The pilots take the lead in the classics between Botafogo and Flamengo

Despite being citizens and former players, Paulo Sousa And Luis Castro – technicians flamingo And Botafogo Who are facing each other this Sunday, at 11 am, in Brasilia – watch football and manage their teams in different ways. While Alfinegro values ​​a team with two defenders, a pair of wingers and strikers on the side looking for one against one, the red and black bets on the chart with three defenders and two wingers, with Gabigol free floating in the front, and the midfielders coming in from behind. However, there is a similarity between the two coaches: the importance of the midfielder on the field.

Patrick de Paula And yama Botafogo has what Andreas Pereira and Joao Gomez are for Flamengo. The first arrived with a brand, but they did not have the support of the masses. More affordable options, the next pair fits better in the scheme of the two clubs in terms of defense and the organization of the team to attack.

It’s light. It’s the turntable, it connects the central lane to all the other lanes. It’s the team’s fly. I look at the steering wheel at the offensive and defensive moment – Luis Castro explained in an interview with “Pim, Amigos!”.

Initially, Patrick de Paula was appointed to be the spotlight in the Botafogo team. The most expensive deal in the club’s history (33 million Brazilian riyals), the midfielder arrived with star rank.

In the first match of the Brazilian Championship, against Corinthians, it was the 8 shirt that played this role. In the offensive transition, he tried to get the ball at the feet of the defenders when the three-way exit did not work and involved the triangles in the attack field. But Castro’s idea with Patrick did not work. In the following matches, Luís Oyama was selected for the vacancy and matched with more pointing power and intensity, a word often used by the Portuguese coach.

– I think my moment is exactly this phase that Botafogo is going through, the rebuilding. It’s the chance of my life, my first Siri,” Aoyama told BotafogoTV.

If the 55th jersey in last year’s Series B was played as a second midfielder, protected by a first midfielder, in the current team he is the one covering the defense, often playing as the head of the area – in the defensive phase, Botafogo plays in a 4-1-4 manner -1 – but without fail to appear in the attack.

Since his arrival, Oyama has been a regular fixture in Alvinegro’s four matches in Brazil – he cannot play at Copa do Brasil, as he has played in the Mirassol competition. With an average of 80 minutes per game, he is the Botafogo player with the most tackles, 14.

“The whole committee helps me a lot in terms of defensive development a lot, which I think is an aspect that I’ve improved a lot, as well as offensively,” he said.

At Flamengo, the pressure on Andreas Pereira since the failure in the Libertadores final has become unbearable. The 25-year-old Manchester United midfielder has lost space, fallen out of production and should finish his loan without Flamengo buying him for R$60m. In this void, João Gomes has grown up and will soon renew his contract with Flamengo, with a salary increase.

“There is a lot of volume in the game, with and without the ball. Very physically strong, our best player as a midfielder in duels. With this structure, our players classification, we need players,” Paulo Sousa said of the 21-year-old boy from Ninho. They have physical and mental capabilities and the ability to commit.”

In Flamengo’s structure, Gomes provides minimal protection for the defender who builds play into a 3-4-3 scheme. However, he still needs more detail in attack with his midfielders and wings.

Paulo Sousa noted that “the thing that needs to be improved is the ability to cross the middle of the road”.

Coach Paulo Sousa should start Gomez alongside Willian Arau, as Pablo should return to the squad. But, on the one hand, if he had the defender again, Paulo Sousa would not have Santos (with a groin injury) and Pedro (pain in his right thigh).