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Four wins out of five—who would've thought Santos would be the team playing the most attractive soccer? Dive into this tactical breakdown to see how Cuca's crew mastered every phase of the game, took down Cruzeiro, and are lighting up the league! If you love smart soccer talk and fantasy tips, this one's for you. Subscribe for more and let us know in the comments what you enjoyed most! #soccer #football #sports #analysis #highlights

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0:00 - Santos' Recent Success and Objective Criteria
0:32 - Cuca’s Strategy and Adaptability
2:09 - Key Phases and Build-Up Play
3:37 - Santos' Tactical Structure and Execution
6:27 - Midfield Creativity and Recent Performance
9:01 - Attacking Patterns and Tight Space Play
12:51 - Defensive Phases: Pressing and Counter-Pressing
16:35 - New Signings and Future Prospects

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Transcript
00:00Four wins in the last five games.
00:02If I had said that a few months ago, they would have called me crazy,
00:05but Santos today is an example of what beautiful, well-played soccer is.
00:09But let's be honest, that's kind of a subjective thing for a lot of people.
00:12I might like the way a team plays, while you might not think it's a big deal,
00:16but in this video, I want to present you with objective criteria.
00:19Good football is played when a team properly masters the four phases of the game.
00:24I'm going to show you this clearly.
00:26I'll prove how Santos did it against Cruzeiro.
00:28And by the end, you'll walk away with a changed mindset.
00:31Let's go.
00:32I want to start analyzing this video with an important statement from Kuka in his last press conference,
00:37where he kind of breaks down a bit of how Santos played, sharing a bit of the team's ideas.
00:42And then we see on the pitch that everything worked out just the way it was supposed to.
00:47I trained a little yesterday, and that was it.
00:49He started as a third center back.
00:52And we gained from that an outstanding buildup through the middle and out wide
00:56with Luan, with Igor, and we were able to play two attacking midfielders ahead.
01:03With two more defensive midfielders, we populated the midfield well.
01:07We understood a bit more about the Cruzeiro team, the way they were playing,
01:12especially in their last game against Atletico Paranaense.
01:16And that was the idea.
01:17But we knew that when they brought on a third winger, you could no longer stay in that system
01:23because there was no way to make a back five since we didn't have a left back.
01:29The one doing that was Cebolinha, right?
01:32So I had already worked on that, too.
01:35I dropped Igor into the back line and pushed Luan wide after I sensed a little more danger.
01:43I swapped Luan with Igor, who moved to left back.
01:46So Igor played all over the place today, right?
01:48He started out there, came back, ended up in the back line, and that's important.
01:52Pocky, by the way, I think he's an extremely underrated coach.
01:55A guy who knows how to adapt to the squad he has, rarely demands major signings.
02:00And who gets his teams to play good football, press high, play with the ball at their feet,
02:04play in tight spaces, and Santos is pretty much checking off every single one of those boxes?
02:09That right there is the first of the four phases of the game that I say are important to master
02:13if you want to play beautiful football or, at the very least, play good football.
02:18And naturally, in the long run, if you repeat this over and over again,
02:22it will lead to positive results more often than negative ones.
02:25Having a quality build-up play, especially with numerical superiority,
02:30will give you advantages for the entire game,
02:32mainly because you can gradually transfer the superiority to more advanced areas of the pitch,
02:36and then, obviously, getting close to the goal.
02:39That's up to the players on the pitch.
02:41The logic is pretty much this right here.
02:43We have Cruzeiro marking more or less man-to-man against Santos' midfield quartet,
02:48Schrauschmidt, Gustavinho, Rolheiser, and Bontempo,
02:51and then we'll see the back three playing it out from the back.
02:54Luan Perez on the left, out on centrally, and Igor Vinicius as the right centre-back.
02:59In this match here, Kuka couldn't count on Escobar, who was suspended,
03:02so he had to make a few changes.
03:04And to play out from the back, basically, he used these three players,
03:08with Igor Vinicius as the right centre-back,
03:10to create a 3v2 numerical advantage.
03:13Because if you swing the ball to one side,
03:15the centre-back on the other side will be free to carry it forward
03:18and push into the attacking half.
