Credit: Lucas Uebel / Grêmio FBPA
Among the Serie A teams, Grêmio is the one with the best performance at the start of the season (see SofaScore tweet below). And perhaps the great news for Gremio supporters is the consistency shown by the team on the pitch. The victory over Internacional de Mano Menezes in GreNal number 438 also consolidated this good phase of Tricolor Gaúcho and also rewarded another good collective performance by the team. It is logical that it is still not possible to say that everything is perfect in the squad commanded by Renato Gaúcho. But the impression that remains is that Grêmio is on the right track to return to being a protagonist or, at least, to recover the winning spirit of other years.
It’s true that Internacional started this Sunday’s match (5) bothering a lot with Wanderson’s descents on top of Fábio and Bruno Alves. Gradually, however, Tricolor Gaúcho took over the match and made good use of position changes in the 4-2-3-1 preferred by Renato Gaúcho. Vina started on the left side, but didn’t settle there. The same with Bitello and Cristaldo. At the same time, defensive midfielders Pepê and Carballo (Villasanti’s replacement) also frequently appeared in the attack alongside full-backs Fábio and Reinaldo. Grêmio used the triangulations well and managed to mess up the 4-1-4-1 of an Internacional that suffered from a lack of ideas and creativity in the middle.
It is also necessary to say that the game at Arena do Grêmio was very open. Bitello wasted two great chances in front of Keiller and Bustos just didn’t open the scoring because Fábio was in the way. In practice, the GreNal 438 panorama showed us a stronger Internacional in the quick exits with Wanderson and Pedro Henrique and a Tricolor Gaúcho that was present at the base of the ball touch and position changes. Exactly like Vina’s great goal (scored in the 48th minute of the first stage). The number 11 came from the left to inside and received a sugary pass from Cristaldo (who had already got rid of two markers with a touch of lyrics). Goal that represents Renato Gaúcho’s game proposal well.
Seeing that his team needed more creativity in midfield, Mano Menezes drew Baralhas and De Pena and sent Maurício and Matheus Dias into the game. Internacional started to keep the ball more, but still suffered from the attacks of a Grêmio that scored in a lower block to take advantage of the spaces behind the last line. Renato Gaúcho responded with the introductions of João Pedro and Ferreirinha in the places of Fábio and Vina and maintained his team’s posture, valuing possession of the ball and a lot of intensity in the exchanges of passes in the opponent’s field. It is this offensive volume that makes the Grêmio team have such good numbers at the start of the season. And this is reflected on the field.
It turned out that Grêmio paid for the wasted chances in the 30th minute of the second half with the goal scored by Alan Patrick. Even so, the team did not give up its game proposal (despite having lost some consistency and offensive volume with the addition of Thiago Santos and Thaciano in the vacancies of Pepê and Cristaldo). Gradually, Tricolor Gaúcho also stopped exploring the space between the lines of its great rival, perhaps one of the main characteristics of the team at the beginning of the season. Whenever they exploited this resource, Grêmio was superior and managed to control their opponents. And against Internacional it would be no different. The defensive midfielders advance and the other players give the option of passing inside.
It turned out that the Arena do Grêmio exploded in the 48th minute of the second half after João Pedro’s beautiful move on the right and Carballo’s saving kick. Note that we once again have a defensive midfielder stepping into the area and participating in the offensive plays on Renato Gaúcho’s team. The victory over Internacional rewards the good collective performance of the Gremista team and also punishes the lack of creativity of Mano Menezes’ team. It’s clear that Colorado can do a lot more than make long runs for Wanderson or direct calls for Luiz Adriano to fight the defense. Alan Patrick’s goal came more on the basis of individual play than on collective work. And this is worrying.
The result obtained this Sunday (5) gave Grêmio the advantage of deciding the knockout games of the decisive phase of Gauchão in its domains. But perhaps the big news is the fact that the model adopted by Renato Gaúcho proved capable of making the team compete at a higher level. And as much as adjustments are still needed (mainly in the coverage of the sides and the marking in midfield), it is clear to this one who writes that Tricolor Gaúcho can go much further this season than many are thinking. To check.
