Flamengo is a team in flux. They were already improving tactically under Cristovão, and we need to continue that. A team in development, they've welcomed several players. And that's always something you need to improve; you need to better integrate the players for a more cohesive, more consistent performance. Because as you win these games, the players become more confident in what we're saying. I believe we gave them room to improve, but I think today's response was very good. Flamengo was the better team, had the better chances, even in the first half. We were more present, and São Paulo had their first shot when they scored, in the 35th minute. For the rest of the half, we had more possession, worked harder, and had a very good start to the second half. Very promising.

Regardless of the current coach, this is something all teams strive for. Flamengo has been striving for this as well. Flamengo's hallmark is that of a feisty team, one that seeks to attack, one that goes after opponents, building victories by having this hallmark and attracting players who complete such a team. We will continue to insist on what we've already been doing. And today I saw that Flamengo's defense was more compact, trying to exploit the opponents' space. SPFC had three fast players, and because of this approach of taking away their aggression, we did well.

"I think it's also thanks to the opponent. They have good strikers and headers, so we have to try to take advantage of those situations, especially when we play here. These are situations we need to improve to take advantage of."

"Wednesday's game is a different story. Wednesday is the Copa do Brasil, a game in which we're at a disadvantage, and we'll try to turn that around."

"Fluctuations are inherent in football, and this is a team still developing. We're seeing Flamengo changing defenders sometimes, with Marcelo and César playing, so it's a matter of developing with these players. I really like Samir's characteristics, as he's left-footed and plays on the left flank. He's an important player not only defensively but also in his passing. I see Samir improving, stabilizing, and becoming one of Flamengo's great players."

"This is a quest we must pursue. We have 18 more games to achieve this, and the team needs to get going to put together a good, strong run. In the next Brazilian league match, we'll play against Sport. And it's a tough task to play there. Their team is doing very well, but we need to excel in the pursuit of this improvement and add points with each round to get closer. I think this is a very good time for this to happen. We're seeing significant fluctuations in those positions. In some rounds, they haven't managed to win, so I think it depends much more on us than on hoping our opponents don't do well." 

"In Éverton's case, it's because I've seen him play very well at left-back. With Jorge's suspension, our options were Armero, who was injured and only trained with the ball this Friday, in a game we knew would be very intense. And Everton, besides knowing how to play there, is a guy who has match rhythm and has been playing consistently. Anderson Pico is a player who needs a tailwind because he has quality, and at the right moment, we'll take advantage of him."

"I don't know if it's something different. It's the way I see it, how I can field the team. I think sometimes it's even a biased view of some players. On the way off the field, I ran into Junior, who I saw playing left-back and midfield. I was leaving and someone mentioned that Paulinho used to play right-back. I've done this a few times: players who are attackers or have attacking characteristics, there's nothing stopping them from playing defensively, especially when we play here at Maracanã. If you don't have quality at the back, you're very limited in your ability to play the ball out. That's why if I had four great players to field at the back, I would field them."

Anxiety
"I was really looking forward to this debut. I've only had a few days of training and only know Ayrton and Alan Patrick. The others only as opponents. This whole thing about arriving, facing São Paulo, at Maracanã, in front of their fans, worrying about debuting with a win... that caused me a lot of anxiety. I was very sad about São Paulo's first goal. It was something we warned about. And it was fashionable to say that Flamengo's defense fails on set pieces. But I was also very happy to see the goals created from things we warned about, especially the first one. Emerson scored a very similar goal against Atlético-PR. The second, by Guerrero, besides scoring after consecutive chances, was the result of what we talked about at halftime. It was incredibly emotional. Every minute felt like an eternity. I was truly happy with Flamengo's victory today."