03:20And what I mean by transferring that advantage
03:23is that the moment he reaches the attacking half,
03:25someone has to step up to press him,
03:27leaving another player free.
03:28He carries the ball forward,
03:30someone leaves their man to press him,
03:32and another player comes free.
03:33You keep transferring it like that
03:34until you reach the final third for the players to finish it off.
03:37I really like showing it on the tactics board first,
03:39because it's like a bird's-eye view of the pitch
03:41where we can see all the consequences,
03:42and then I bring it here to the pitch,
03:44making it much easier to understand.
03:45Take a look at this right here.
03:47Santos, three-man build-up, very clearly mapped out.
03:50Luan Perez out on the left, around centrally, and Igor Vinicius.
03:54And here's that thing I was talking about.
03:55Caio Jorge pressed Aron,
03:57while Arroyo kept an eye on Luan Perez here,
03:59leaving Igor Vinicius free on the other side,
04:02giving him the potential to drive the ball into the attacking half.
04:05So much so, that initially, he doesn't draw any other player, right?
04:08Caio Jorge manages to recover well,
04:10but a few other movements are interesting.
04:12First, I'll draw your attention to Santos' defensive midfielders,
04:16matching up with Cruzeiro's midfielders,
04:18Joao Schmidt and Gustavinho.
04:19They start well-paired, side-by-side.
04:22Matias Pereira and Gerson marking him.
04:25But as Igor Vinicius drives forward,
04:28look at how Gerson gets completely fixated on the ball,
04:31and from that moment on, Gustavo Heniki gets behind him.
04:35The idea isn't to stand still waiting.
04:38It's about making a run behind your marker
04:41the moment he slips up, taking advantage of it.
04:43And as for Gustavo Heniki,
04:45I know a lot of people criticize him.
04:47I don't follow all the games closely,
04:49but from what I've seen,
04:51I really like him.
04:52He brought a lot of that in this match against Cruzeiro.
04:54He gets behind Gerson to become the free man.
04:56And look at the continuation of the play.
04:59Igor Vinicius checks back and plays the ball to Arroyo,
05:02who has now gotten behind Arroyo.
05:04Look at Gerson once again drawn to the ball
05:07and around with his head up,
05:08spotting Gustavo Heniki behind him,
05:10a pass to the defensive midfielder,
05:12and he'll drive forward.
05:14Romero has to let go of Roheiser on the other side.
05:16That's what I call a domino effect.
05:18Gerson was marking, let go, and he's left open.
05:20He pushed forward, Romero was marking Roheiser,
05:22let go, now Roheiser is the one, left open.
05:25And then, for me here, Gustavinho just messed up.
05:27Because if he switches sides,
05:29it would have been a two-on-one
05:30against Cruzeiro's fullback here, against Fagna.
05:32And then the chance of entering the box with real quality
05:34was much higher.
05:35Here, he tried to pass down the flank to Rodine
05:37and it ends up leading to nothing.
05:38Rodine releases it down the wing here to Roni.
05:40Roni tries, the ball comes back,
05:42and the play really leads to nothing.
05:43They're gonna cross it into the box here,
05:45and after all, with the box crowded and being outnumbered,
05:48it wasn't a good decision by Gustavinho
05:50back at the start of the play,
05:51but this Santos team offers more than just
05:53playing out from the back with quality.
05:55From the moment you have numerical superiority
05:57and capitalized on it,
05:58pushing into the attacking half,
05:59we need to understand that in the attacking third near the box,
06:02the spaces get tighter and tighter.
06:04That's because the defense becomes more compact,
06:07drops deep,
06:08the lines drop closer together,
06:09and you have to be able to string passes together
06:11in very tight spaces
06:12to generate enough advantages
06:14to pose a real threat to the opponent.
06:16And that's where I think the real magic happens,
06:18when you have quality players
06:20who have great ball control,
06:21great spatial awareness,
06:23and the passing ability to drive the team forward.
06:25Take a look at these numbers.
06:27Those who are already subscribed to the channel
06:29are already used to this fantasy game of ours,
06:32which is basically a game we're building together
06:34with our community
06:35so we can compete against one another.
