Flamengo was fast in the market. After Vítor Pereira’s dismissal and negotiations with Jorge Jesus, the club decided to go another way. It was Jorge Sampaoli’s name on the table and the Argentinian accepted the job. He was announced last Friday (14).
The coach made his first appearance for Flamengo in the match against Coritiba, on Sunday (16), where the team won 3-0, with goals from Ayrton Lucas, Gabriel Barbosa and Pedro.
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He got to Maracanã one hour earlier to the game yesterday and was able to chat with some of the players. Bruno Henrique, who made his first game in 10 months after recovering of an knee injury, had a quick chat with the new coach.
“He tried to find out how I was doing and said he was happy that I was back again. He said that he is very happy to be here at Flamengo. He had a dream of being at Flamengo. He even joked about when I left Santos. But I told him we’re back together”, said the player.
Sampaoli also had his analysts at Maracanã. They were watching the positioning of the team, which probably is the first challenge of the coach. Vítor Pereira could not fit Pedro and Gabriel Barbosa together on the starting lineup, and this is a challenge at Flamengo, one that only Dorival Júnior seemed to make it work last year.
According to UOL, Sampaoli has sent a list of reinforcements to Flamengo. He already worked in Brazil, at Santos (2019) and Atlético Mineiro (2020).
”Happy for the possibility and I hope to live up to all the expectations you have. Yes (since knowing the players in the squad helps), the first thing is to arrive, diagnose and see how they are doing. And then propose a job that will surely give results”, said the new commander to FLATV.
Sampaoli will be presented officially this Monday (17). Flamengo and Sampaoli are linked until December of next year.
