Palmeiras crushed Corinthians, but the real game-changer was Abel Ferreira’s midfield tweak. See how Lucas Evangelista’s relentless pressing, Andreas Pereira’s creativity and Giay’s freedom up front could fuel a trophy-winning run.
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0:00 - Evangelista’s Counter-Pressing Impact
3:49 - Palmeiras’ Midfield Defensive Balance
6:24 - Andreas Pereira and Set Pieces
7:43 - Palmeiras’ Tactical Options
9:50 - Andreas Pereira’s League Production
10:31 - Quick Transitions and Giay’s Attacking Role
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Subscribe for more football breakdowns!
Tell us in the comments what you liked most about the video!
#Football #Soccer #Palmeiras #BrazilianFootball
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@futebolmaximo
0:00 - Evangelista’s Counter-Pressing Impact
3:49 - Palmeiras’ Midfield Defensive Balance
6:24 - Andreas Pereira and Set Pieces
7:43 - Palmeiras’ Tactical Options
9:50 - Andreas Pereira’s League Production
10:31 - Quick Transitions and Giay’s Attacking Role
We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/
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SportsTranscript
00:00Palmeiras' thrashing of Corinthians in the derby confirms that Abel Ferreira has found the ideal
00:04lineup for the season's home stretch. Many look at the solidity of the three center backs or GA's
00:09great run of form and Flaco Lopez, but that's not the most impressive part.
00:14Eibels' key adjustment is in the midfield and that's what could make Palmeiras win it all this
00:18year. Palmeiras opened the scoring in the derby with this beautiful cross from Lucas Evangelista
00:22and a header by Barbosa, you already know. But when we go back to the origin of that play,
00:29we'll notice Lucas Evangelista's impact on the team and how important he can be for Palmeiras.
00:35The play starts with a move right here on the right side with Flaco. Lucas Evangelista makes
00:39himself available for a 1-2, but Flaco ends up losing the ball in this tackle in this 50-50
00:43challenge against Ranieri. One of Lucas Evangelista's main traits is his ability to contribute to
00:49counter pressing. In other words, you lose the ball and you quickly press to win it back again.
00:53Ranieri plays it back. He takes the ball away from Flaco here and carries it, taps it to Andre and
00:58tries to push forward to offer a passing option. Look at what Lucas Evangelista does to stop Ranieri
01:03from moving forward, gaining ground on the pitch and offering himself as a passing option for
01:07Corinthians to keep building up. He goes and puts his hand on Ranieri, slowing down his run. This
01:11gesture is simple, trivial, even silly, right? But it makes the Corinthians player lose his timing on
01:17the run forward, preventing him from offering himself as a passing option later in the play.
01:20Luke, he slows down Ranieri's advance, which makes Andre force a pass to the target man
01:25and the pass goes astray, allowing Palmeiras to win it back. Gomez plays it here too. Barbosa,
01:29Barbosa finds Piquerez and Palmeiras starts playing out. Luke, so Piquerez makes a pass up front to
01:32John Arias. Mateuzinho comes in and manages to take the ball away from John Arias. Look, he comes in
01:36and wins it back, but as soon as he recovers it, look who is already sharp here to win the
01:40ball right
01:40back after the turnover. Lucas Evangelista, check out this running movement of his once again,
01:45right? It's all in the details of his movement. The ball comes to Arias and he's running forward
01:48right here. Look, to offer a passing lane into this space. The moment Mateuzinho wins the ball back,
01:53look at how he adjusts his stride and he already shifts out wide to try and close down the space,
01:58right? If Mateuzinho doesn't make this pass right away to Andre, if he chooses to drive it down the
02:02channel, Lucas Evangelista is already adjusting, already positioning his body to apply pressure
02:06to and win the ball back. Remember, this is the main attribute Palmeiras gains with him on the pitch,
02:10the ability to counter press right after losing possession. He showed up, won the ball back and
02:13right here he makes a mistake. There was a chance to quickly play a ball over here to Murillo who
02:17is
02:17right here with his arms wide open asking for it, switch the play to me or try to switch the
02:21ball over
02:21there to Gio on the other side. He carries it forward a bit, Andre comes in and Raniele wins it,