06:37Whoever picks the players who perform best in real life
06:39ends up scoring the most points.
06:40In fact, right now,
06:41I'm in second place in our league.
06:43I got overtaken in the last round, you know?
06:45Rai is leading with 13 points,
06:47I have 10,
06:47Ujuao has 8,
06:49and ZĂ©,
06:49who is the king behind the scenes here,
06:51has just 3 points.
06:52But what I want to point out to you
06:53is that we can use our fantasy game
06:55based on the numbers it provides.
06:57And based on that,
06:57we understand the game better
06:59and improve in fantasy as well.
07:01Take a look.
07:01Here are all the players in the Brazil around.
07:03I'm going to select only the midfielders,
07:05and I'll filter,
07:06I'll sort here by KP,
07:07which is nothing more than key passes.
07:09Passes that leave teammates
07:10in a position to take a shot.
07:12That's the kind of pass I say is important
07:14when you enter the attacking half
07:15and the spaces are tighter.
07:16And take a look at how interesting this is.
07:18When we look, for example,
07:19at all the players
07:20and scroll down here,
07:21we'll see, for instance,
07:22that Flamengo of the teams contending
07:24for the title today
07:25has Samuel Lino,
07:26has Arrascaeta,
07:28has Carascal,
07:29managing to have three players
07:30well-positioned among those
07:31who make the most passes.
07:32But the one that really catches my attention
07:34is Santos,
07:35which, despite being down low in the table,
07:37manages to have several players
07:39who deliver a lot of key passes,
07:41showing that the issue
07:42isn't always creativity.
07:43And in this final stretch,
07:45over these last few games,
07:46their performance has really grown
07:47and improved.
07:48That's three wins in the Brasileiro,
07:50one in the Copa Sudamericana,
07:51four wins in the last five matches.
07:54They beat Atletico Mineiro,
07:55Cruzeiro,
07:56Corinthians,
07:56and Internacional.
07:57Rolizer has 30 key passes.
07:59Neymar, injured,
08:00has 29 in Gabriel.
08:01Bontempo has 27.
08:03And Kuka found a very interesting way
08:05to fit everyone into the same system.
08:07Taking a quick look at the tactics board,
08:09this here was the setup
08:10for the match against Cruzeiro,
08:11but the logic remains the same,
08:13obviously with some variation,
08:15because Santos hasn't always played
08:16with three center backs,
08:18but they almost always end up
08:19building from the back
08:20with a back three.
08:21They set up a box here in the middle
08:23with Giauschmidt,
08:24or it could be Oliva too,
08:25Gustavo Enrique,
08:27Rolizer,
08:27and Bontempo.
08:28And then I wonder,
08:29looking at this quartet here,
08:31how do you fit them all in?
08:33Arthur,
08:33who I believe will come in
08:34for one of the defensive midfielders,
08:36and especially Philippe Coutinho,
08:38who brings so much quality
08:39when turning and working
08:40in tight spaces.
08:42And then this quartet
08:43worked wonders
08:43in the game against Cruzeiro.
08:45From those last plays I showed,
08:47you remember how important it was
08:48for Gustavo to get in
08:49behind Gerson,
08:50right?
08:50And this play here,
08:51which ends with Fabrizio Bruno's
08:53own goal,
08:53also shows how important
08:55he is early in the move.
08:56And it says a lot about
08:57working in tight spaces.
08:59I think it's a great way
09:00to show it.
09:00Look,
09:01it'll become very clear here
09:02what you've already picked up,
09:03right?
09:03The back three buildup.
09:04Up there is Luan Perez,
09:06centrally here is
09:06Willian Arau,
09:07and Igor Vinicius,
09:08right here.
09:09Don't get confused,
09:10because here Joao Schmidt
09:11dropped back kind of sporadically,
09:13which isn't his standard behavior,
09:14and Matheus Pereira
09:15ends up pushing up with him,
09:16kind of balancing it out,
09:17so the logic remains the same,
09:19right?
09:19A four against three
09:20maintains that numerical superiority,
09:22but then I want to draw your attention
09:23to this guy right here,
09:24Gerson.
