Maldonado and Deivid: Luxembourg's trusted men
The coach has already worked with the players and is counting on their quality and experience for Saturday's match.
By From the team at Flamengo's official website - in
On the field, Maldonado and Deivid don't have many similarities in playing style. One is a defensive midfielder, his job is to defend. The other needs to score goals and be decisive up front. But this duo has a lot in common. And, in large part, thanks to coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo. They have already worked together at Cruzeiro and Santos, where they were very successful under the coach's command, who has great confidence in the quality and experience of both.
In the press conference this Friday, after training at Ninho do Urubu, Luxa heaped praise on Maldonado, calling him the "most tactical player" he has ever worked with.
"Maldonado is the most tactical player I've ever worked with. I coached him at Santos and Cruzeiro, and I know very well how he plays. He doesn't stand out much to the fans sometimes, but he does a lot on the field. He knows how to position himself, he knows where the ball is, and he will be important to the current squad. Just look at what he did last year when he organized the team," said the coach, who continued his praise for striker Deivid.
"Football has 90 minutes to get going, and that's good. Val, for example, hadn't been playing and got going even faster, with the three goals. Deivid trained a lot during the week, I pushed him hard, and I'm sure he'll be in better condition than last week," he analyzed.
The coach also stated that he understands that some of the players signed from international football may take a little longer to reach the expected level of performance.
"Both he and Diogo came from European football, where the work is different, as did Renato, who came from Saudi Arabia, so we need to be patient," he concluded.
In the press conference this Friday, after training at Ninho do Urubu, Luxa heaped praise on Maldonado, calling him the "most tactical player" he has ever worked with.
"Maldonado is the most tactical player I've ever worked with. I coached him at Santos and Cruzeiro, and I know very well how he plays. He doesn't stand out much to the fans sometimes, but he does a lot on the field. He knows how to position himself, he knows where the ball is, and he will be important to the current squad. Just look at what he did last year when he organized the team," said the coach, who continued his praise for striker Deivid.
"Football has 90 minutes to get going, and that's good. Val, for example, hadn't been playing and got going even faster, with the three goals. Deivid trained a lot during the week, I pushed him hard, and I'm sure he'll be in better condition than last week," he analyzed.
The coach also stated that he understands that some of the players signed from international football may take a little longer to reach the expected level of performance.
"Both he and Diogo came from European football, where the work is different, as did Renato, who came from Saudi Arabia, so we need to be patient," he concluded.
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