02:25he wins it, there's a duel in midfield and Corinthians have numerical superiority. Except
02:28that as soon as Corinthians win it back, once again, Lucas Evangelista reads the space brilliantly,
02:32he reads the play here against Binon, Murillo steps up to intercept and he comes in and puts his foot
02:35on
02:35the ball to win it back, make the tackle and regain possession once again. Once again, he's actively
02:39involved, wins it back and then has a bit more space to drive forward, ultimately drawing the foul
02:43from Raniele who gets booked. Following that play, Palmeiras are set to take the free kick,
02:47Andre Pereira steps up to take it and look where Lucas Evangelista positions himself, right on the
02:51edge of the box. Because if Palmeiras lose that aerial duel, he can be the man to quickly press
02:55and win the second ball. And that's exactly what happens, Andre Pereira takes it, Carrillo clears
02:59it and look who is right there on the edge of the box. Lucas Evangelista, exactly, he wins it,
03:04sets up the shot, it doesn't quite get away, deflects back and once again the ball falls to him
03:08and this time he lays it off to Arias, Arias slides the pass through to Barbosa, Barbosa takes the shot
03:13and Hugo Souza comes up with a massive save. Then there's a corner for Palmeiras which is taken
03:17short, a well-worked routine with Andre Pereira who lines up a spectacular cross toward the back post
03:23to pick out Barbosa and Barbosa gets the touch to score. It's no wonder that looking at this round
03:28in the Football Maximo Fantasy, Lucas Evangelista picked up eight points largely due to that assist
03:33we just saw but also quite a bit because of his defensive contributions. He had five in the derby
03:38against Corinthians on top of a 95% pass completion rate. In other words, he's a player who puts up
03:44a
03:44fight, has the ability to impress and also delivers clean passes when playing out from the back.
03:49In the match against Bahia, which was also a great one for Abel's team, the choice was a more packed
03:54midfield with three players, Marlon Freitas, Evangelista and Andreas Pereira and without John
03:58Areas from the start. What can we notice in this resurgence of Palmeiras during this winning streak?
04:04Those three players in the midfield bring a bit more balance to the team. And with the three
04:08centre-backs, invariably we can see in the idea of a more aggressive team, this movement here from
04:15Barbosa, which will also be made by Murillo, which will also be made by Gustavo Gomez, of often stepping
04:20out of the defensive line to challenge opponents, press and not let the opposing player be an open
04:26passing option. So here, look, Evangelista drops a bit deeper, which also gives Marlon the freedom when
04:31he's on the pitch to step up a notch to help with the press. And Palmeiras manages to have more
04:36players
04:36with that ball-winning tackling profile in midfield. Look at this play right here. The Bahia player
04:41switches the play and Lucas Evangelista is the guy who covers that area because he has that physical
04:45ability, right, to cover a huge area on the pitch. So he shifts from the centre and heads out to
04:51the
04:51left flank to help Mark Bahia's fullback, pushing forward to support as Bahia keeps possession and tries
04:56to string passes together, switching the ball from one side to the other. Look at how Palmeiras packs the
05:00centre of the pitch here, the area where the ball is, with so many players. So Lucas Evangelista is
05:04here alongside the fullback, matching up with an opponent. Marlon once again took a little step
05:08forward and here's Barbosa again. At the start of the play, he steps up to close down the space,
05:13the ball shifts to the other side, he drops back into the defensive line, the ball enters that zone
05:17and once again he steps up to mark the player. So he steps up and tightens the marking, the ball
05:21won't
05:21reach that Bahia player, Bahia recycles it backward and keeps working the play. And we can see that
05:26Palmeiras is gradually adjusting on the pitch, shifting from side to side to stay balanced.
05:31Here, look, once again we'll see this. Palmeiras dropped back and now it's Murillo, since the ball
05:36is on his side, who steps out to apply pressure on the player with the ball. And a lot of
05:41Palmeiras
05:41players packed together here, you can see that Bahia has the ball but they can't make any forward
05:46progress. They keep moving it horizontally from side to side because the marking is so well organised.