09:25You'll remember clearly
09:26when I showed earlier
09:27that there was a matchup
09:28that was essential
09:29for Cruzeiro
09:30to balance their marking,
09:31Matheus Pereira
09:32on Joao Schmidt
09:33and Gerson,
09:33locked on to Gustavinho.
09:36Here Gerson kind of panics
09:37and decides to go
09:38after Igor Vinicius,
09:39and my impression is
09:40that Santos reads the game
09:41so well
09:42that they notice this
09:43and know where the ball
09:44has to go,
09:44because take a look.
09:46Igor Vinicius.
09:47He draws Gerson in,
09:49and the ball goes wide
09:50here to Rodine.
09:51This ends up forcing
09:52Cruzeiro's left back Rojas
09:54to step up.
09:54Keep that in mind,
09:55because him stepping
09:56into the attacking half
09:57will be crucial
09:58for Santos to score the goal.
10:00The ball moves forward,
10:02and look what we see.
10:03Gustavinho completely unmarked
10:04right between the other
10:05two midfielders.
10:07So he starts off
10:09tracking Gerson,
10:10gets behind Gerson,
10:11who's right here
10:11sleeping on the play.
10:13Matthew Zinho
10:13was dragged away
10:14by Rollheiser.
10:15Bomb tempo.
10:17Spins Romero over here,
10:18and Gustavo Henrique
10:19is open on the inside.
10:20Now it's time for Santos
10:21to speed things up,
10:22just like I always say.
10:23The coach is there
10:24to provide support,
10:25to give ideas
10:26so the players
10:27can progress up the pitch.
10:28Got a chance
10:29to move forward?
10:30Now it's on you guys,
10:31my friends.
10:33Santos has this chance
10:34as Rodine starts
10:35to get in behind Rojas here.
10:37We see him pushing forward,
10:39bursting behind the fullback,
10:40and the ball
10:41is going to reach him.
10:42I even think Gustavinho
10:44could have looked
10:44for that direct pass.
10:45Maybe his reading of the game
10:47needs to be a bit better
10:48when he has the ball,
10:48just like I showed
10:49in that other play
10:50where he could have
10:50switched flanks.
10:51But here,
10:52he's going to release
10:52the pass to Roni first.
10:53Look at how
10:54JoĂŁo Marcelo is torn.
10:56He doesn't know
10:56whether to cover Rojas' back
10:58or stay inside.
10:59When he steps out
11:00to cover the fullback,
11:01Fabricio Bruno
11:01doesn't balance things out.
11:03He keeps tracking
11:04Bom Tempo,
11:04who is already marked
11:05on the inside.
11:06The ball reaches Roni.
11:07As JoĂŁo Marcelo adjusts,
11:09Roni passes the ball
11:10to Rodine,
11:10who has space
11:11and is going to make
11:12the cross into the channel.
11:13It's a very dangerous cross
11:14because if the defender
11:15intervenes,
11:16there's a big chance
11:16he scores an on goal.
11:17If he doesn't intervene,
11:18someone scores at the back post.
11:20And it's precisely
11:20Bom Tempo,
11:21who is being mocked by two,
11:22who steps in there,
11:23drags it,
11:24and contests it
11:24with Fabricio Bruno,
11:25and the Cruzeiro defender
11:26ends up scoring an on goal.
11:27And it doesn't stop there,
11:29okay?
11:29There's this play here,
11:30for example,
11:30where Cebolinha gets dispossessed.
11:32The play comes to nothing,
11:33but it's interesting for us
11:34to see how Santos
11:35manages to work
11:36in these tight spaces
11:37in the attacking third.
11:38The ball comes back,
11:39and Santos will start
11:41building up again.
11:42Here it's practically
11:42the same three-man build-up,
11:44okay?
11:44Except if we look closely,
11:46Laurent Perez
11:46pushed forward a little bit more,
11:48and JoĂŁo Schmid
11:48dropped in to play out
11:49from the back
11:49with Arau and Igor Vinicius.
11:51Thirdly part of the
11:52second phase of build-up.
11:53We can't even call it
11:53playing out from the back.
11:54JoĂŁo Schmid is being mocked
11:56by Matheus Pereira,
11:57which is the standard man mark.
11:59Now take a look at
11:59what happens further
12:00up the pitch here.
