After the sacking of the Argentinian coach Jorge Sampaoli, the historical Brazilian side CR Flamengo hired their fourth 2023 manager, Adenor Bachi, most known as Tite.
The 62-year-old Brazilian led Brazils national team for seven straight years, and although he failed to conduct them to the long-awaited sixth World Cup: the Hexa, he was able to win the 2019 Copa América with players like Neymar Jr (ex-Barcelona and PSG) and Roberto Firmino (ex-Liverpool).
Flamengo, before Tite, were in fifth in the 2023 Brasileirão with 12 wins, eight draws and six defeats, yet with two games left in the calendar, the Mengão have 63 points and are only three points apart from the current leader Palmeiras.
This Brazilian league has been quite a rollercoaster, and everything is still up for the four teams at the top.In the #95 October magazine, we described the disharmony between the three different sectors while defending as some of Flamengos offensive vulnerabilities.
In this tactical analysis, well try to understand what are Tites biggest changes in Flamengos defensive tactics and also some adjustments while attacking.
Tite Offensive approach
As we see it, there is a before and after Tites Flamengo, and when we refer to their offensive record, everything becomes even more evident.
In his ten games in charge, Flamengo scored sixteen goals, averaging 1.6 goals per game and accounting for almost 30% of their seasons total.
Identical to Sampaoli, Tite likes to build from the back.
Yet, we observe more objective, clearer, and less risky processes under the Brazilian system, where the direct game is a valid option.
They normally attack in a 4-2-1-3, yet as we are going to see further, they like to form a three-man line with the left-back while building up.
The two pivots play an indispensable function in their first phase of construction, where they try to have numeric superiority in such an important zone of the pitch.
These positions are normally occupied by Thiago Maia and Gerson, two very interesting players who not only have the capacity to make a difference in lower zones but also have offensive expertise.
In addition to this obvious function, these two pivots can also function as marking magnets where their defensive correspondents are drawn, leaving a big gap on their backs to be explored.
In order to make this strategy to work, the attack
