At the end of the month, two Brazilian teams will meet to contest the final of the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the UEFA Champions League. One of the coaches will be from Portugal, the other from Argentina.
This has been the pattern of recent times. Brazil’s domination of the competition began in 2019 with a revolutionary Flamengo side coached by the big-haired Jorge Jesus, also from Portugal. Another Portuguese, Abel Ferreira, has taken Palmeiras to two Libertadores wins and two league titles — and possibly a third later this year. Argentina’s Juan Pablo Vojvoda has done a sensational job with Fortaleza year after year, leading the club from the unfashionable northeast into contention for major titles.
But where are the Brazilian tacticians? It is hard enough finding a suitable candidate for the Brazil national team. Had things gone to the plan of the local FA, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti would now be the man in charge. The 65-year-old, however, spurned the Selecao’s advances and penned a new deal with the Spanish champions late last year.
Now, though, a saviour is in sight. Former Atletico Madrid (and briefly Chelsea) left-back Filipe Luis has made an excellent start to his coaching career. He took charge of Flamengo at the end of September, and on Sunday he already had a title to celebrate. His team won the prestigious and highly lucrative domestic cup — the Copa do Brasil — beating Atletico Mineiro home and away to claim the title 4-1 on aggregate.
This is highly significant. In marked contrast to their great South American rivals Argentina, top-class Brazilian players are simply not embarking on coaching careers. Fernando Gago, Martin Demichelis, Kily Gonzalez, Gabriel Heinze, Hernan Crespo, Martin Palermo — even Carlos Tevez, a seemingly unlikely figure — are just some Albiceleste legends who quickly switched from playing to coaching, bringing the experience they acquired in Europe to the South American game.
Nothing similar has happened in Brazil. In the current first division, Gremio boss Renato Portaluppi was a wonderful player in his day — good enough to go to the 1990 World Cup — but his playing days ended 25 years ago. Internacional coach Roger Machado picked up a few international caps at left-back. And there is Bahia‘s Rogerio Ceni, who became the goalkeeper who scored the most goals in the history of the game in a glorious career with Sao Paulo, and was a back-up in Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winning squad. Possibly to his regret, he turned down the chance to play in Europe, and it is no coincidence that he has a French assistant.
But where are the others, the big names who are willing to take the challenge of pinning a teamsheet to the dressing-room door? The easy answer is that they are scared off by the working conditions for coaches in Brazil. They will have seen the experience of former Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester City left-back Sylvinho, who has been such a success with the national team of Albania. He was briefly in charge of Corinthians, the club where he made his name as a player. But the local media treated him with no respect, the overcrowded calendar left him with no time to train, and the insane levels of impatience meant that he was sacked after a few disappointing results.
No one has time to build a career. Passion can quickly spill over into something more dangerous, with fans frequently attacking their own team at airports or invading the training ground to protest after defeats. With their financial future assured, big name Brazilian players who may have considered coaching have come to a decision to dedicate their time to something else.
But not Filipe Luis, who, after his time in Europe joined Flamengo for a victorious spell as a player, before retiring at the end of last year. He switched straight into coaching the youth sides, and won titles with Flamengo’s under-17s and under-20s before the chance came to take over the senior side.
He was always a bright player, one who owed his success as much to his intelligence as to his natural talent. Eduardo Barroca was the coach of a Coritiba team who faced Flamengo a few years ago. His tactical changes were winning the battle, until, as the game paused for a throw in, he saw Filipe Luis make the difference.
“He worked out our scheme and organised his team, and from that moment on there was nothing we could do,” remembers Barroca. “His reading of the game was perfect.”
Similar traits have been on display in the last few weeks, only this time from the touchline rather than the left-back position. He can switch systems and approaches. Flamengo are an attack-minded team; playing sometimes with a four-man box midfield, and at other times with a pair of wingers. No matter the setup, Filipe Luis sends his team out to impose themselves on the game. But in the second leg of the cup semifinal, defending a 1-0 lead, they had a striker sent off early. The response of the coach? Take off the other striker and bet on all-out, blanket defence.
It surprised those who saw Filipe Luis — with his Spanish back up staff — as a sort of next-generation Pep Guardiola. And it made everyone remember that he spent his best years at Atletico Madrid with Diego Simeone. Indeed, in his first press conference as senior coach he made a point of expressing his debt to the combative Argentine.
“I admire him a lot,” he said of Simeone. “He was the guy who changed my way of thinking. He is responsible for me sitting here today. I had never been interested in coaching, but after I understood that a coach can be capable of changing someone’s life, it was something I wanted.”
There was plenty to admire in the way that Filipe Luis led Flamengo to this cup triumph. With expansive, attacking football they beat Atletico Mineiro 3-1 at home in the first leg. And they were never passive when defending the lead in the return game. The more Atletico threw men forward, the more Filipe Luis stiffened the defence — while making sure he could hit them on the break with aggressive counter-attacks. Flamengo could have won the second leg by more than 1-0.
This, then, was a tactical triumph. But also a victory for the personal touch. A year ago, most of his players were his teammates. Filipe Luis appears to have dealt with this switch with sensitivity and maturity. Was he showing too much faith in star striker Gabriel “Gabi-goal” Barbosa, a club idol who was desperately struggling for form? It was faith well justified, because the 28-year-old scored two goals in the first leg. But in the return game, with more strength needed on the counter-attack, Filipe Luis did not flinch from the big decision and substituted Gabriel at half-time.
These are early days, and there will be tougher days to come. A 2-0 defeat at the hands of local rivals Fluminense, accompanied by hysterical press repercussions, has already given Filipe Luis a taste of what to expect when things go wrong. But he has made a highly impressive start — and suddenly the crisis in Brazilian coaching does not look quite so severe.