12:01Santos puts a lot of players
12:03in a compact space.
12:04It's Gustavo Henrique,
12:05Rollheiser,
12:06Cebolinha,
12:07who drifted inside
12:08while Luan Perez
12:09holds the touchline,
12:10and Bon Tempo.
12:11That makes four players inside.
12:13And with Arroyo
12:14stepping out to mark
12:14Luan Perez,
12:15an overload is created.
12:17Arroyo steps out,
12:18leaving Rollheiser
12:18wide open inside.
12:20Play the ball to him.
12:21Four against three inside.
12:22Tight space.
12:23Santos has to react quickly
12:24and move the ball fast.
12:25And look what's about to happen.
12:27Rollheiser controls it
12:28and comes under pressure.
12:29If he's being pressed,
12:31another player is going
12:31to be left open now.
12:33Cebolinha on the inside.
12:34Ball to Bon Tempo,
12:35very quick first time.
12:36Ball to Cebolinha,
12:38who now moves close
12:38to the box.
12:39And here he's tackled
12:40by Gerson.
12:41The play comes to nothing,
12:43but look,
12:43if you only analyze
12:44the very end of the play,
12:45you're going to criticize Santos.
12:47If you analyze the play
12:48as a whole,
12:48you'll understand
12:49the mechanisms
12:50to reach this kind
12:51of situation.
12:53However,
12:53to play good football,
12:54it's obviously not enough
12:55to just play well
12:56in the attacking phase.
12:57You also need to defend
12:58very well.
12:59And the first defensive phase
13:00is pressing
13:01and counter-pressing.
13:04Either when you want
13:04to stop the opponent
13:05from playing out
13:06from the back
13:06or when you lose the ball
13:08and immediately want
13:09to react.
13:09And this right here
13:10is a trademark
13:11of Kuka's work.
13:13Right?
13:14A manager who likes to press
13:15especially right
13:16after losing the ball.
13:17And if you can't win it back,
13:19you kill the play
13:19with a foul
13:20to minimize the risk.
13:21Another attacking play
13:22here with Rodine out wide.
13:23And once again,
13:24they look for link-up play
13:25in tight spaces.
13:26Rodine is marked.
13:28Rony is close by here.
13:29And Bomb Tempo
13:29is making a run
13:30behind the defense.
13:31Rodine finds Rony.
13:33Rony plays it first time
13:34to Bomb Tempo.
13:35And the play comes to nothing.
13:37JoĂŁo Marcel tracks him down.
13:39The ball comes back.
13:40They'll try the cross.
13:41And this could be
13:42a risky situation here
13:43because Santos is committing
13:442, 3, 4, 5, 6,
13:477 players ahead of the ball.
13:48And probably just the trio
13:49back there, right?
13:50Here Igor Vinicius crossed it.
13:52Probably it's just
13:53Joel Schmidt,
13:54William Aron,
13:55and Luan Perez back there.
13:56But look at what's going to happen.
13:58As soon as Santos
13:59loses the ball,
14:00Joel Schmidt immediately reacts.
14:02He pressures
14:02Matias Pereira.
14:04We call this counter-pressing.
14:05Okay?
14:05It's counter-press.
14:06The famous press
14:07right after losing possession.
14:09And he keeps pressing
14:09Matias Pereira.
14:10The goal here
14:11isn't always to win the ball back.
14:13Okay?
14:13It's to kill the play right here.
14:15That's what happens.
14:16They even commit a foul.
14:18Igor Vinicius does the same thing
14:19right here to Gerson.
14:20It's a foul where someone
14:21will hardly ever get a yellow card.
14:22There's no risk involved.
14:23Coincidentally,
14:24this is right at the start of the game.
14:26No!
14:27There isn't enough force
14:28for a yellow card.
14:29And what's going to happen?
14:30The referee stops the play.
14:31It neutralizes any danger
14:33and then Cruzero
14:34will have to build
14:35from the back
14:36to create a threat.
14:37And now is when we bring
14:38the entire analysis
14:39full circle.
14:40A team that plays out
14:41from the back
14:41with a numerical advantage.
14:43A 3-on-2.
