel and matches, time with family is considered fundamental for recharging their batteries. After some time with midweek and weekend matches, the coaching staff is now taking advantage of a full week. Until the trip to Goiânia on Saturday (July 25.07th), there will be four days with single-session training sessions and one day with double sessions.

"We experienced a lot of physical and mental strain due to the consecutive games. After the game against Grêmio, we had two days off, which allowed the group to recover well. It's good to be close to family. Rest is part of training, especially since our training sessions are very intense. Today's football demands this high intensity. And the athlete's recovery is part of the plan. This week, we will work hard to prepare the team for the match against Goiás. To improve quick, precise passes and ball possession during games, we always emphasize technical work, even more so when we have several consecutive days to train. Tactics are also very important, of course, and we will take advantage of this time to make adjustments," said the assistant coach.

To conclude the interview given to the Official Website, Cassiano said that "a full week becomes valuable in a tight schedule, like the Brazilian one." Therefore, it's necessary to take advantage of it. And the full-day training is part of the current situation. "Full-day activities are more common at the beginning of the season, but, since we played on Saturday and had two days off, it fit well. The return only on Tuesday afternoon was good to recover them well so that we could then increase the intensity on Wednesday (July 22.07nd), in two sessions," he concluded.