Abel, Turn the Page
- Carl Boniface
- 16 de ago.
- 6 min de leitura
Palmeiras does not need a new identity. It needs to rediscover its own.
Abel Ferreira does not have a talent problem.
He does not have a history problem.
And, despite what the noise around Palmeiras may suggest after a difficult run, he does not even have a results problem on the scale of a club in collapse. Palmeiras remains at the top of the Brasileirão with 48 points.
But something has changed.
And if Abel wants to turn this season back in Palmeiras' favor, the answer may be less about inventing something new and more about returning to what made his Palmeiras so difficult to beat in the first place.
The warning signs are now impossible to ignore.
Palmeiras drew 1–1 with Cerro Porteño after conceding an equalizer late, then lost 3–2 to Fluminense after taking the lead twice and conceding the decisive goal in stoppage time.
Against Fluminense, Maurício described the team as having become “disconnected.”
That word matters.
Disconnected.
Because this Palmeiras doesn't look incapable.
It looks unsettled.
And those are very different problems.
Abel's biggest job now isn't tactical. It's psychological.
For years, the great strength of Abel's Palmeiras was its emotional clarity.
The team knew who it was.
It knew how to suffer.
It knew how to defend a lead.
It knew how to hurt an opponent in transition.
It knew when to accelerate and when to slow the game down.
Most importantly, the players trusted the structure.
When Palmeiras scored first, the opponent often felt that the game had become more difficult, not easier.
Today, something has inverted.
A lead no longer automatically produces control.
A mistake produces anxiety.
A missed chance produces frustration.
A controversial decision produces confrontation.
And once the game becomes emotionally chaotic, Palmeiras sometimes starts playing the opponent's game instead of its own.
That is the rut Abel needs to break.
Not with another formation.
Not with another tactical experiment.
With clarity.
Go back to the Palmeiras DNA
Abel should ask himself one brutally simple question:
“What did Palmeiras do better than everyone else when we were at our best?”
The answer isn't possession.
It isn't three defenders versus two.
It isn't pressing for 90 minutes.
It isn't a particular formation.
It is collective intelligence.
Palmeiras at its best was extraordinarily good at understanding the moment of the game.
When to press.
When to retreat.
When to attack space.
When to kill the opponent's momentum.
When to make the game ugly.
When to be aggressive.
When to be patient.
That is the essence that needs to return.
1. Stop trying to win every minute
This is perhaps the biggest tactical reset I would make.
Palmeiras doesn't need to dominate every phase of every match.
It needs to dominate the important moments.
Imagine Palmeiras leading 2–1 with ten minutes remaining.
The objective should not automatically be:
“Let's score the third.”
It should be:
“What does the game require from us now?”
Maybe the answer is possession.
Maybe it is compactness.
Maybe it is slowing the match down.
Maybe it is forcing the opponent to cross.
Maybe it is putting an extra body into the defensive midfield.
Maybe it is winning three consecutive duels and taking 45 seconds off the clock.
This is not defensive football.
This is intelligent football.
Palmeiras used to be exceptionally good at this.
It needs it again.
2. Simplify the message
I would make the next dressing-room meeting incredibly simple.
No speeches about four trophies.
No discussion about critics.
No discussion about referees.
No discussion about whether people believe in Palmeiras.
No discussion about the past.
Just four questions:
Who are we?
What are we good at?
What are we doing badly?
What are we going to do differently on Wednesday?
That's it.
Because when players are uncertain, more information doesn't necessarily create clarity.
Sometimes it creates noise.
3. Make the players feel dangerous again
There is something psychological about great teams.
They don't merely believe they can win.
They expect to win.
And opponents feel that.
That mentality seems slightly diminished at the moment.
The solution isn't telling the players:
“You need to have confidence.”
Confidence doesn't work like that.
You create confidence through repetition of successful behaviors.
So train the exact moments that are currently hurting Palmeiras.
Palmeiras 1–0, 75th minute.
What happens?
Palmeiras 2–1, 80th minute.
What happens?
Opponent scores.
How do we react?
Palmeiras misses three chances.
How do we react?
Referee makes a controversial decision.
How do we react?
Palmeiras plays with ten men.
How do we react?
Make these situations boringly familiar.
Then, when they happen in a real match, the players don't panic.
They execute.
4. Bring back the competitive arrogance
Not arrogance toward opponents.
Arrogance toward the situation.
The old Palmeiras had an almost irritating confidence:
“You can attack us. You can press us. You can make the game ugly. Fine. We are still going to find a way.”
