Conflict between Pedro and Jorge Sampaoli: A Problem in Flamengo’s Search for Peace

Hot rags, but a problem still far from being solved. If the dismissal of Pablo Fernández, which will be confirmed this Monday, stops the chaos caused by the attack in Independência’s locker room, the board of Flamengo there is a challenge in the search for days of peace in Ninho do Urubu: staunch the wounds in the deteriorated relationship between Pedro and Jorge Sampaoli.

1 of 3 Pedro, from Flamengo, covers his face after feeling pepper spray: last game as a starter — Photo: Marcos Ribolli Pedro, from Flamengo, covers his face after feeling pepper spray: last game as a starter — Photo: Marcos Ribolli

As much as the board understands that the cause of the crisis that broke out over the weekend is his physical trainer, Pedro was literal and objective in exposing that the conflicts already existed before the punch he received after the victory over Atlético-MG. The attacker, who will be punished by Flamengo for having refused to warm up last Saturday, defines as “psychological cowardice” the treatment received recently and there are open disputes with Jorge Sampaoli.

The annoyance of the number 9 goes beyond the reduction of minutes on the field. Pedro understands that he was left aside by the coach and his commission in recent weeks in the day-to-day at Ninho do Urubu, and the trigger for the rupture between the parties happened in the changing room of the Arena do Grêmio after the 2-0 victory in the semifinal of the Copa do Brasil, last Wednesday.

Cahê Mota updates the case of aggression by Flamengo’s physical trainer

On the occasion, Pedro replaced Gabigol in the 33rd minute of the second half and did not change the scoreboard. Jorge Sampaoli showed discomfort with the lost goal after an individual play in the final minutes and said that the striker missed the opportunity to define the tie for the Flamengo with the third goal (watch the trailer below). In the same game, Gabriel missed a penalty in the first half.

At 49 min of the 2nd half – wrong shot by Pedro do Flamengo against Grêmio

The dialogue was the cue for Pedro to express his dissatisfaction with the loss of space in the team, since he was not used against Athletico-PR at Arena da Baixada and entered the final minutes against América-MG and Grêmio. Among questions about what he should do to have more opportunities, the attacker told people close to his discontent with a phrase from Sampaoli:

– You are very religious. Gotta fight more!

2 of 3 sampaoli, flamenco, independence — Photo: Gilson Lobo/AGIF sampaoli, flamenco, independence — Photo: Gilson Lobo/AGIF

The last few weeks cited by Pedro in his public position still represent a perception that the commander is not open to deeper dialogues about what to improve tactically to regain space in the team. Questions are answered with “we need to find a way”.

On the side of Sampaoli, the positioning is different and the reports point to meetings over the last few months with the exhibition of individualized videos with guidelines that could maximize the qualities and movement to become more participatory in the games. The coach has already expressed his preference for a more mobile striker in interviews and even praised Pedro’s effort to adapt.

Photo shows wound in the mouth of Pedro, from Flamengo, after punching

questioned by ge regarding the comment about religion, Sampaoli’s answer was that “there was no comment about Pedro’s personal life, mainly regarding his religious choices”. In addition, it was reinforced that “all training is for everyone in the group. All players participate in the same attacking activities, as well as all participating in defensive actions”.

The noise, in turn, exists and was also exposed by the commander in his official note when he talks about an “internal dispute whose reasons exist”. In the same text, he talks about how to help Pedro and Pablo after the episode at Independência, but there was no contact between Sampaoli and the striker on Sunday, which increases expectations for the meeting this Monday.

Pedro, from Flamengo, confirms physical trainer aggression in post; Cahê details confusion

Numbers of Pedro with Sampaoli

Pedro has played 1,290 minutes since Sampaoli took over as coach, in the match against Ñublense, in Maracanã, for Libertadores. There were 27 games played by the Argentine coaching Rubro-Negro, in 23 of them the striker was linked with an average of 56 minutes on the field. After starting in the starting line-up and playing for a long time, the striker has been losing ground since the beginning of June.

Since the 3-0 win against Grêmio, on June 11, the striker started just four of the 11 matches, playing 90 minutes in just one of them. In the last four games, he has been substituted in all of them, has not left the bench twice and was on the pitch for just 27 minutes.

In terms of comparison, in the first 12 matches under command of the Argentine, the number 9 started 11 of them (the exception was the derby against Fluminense) and played the entire match six times. The same happened with the production of the striker. There were 8 goals scored at the beginning of the Argentine coach’s passage against just three in the last matches.

Since arriving at Flamengo, Pedro disputes the position of striker with Gabigol. Only under the command of Dorival Júnior did the two strikers manage to fit in and constantly play together in the first team.

At the beginning of 2023, even when Vítor Pereira was coaching the club, Gabriel expressed his desire to be used as an attack reference and compete for the position with the number 9 shirt. Until Sampaoli’s arrival, Pedro was one of the team’s great protagonists in the year. He was listed for 18 matches between Recopa, Supercopa, Mundial, Carioca and Brasileiro, scored 15 goals and provided three assists.

3 of 3 Flamengo x Al-Hilal Pedro regrets the World Cup semi-final — Photo: Reuters Flamengo x Al-Hilal Pedro regrets the World Cup semi-final — Photo: Reuters

The Rubro-Negro opens the round of 16 clash of the Copa Libertadores against Olimpia this Wednesday (02), at 21:00 (Brasília time), in Maracanã, and decides the vacancy away from home at the same time of the following week, in August 9th.

Watch: all about the Flamengo on ge, on Globo and on sportv

2023-07-31 05:33:44
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