05:52So that is one of the main aspects that Palmeiras has improved on, the marking structure. The team is
05:57conceding fewer chances to their opponents and suffering less. Until a misplaced, forced pass
06:02comes along, Bahia keeps switching it from side to side, passing it back because they can't advance
06:07and Cano will try a forward pass. And then Lucas Evangelista, with his ability to intercept,
06:13duel and press, went out of possession, just like we saw in the match against Corinthians. So here, look,
06:18he goes into a one-on-one duel with Gianlucaz, who is also a strong player, and wins the ball
06:22back.
06:22And then, from that, Palmeiras gets to launch an attack. Vitor Rocha carries it forward a bit,
06:27takes the ball, and here's another aspect of when Palmeiras has this midfield more packed with
06:31Marlon and Evangelista, which also ended up becoming an option for Abel Ferreira, pushing
06:35Andreas Ferreira forward so that he can play closer to goal. A pass that can lead to a shot, a
06:41cross,
06:41a ball played into the box. Looking at Palmeiras' midfield, he's the most technically gifted
06:46player on the ball. So, having Andreas Ferreira further forward is also a game that Palmeiras
06:51will end up getting in this formation or in a tactical variation, because he tries a pass into
06:56the box, but it doesn't come off. Luciano Juba stops, clears it, and look who's coming in again
07:01to pick up the loose ball. Lucas Evangelista, he has a very interesting, very important, very sharp
07:06sense of positioning, so that has made a difference for Palmeiras in these recent matches with Lucas
07:11Evangelista's presence on the pitch. Here, look, he controls it, makes a fine pass between the
07:16lines to Flaco Lopez. The play will end up leading to a corner, and in the ensuing corner
07:21kick, the sliced ball here from Andreas Ferreira, Barbosa knocks it down toward the middle of
07:26the box, and Flaco is going to head it in to score the goal. In fact, the set-piece plays
07:30by Palmeiras have also been very effective over these last few rounds, and we might even make
07:35a video here in a few days to show how Abel Ferreira's team has been working on set-pieces,
07:40and how that's an important attacking weapon. Did you like this idea? Then subscribe to the channel,
07:45and comment down below if you want to see a video about Palmeiras' set-pieces, because they could
07:49also be crucial to how the rest of the year plays out. This over here was Palmeiras starting 11 in
07:54the derby against Corinthians. So the three center backs, with Evangelista playing that first midfield
07:58role, very important in the counter-press, covering this entire area right here. Arias on the left side,
08:03linking up well with Piquerez, Andreas more over on the right side, with some freedom to push forward
08:08as well, less so than when Marlon plays, but with some freedom, GI as the player who moves up and
08:13down
08:13this side of the pitch, and Flaco drifting around a lot. At many moments, in fact, we can see Palmeiras
08:17with Evangelista and Andreas closer together, Arias and Flaco closer together, and Roque as the focal
08:23point up front. In this kind of box here in midfield, with space for the wing-backs to push up,
08:28both GI and
08:28Piquerez getting forward often. If we put Marlon Freitas in the team here, taking out Arias, for example,
08:34thinking back to the game against Bahia, that logic already flips a bit, because the one could have the freedom
08:39to be that playmaker up front is Andreas. Then Marlon will play side by side with Evangelista.
08:44Either way, with this formation, Palmeiras is gaining more solidity in the midfield, whether
08:47it's with this trio here, or with the trio that played in the derby, with John Arias playing alongside
08:52Andreas and Lucas Evangelista, or whether it's with two defenders often stepping out the defensive line.
08:56Since there's an extra man, right, there's always an extra man in attack to have more players in
09:01midfield, Palmeiras is gaining more strength, more solidity in that area, and these options can be
09:07vital for this final stretch of the season. They're pursuing the Barcelona title, heading into the
09:12final stretch of the Roberto Doris, and there's also the Copa do Brasil towards the end of the year.
09:17Having different midfield setups in this three centre-back system, or even with the back four,
09:21if we look back at the match against Gremio, for example, Palmeiras had Barbosa playing alongside
09:25Gomez, a defensive line with four players, Evangelista and Marlon Freitas played here in the midfield side by
09:31side, Andreas, Arias and Fleco and Vitor Roque further up front. So having multiple options like
09:37Abel does, at this point I think you could say he has three lineups or three setups, right? Some players
09:41obviously overlap, but three setups really strengthen Palmeiras for this final stretch of the season.