That mentality is different from emotion.
It is resilience.
And right now Palmeiras seems too emotionally affected by the game.
A bad call.
A missed chance.
A goal conceded.
A hostile atmosphere.
A mistake.
Suddenly the emotional temperature rises.
Abel needs to bring the temperature down.
The message should be:
“Nothing surprises us.”
5. Abel himself has to change first
This may be the hardest part.
The coach is the emotional thermostat of a team.
And Abel has looked increasingly defensive in his public reactions.
After the Cerro draw, he emphasized the team's performance and lack of effectiveness while also questioning the sending-off and defending Carlos Miguel.
After the Fluminense defeat, he pushed back against the idea that Palmeiras was in a deeper crisis, pointing out that the team remained at the top of the league.
I understand him.
He has spent years defending his players.
But now he needs to realize something:
He doesn't have to defend everything anymore.
He needs to defend the team by fixing it.
The most powerful Abel press conference right now would be:
“We are not playing well enough. I am responsible. The players are responsible. We know exactly what needs to improve. We are going to work.”
Then stop talking.
No war.
No enemies.
No external distractions.
Just football.
6. Protect the players from the noise
This is particularly important now.
Palmeiras is still alive at the top of the Brasileirão.
The Libertadores is still completely open.
But the outside narrative can very quickly become:
“Abel is finished.”
Then:
“The players don't want Abel.”
Then:
“The dressing room is divided.”
Then:
“The system doesn't work.”
And suddenly the entire club is discussing everything except football.
Abel should make the dressing room a closed ecosystem.
The players should hear one message:
“Nobody outside this room is going to solve our problems.”
And equally:
“Nobody outside this room is going to take responsibility for them.”
7. Return to the three things that made Palmeiras terrifying
If I were writing Abel's tactical reset on the dressing-room wall, it would be:
COMPACT
Don't allow the team to become stretched.
COMPETE
Every second ball matters.
ATTACK SPACE
When the opponent opens up, hurt them immediately.
That's the Palmeiras I remember.
Not necessarily beautiful.
Not necessarily dominant for 90 minutes.
But efficient, intelligent, aggressive and incredibly difficult to kill.
And then there is Cerro
This is the perfect game to turn the page.
Not because Palmeiras needs a miracle.
Because Palmeiras needs a clean football match.
The first leg ended 1–1, with Palmeiras taking the lead and conceding late; now the team must go to Paraguay and win to advance without penalties.
That is actually an opportunity.
Forget the controversy.
Forget the protests.
Forget whether the media thinks Abel should stay.
Forget whether people are questioning the players.
Forget the league table.
Forget everything.
Walk into the stadium and play Palmeiras football.
Win duels.
Stay compact.
Move the ball quickly.
Attack the space.
Don't lose concentration.
Don't complain.
Don't panic.
Don't chase the game emotionally.
And when the opportunity arrives:
finish it.
The greatest mistake Abel could make now
Trying to prove that everyone who criticizes him is wrong.
That is the trap.
The objective isn't to prove the journalists wrong.
It isn't to prove the supporters wrong.
It isn't to prove the opposition wrong.
It isn't even to prove that the tactical critics are wrong.
The objective is to make Palmeiras dangerous again.
That's all.
And ironically, the fastest way to silence everyone may be to stop listening to everyone.
Turn the page
Abel has been at Palmeiras long enough to understand something most coaches never get to experience:
The club already has an identity.
He doesn't need to build one.
He needs to protect it from becoming complicated.
The Palmeiras that won so much under Abel wasn't perfect.
It was clear.
The players knew what was expected.
They trusted one another.
They suffered together.
They competed together.
And when the game became chaotic, Palmeiras usually became more Palmeiras, not less.
That's the version that needs to return.
Not the 2020 Palmeiras.
Not the 2021 Palmeiras.
Not the Palmeiras of any particular trophy.
This Palmeiras.
With these players.
With this squad.
With this coach.
Right now.
Because the season isn't lost.
The team isn't broken.
But the window to correct the trajectory is getting smaller.
So Abel shouldn't ask:
“How do I stop people from criticizing me?”
He should ask:
“How do I make my players believe again?”
And then:
“How do I make the opponent feel Palmeiras again?”
Because once Palmeiras becomes difficult to play against again, the rest will follow.
Turn the page.
Simplify.
Reconnect.
Compete.
Trust the identity.
And make Palmeiras feel like Palmeiras again.
Take care! Prof. Carl Boniface
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