The former coach’s actions were already contested by the managers; training on the day of the match was a source of disagreement with the director of the Health Center
“The players see Luxemburgo as a boy who knows the ball a lot, but they think his preparation for matches is terrible.” This is how Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s work was seen within the Corinthians team.
Internally, for some time now, the most experienced athletes have been questioning Luxa’s work, expressing dissatisfaction with the methods used by him and his support team, made up of the assistant Maurício Copertino, the trusted collaborator Antônio Mello and the physical trainer Daniel Felix.
The lack of results and the lack of solutions for a team that conceded so many goals caused frustration among the players. However, they never expressed this discontent, as they maintained hope that the team could turn the situation around and compete for the South American title based on the group’s cohesion.
THE LAST TRAINING
The preparation for the match against Fortaleza included collective training with two teams of 11 players each, but the activity lacked details on how to face Leão and this routine was causing discomfort among the players. The training did not resemble the methods used by renowned coaches such as Tite, Mano Menezes, Fábio Carille, Sylvinho and even Fernando Lázaro, who began the season as the team’s coach.
Among the younger ones, then, there were many doubts about the coach’s criteria. Matheus Araújo, Pedro, Christyan Barletta (currently in Ceará) and Guilherme Biro were young talents who came and went quickly. Portuguese full-back Rafael Ramos, previously seen as a viable option, was also no longer called up.
THE FIGHT WITH MAZZIOTTI
At coach Joaquim Grava, the most significant incident during Luxa’s time at Timão involved a conflict with physiotherapist Bruno Mazziotti, who headed the club’s Health and Performance department.
Corinthians were supposed to face Goiás on August 26, Saturday at 9pm, in the 21st round of the Brasileirão, just three days before the match against Estudiantes in La Plata, South American.
Initially the coaching staff planned to save the more experienced players for the decisive match in Argentina. However, Antônio Mello organized the training in the afternoon of the day of the clash against Goiás, but a change of plan occurred a few hours later.
Due to Corinthians’ unfavorable position in the table, Vanderlei Luxemburgo decided to leave some players who had trained as reserves. The team started the match with a reserve formation and Goiás scored the first goal. Faced with this situation, without many options, Luxa introduced five starters: Renato Augusto, Maycon, Rojas, Bruno Méndez and Gustavo Mosquito. Corinthians managed to tie the match with a goal from Maycon.
In the locker room, players like Rojas and Bruno Méndez did not hide their dissatisfaction at having participated in a training session and a match on the same day. But the worst news was yet to come: Renato Augusto suffered a minor muscle injury and became a doubt for the duel in Argentina.
This situation caused a disagreement between Luxemburgo and Bruno Mazziotti, which later became a topic of discussion in the sports media. As a result, Renato intensified treatment, traveled and played despite the discomfort, achieving results that fell short of expectations. On 3 September he was ruled out of the Derby against Palmeiras to treat a muscle injury during the FIFA international break.
This episode highlighted a divergence of ideas about football between the departments, something that became common during Luxa’s third spell at Corinthians. However, Mazziotti and the coach maintained a professional relationship until Luxemburgo’s last day on the job, which ended his stay with a draw against Fortaleza at the Neo Química Arena.
Luxemburgo left Corinthians after leading the team in 38 matches, with a record of 14 wins, 12 draws and 12 defeats, achieving a success rate of 48% in almost five months of work. Timão currently occupies tenth place in the Brasileirão and, next Saturday, will face Sao Paulo at Morumbi.
Source: Terra
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