09:48And looking at our database here, I found this piece of information here that I thought was pretty
09:52relevant about Andreas Pereira being the second player in the Brazilian Championship, with the most key
09:59passes. A player's key passes that lead to a shot. Matheus Pereira leads with 76 in the Brasileirão,
10:06and Andreas is right behind in second. He has 65 key passes in the league. It's no wonder that Andreas
10:14Pereira, when we filter for assists here, leads the league. He has 11 assists in the Brasileirão.
10:21Lots of key passes, lots of assists, and in this system with more freedom to push forward,
10:26Andreas Pereira can be an even more decisive player in Palmeiras' midfield. And we can see that,
10:32by looking at other goals from Palmeiras' match against Corinthians. Look, a more crowded midfield,
10:38more packed, a tighter press on the opponent's build-up play, so much so that Bidu forces a pass
10:45to Ranieri, who tries to win the ball, playing it first time. And look at how the centre-back steps
10:50out
10:50of the defensive line to press in midfield, and becomes an extra man in midfield. Here's Gustavo
10:54Gomez. Look, he had a duel in this special match against Memphis Depay, and he completely shut
10:59down Corinthians number 10. So here, look, he wins that ball in the challenge, and already kickstarts
11:03Palmeiras' attacking transition. Where is Andreas Pereira? Andreas Pereira is playing closer to the
11:08penalty box, playing closer to the opponent's half, with a bit more freedom, thanks to this packed
11:12midfield. So he quickly plays a ball into Arias. And here, Corinthians, who were trying to push into the
11:18attacking half, now need to reorganize defensively. On a team that already isn't very organized,
11:23building up, isn't very organized attacking, isn't very organized defending, trying to do all these
11:27things at once, while giving away possession. They are obviously going to be vulnerable. So,
11:31Andreas releases it very quickly here to John Arias. John Arias also quickly plays in Vitor Roque,
11:37and in just a few touches and a few seconds, Palmeiras flooded the box with players,
11:41and GI will pop up unexpectedly to score this goal. In GI's other goal in the game, we'll see the
11:47exact same
11:48thing. Palmeiras, boxing, Corinthians, build-up play. A long ball to Memphis Depay. One of the defenders
11:54steps out of the line here to press, but he didn't even need to do anything, because Lucas Evangelista
11:59came over and helped out. Gomez gets the ball, he plays it to Andreas again, who's a bit further up,
12:04and here, look, once more, the Corinthians squad is pushing up to try and attack. So, as they try to
12:10play
12:10out from the back, Bidou pushed forward. When Palmeiras intercepts that ball on the way out,
12:16Bidou has to hustle back. And right here, GI is super aggressive, which is something we've really
12:21seen from Palmeiras' fullback. He's improved a lot. He's going to attack the space. The cross ball
12:26falls to Piquerez on the far side, and again, in just a few seconds, Palmeiras won the ball back
12:31and reached the attacking third, with plenty of bodies in the box. And Piquerez's pass finds Arias.
12:38Arias' scuffed shot ends up crossing the box. And off Hugo Souza's rebound, it finds Gey completely
12:44unmarked at the back post to score. And all this opportunism from Gey, who's become a talisman for
12:49the Palmeiras fans, also has a lot to do with this new system. Gey is one of the key players
12:54who,
12:55with the tactical tweaks made by Abel, got more freedom to push forward, being much more aggressive
13:00in attack. A player who, in Palmeiras' last five games, for instance, scored three goals. And in this
13:06three centre-back system, he thrives because he defends well and is a real fighter on the pitch.
13:11And he's been getting forward really well, finishing plays off, just like in those two
13:15goals we saw, where he popped up unexpectedly. So Palmeiras went from being a team known just for
13:21grinding out competitive results, to also becoming a team that has played at an exceptionally high
13:27level in recent games, which has also led to great results and brighter prospects for the future.
13:31You know this database that I used for some of the figures I showed throughout the video?
13:34It's from Futebol Maximo's fantasy game. You can click the link in the description below to learn more.
13:39And right over here, I'll leave the playlist so you can learn how to play and come join us. Bye
13:43-bye.