Inconsistency in attack and defense marks Corinthians’ draw in Uruguay | rodrigo coutinho’s blog

Missing official Corinthians games for almost three weeks, the club’s fans must not have maintained their feelings after the ball rolled. The team was unable to impose its greatest quality against the modest Racing at the Centenário Stadium, and suffered in different ways throughout the 90 minutes. Almost nothing positive can be taken from the team’s debut in the Copa Sudamericana.

There was a lack of offensive fluency when the Uruguayans were closed. There was a lot of passivity and insecurity when the hosts chased a draw. It didn’t look like the team that advanced important places since the debut of the new coaching staff.

Coach Eduardo Espinel maintained the base of the team that has already been climbing in the Uruguayan Championship, including the experienced Urretaviscaya, the most experienced name on the team. António Oliveira continued without being able to count on Maycon. Breno Bidon was the substitute. Romero was once again on the bench. Yuri Alberto, Pedro Raul and Wesley formed the attacking trio.

Eighth place in the Uruguayan Championship certainly didn’t raise high expectations before the ball rolled, but the reality is that Racing made things very difficult for Corinthians in the 1st stage. With a strong block from the midline, it prevented the São Paulo team from finding the connections they were looking for in the attacking field.

Timão repeated the patterns of the last games. Hugo released the ball and was more attached to the first line, next to the defenders. Fágner gained freedom to attack from the right. This freed up diagonal movements by Yuri Alberto, who tried to get closer to Pedro Raul in the center of the attack. On the left, Wesley was responsible for giving the team width.

Breno Bidon and Garro played side by side, as a pair of midfielders ahead of Raniele. Within this distribution, Corinthians tried to find interactions. I was even able to move the ball quickly from one side to the other, I tried to keep up with the Uruguayan intensity in the fights, but the solutions to overcome the strong pressure on the ball didn’t come.

There were only two dangerous arrivals in the first half. Not by chance, both after balls recovered in the attacking field. Pressing quickly after an opponent’s tackle or interception was the best solution. The origin of Fágner’s shot in the sixth minute, and Garro’s beautiful pass to Yuri Alberto in the area, was exactly that.

Wesley also had some good moments when he received the ball head-on and faced the marking, but the coverages were close, and the attempts with Bidon ended up being neutralized. Even though the main idea was to defend and get out at speed, the Uruguayans also appeared aggressive in the offensive phase.

The proposal was to quickly activate the left side in reversals towards Ferreira or Urretaviscaya, and look for the good Tomas Veron afterwards. Deep throws for Nandin were also attempted, and Gustavo Henrique faced problems giving a positive response. Another interesting weapon for the home team was aerial set pieces. They even hit the post like that.

António Oliveira brought out the yellow Hugo at half-time for Matheus Bidu to come on. The team tried to change positions more, with Garro moving to the right flank at times. Fagner advancing inside. But the situation got worse. The exchange of passes became even less threatening and was canceled by Racing.

The Portuguese coach tried to radicalize with two more changes just before the 15th minute. Gustavo Henrique gave way to Fausto Vera and Raniele went to play in defense. Ángel Romero also replaced Pedro Raul. Yuri Alberto followed to the right. The Paraguayan’s more physical presence in the center of the attack, added to the natural drop in Uruguayan intensity in marking, caused the missing combination.

It was his move that ended with a pass to Rodrigo Garro and the Argentine’s perfect cross for Yuri Alberto to score with a header. Even without such a well-designed construction, the black and white player created his goal through insistence. Behavior that also moved the fierce Racing team in search of a draw.

The home team completely changed their stance after falling behind on the scoreboard. It became more offensive with the entry of Mederos, Sosa and Alaniz, and faced a passive defense, without security to neutralize the opponent’s attacks. António Oliveira also tried to reorganize the sector with the entry of Cacá in place of Breno Bidon. Raniele returned to midfield, but it was in vain.

Racing had already scored a goal that was well disallowed, and it took just over five minutes to equalize the score in a plot inside the Corinthians area. Félix Torres played a dreadful second half, and almost handed the home team the upset in stoppage time. Bad start to the competition for the São Paulo team, mainly due to Argentinos Juniors’ victory away from home in this 1st round.