In a press conference held this Tuesday (17), Dr. Márcio Tannure, head of Flamengo's medical department, as well as physical trainer Daniel Gonçalves and the coordinator of the psychology department, Fernando Gonçalves, spoke to journalists in the Victorino Chermont Press Room. Among the topics covered, much was said about the work carried out in 2016 and what is planned for the season that is about to begin.

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During the season in question, the Mais Querido (Most Beloved) team posted impressive performances in terms of its athletes' physical fitness. During the Série A Brazilian Championship, the team suffered the fewest injuries. This feat is the result of hard work by professionals and consultants from all departments, making the red-and-black coaching staff a key component of the Gávea club's success in 2017.

"We were very happy with the results we achieved, especially in terms of injury prevention using this new format of functional training and movement assessment methodology. It was a pleasant surprise at the end of the year to learn that we were the team with the fewest injuries in the Brazilian Championship, despite having been the team that made the most long trips," Dr. Márcio Tannure exclaimed, then projecting the goal for 2017. "We have a greater responsibility to try to maintain these numbers, even knowing that there are several external factors that don't depend solely on us," he said.

The doctor concluded his opening remarks by commenting on the club's working methodology. "The key to this success is transdisciplinarity, where all departments interact daily. Every day we have this interaction between the areas of physical preparation, psychology, physiology, nutrition, medicine, and physiotherapy, because I believe that in transdisciplinary work, everyone is equally important. No one job is more important than another, because what matters here is Flamengo," he concluded.

Next, it was physical trainer Daniel Gonçalves' turn to speak. He oversees the team's daily activities, both at Flamengo's Performance Excellence Center (CEP FLA) and on the Ninho do Urubu pitch. During the interview, Daniel also emphasized the core foundation of the coaching staff's work.

"We know that soccer is physically, technically, tactically, mentally, and emotionally demanding, so this concept of transdisciplinarity has been implemented since last year, with the creation of the CEP. We've been including ball work in training since the third session," the coach commented. "The CEP, together with the board and managers, has invested heavily in science and technological equipment that allows us to control and develop physical aspects even when working with the ball. This way, we can develop our athletes comprehensively and systematically," he added.

Finally, psychology coordinator Fernando Gonçalves delivered his opening remarks. Once again, the importance of transdisciplinarity was emphasized. "In this regard, we believe that athletes, individually and as a team, possess three major competencies that we assess, train, and monitor. These are technical-tactical, physical-physiological, and mental-emotional. They are completely intertwined; it's impossible to separate them. In practice, all areas end up intersecting. We face a huge challenge: consolidating this culture," said the psychologist.

Next, the psychology department coordinator raised an important observation. "Last year we made incredible progress. I'll point out that we were the team with the fewest injuries in the championship, but I'll also point out a very valuable subjective fact. We joke here that in the past, Flamengo went on 'tours.' When they bring in large theater companies, bands, etc., people hire mediators to avoid conflicts in activities like these. Last year, Flamengo traveled extensively, and we had a very positive environment for building and learning, with no conflicts or problems," he concluded.

Several other topics were covered by the technical committee members. You can watch the full discussion at the link below: