Flamengo secured a 3-0 victory over Remo on Thursday evening at the Maracanã stadium, marking their third consecutive win under the leadership of Leonardo Jardim. Despite the comfortable scoreline, Jardim expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s performance in the first half, characterizing their possession as “sterile” and lacking the necessary aggression to penetrate the opponent’s defense.
“In the first half, we had possession of the ball, circulated it a lot, but weren’t aggressive enough to get into the opponent’s block, and that gave the opponent some counter-attacking opportunities,” Jardim stated after the match, as reported by Terra. “We needed to be more efficient playing between the lines than just passing the ball from side to side, and that’s what they did in the second half. In 15 minutes, we closed out the game.”
The second half saw a marked improvement in Flamengo’s attacking intent, with Samuel Lino playing a pivotal role. Lino scored the opening goal and contributed to the third, setting up Pedro for Luiz Araújo to finish. Jardim highlighted Lino’s performance, along with that of Araújo, and noted a shift in tactical approach for the team’s wingers, encouraging them to move more centrally.
“We are concerned, not just with Lino, but with all the wingers. Today it was Araújo. Cebolinha came on…” Jardim told reporters. He further emphasized the importance of having players positioned within the penalty area to increase goal-scoring opportunities, citing the third goal as an example of this strategy in action.
“We have a concern with filling the area, when We find more players in the area, we can score more often. The third goal was like that, the ball came off the foot of Luiz Araújo who was in the area. Our point is the filling of the zones in the area,” Jardim explained.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s match against Corinthians, Flamengo will be without Pulgar and Léo Pereira due to suspension from accumulated yellow cards. However, Jardim appeared unconcerned, expressing confidence in the depth of his squad. “Flamengo has an excellent squad and whoever comes in shows they have the conditions to play in a team like Flamengo,” he said. He also mentioned Danilo and Varela as potential replacements in defense, and highlighted the availability of Everton Cebolinha and Paquetá in midfield.
Jardim acknowledged that the Corinthians match would present a different challenge than the game against Remo, but affirmed his team’s commitment to playing with their characteristic “DNA.”
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