After training this Thursday (19) at Ninho do Urubu, coach Zé Ricardo spoke to journalists in the Victorino Chermont Press Room. The interview takes place a week after the team's return for the start of the pre-season, which gives the coach a greater parameter on the technical conditions of the athletes upon their return from the vacation period.

At the same time, the squad is already preparing for the Mais Querido's first challenge of the season, which is already on the horizon. This Saturday (21), at 18:45 pm, Flamengo faces the Vila Nova team in Goiânia, at the Serra Dourada Stadium, in a friendly match.

On the day of the Brazilian national team call-up, Zé also spoke about the players who play for the "Mais Querido" and were called up by Tite to join the team that will face Colombia in a friendly match on January 25th. Among other things, the coach also outlined the red-and-blacks' aspirations for the season, commenting on what he hopes for in 2017.

When the work is well structured, with us competing at the top of the table, titles will come naturally. The competition in the tournaments we'll be competing in is fierce. Our role is to prepare the players, minimizing mistakes, to empower them to compete on equal terms with any team.

It's a great joy. I was informed at the end of training. It had been a while since Flamengo had seen four players called up to the national team. It's the result of the work we do here at the club and the personal effort of each athlete. Through collective play, they achieved these performances. I believe this can further motivate our players.

When we went on vacation, we prepared our plans, including the signings and needs we identified. We left four or five names per position. Of the signings we suggested, we secured two on time: Rômulo and Trauco. Conca was a market option, which, of course, we were informed about and approved. We're still looking for two offensive players in the market, without rushing or rushing, to round out the squad and further diversify our playing options. We're satisfied and will work to harmonize them as quickly as possible.

It's a great honor to be part of the new professional module. When I arrived here in 2005, we had just a field and a house, where everything was done. Seeing this transformation makes us very happy and extremely proud to be involved in this work on the new module. Flamengo has everything to gain from this. The athletes notice the difference. In these first few days, we've made significant progress physically and technically.

Post-workout programming
We work on multidisciplinary topics in the evening, being able to clarify things for the athletes on a variety of topics. Today we will have a referee meeting, discussing the different championships we will participate in and the differences between them regarding refereeing rules. We will have a former referee to clarify our doubts. I believe the preseason has started very well. The athletes are very satisfied, and time passes more easily for all of us.