14:44They work very well
14:45in tight spaces
14:46in the attacking half.
14:47When they lose possession
14:48they press immediately.
14:50And that same numerical advantage
14:52when building out
14:52from the back
14:53is also crucial
14:54when defending.
14:55And now I'll break down
14:56for you
14:56how Santos' system works
14:58when pressing
14:58and defending back there.
15:00Look, here we saw Santos
15:01got a shot off.
15:02The ball is in Otavio's hands.
15:04And here we have to look
15:05very closely
15:05at the details, alright?
15:06Santos' press
15:07always starts with Roni.
15:09Who, to me,
15:10even though I have
15:10plenty of criticisms
15:11about his game?
15:12On the ball.
15:13Off the ball.
15:13He is probably the forward
15:14who presses best
15:15in Brazilian football.
15:16And not just back
15:17in the defensive third.
15:18But also pressing
15:19when the opponent
15:20plays out from the back.
15:21Here he's waiting
15:22to decide which side
15:23Otavio is going
15:23to build up through.
15:24And once he spots
15:25that it's on
15:26Fabricio Bruno's side
15:27he reacts immediately.
15:28Look, the ball goes wide.
15:30And he's already
15:31making this curving run.
15:32Why?
15:33To cut off the return pass
15:34and force Fabricio Bruno
15:35to push into the attacking half.
15:37Look, he curves his run.
15:38The return pass is gone.
15:39And now the marking
15:41becomes man-to-man.
15:42Santos.
15:43This is also typical
15:44of Kuka's teams, you know.
15:45They'll go man-to-man
15:47across the rest of the pitch.
15:48Every player picks up his man
15:50leaving nobody free.
15:51And then what happens?
15:52Roni comes in
15:53pressing Fabricio Bruno.
15:54He looks up.
15:55He sees all the
15:56Cruzeiro players marked
15:57and he's going to be forced
15:58to go for the long ball
15:59just like Bontempo
16:00and Rollheiser
16:01marked the two
16:01defensive midfielders.
16:03Here Joao Schmidt
16:04and Gustavinho
16:04mark Cruzeiro's
16:05two central midfielders
16:06just like Cruzeiro
16:07was marking.
16:08Santos also marks them
16:09but they're much more alert
16:11than Cruzeiro's marking.
16:12Roni comes in
16:13puts pressure on Fabricio Bruno
16:14and he's forced to play
16:16the long ball.
16:16And that's what I call
16:17efficiency and superiority.
16:19If you have a numerical advantage
16:20with three center backs
16:21against two forwards
16:22when attacking
16:23you also have it
16:24when defending.
16:25And Igor Vinicius
16:26Aron and Luan Perez
16:27make it three on two
16:28here against
16:28Arroyo and
16:29Caio Jorge.
16:30The ball is up for grabs
16:31but it falls to that
16:32extra man
16:33Aron
16:34who gives Santos
16:35stability.
16:36I confess I don't really
16:37follow Santos' games
16:38okay
16:39but after all these signings
16:40Arthur,
16:41Philippe Coutinho,
16:42Everton,
16:42Cebolinha,
16:43Rodinei
16:44I started getting curious
16:45to see how they actually play
16:46and I'm really curious
16:48to see if Coutinho
16:49will arrive as a starter
16:50or not for this team.
16:52Even with Neymar himself
16:53I already doubt
16:54if he'll keep that
16:55guaranteed spot
16:56because the team is
16:56working well like this
16:57and Gabigol
16:58in Roni's place
16:59which I believe
17:00will be the starting lineup
17:01tends to boost
17:02all these guys even more.
17:03And now that you already
17:04understand how Santos
17:05attacks,
17:06the importance of their
17:07play on the ball
17:08and how the midfielders
17:09manage to be creative
17:10and rack up so many
17:11key passes
17:12it's time for you to
17:12check out our fantasy game.
17:14I think that if you've
17:15stayed this far into the video
17:16it's because you enjoyed
17:17all the work I put into
17:18watching Santos' games
17:19reviewing Kuka's
17:20press conference
17:21and bringing all this
17:21well-edited material to you
17:23and now I'm just asking
17:24for a chance.
17:25Click on this video
17:26right here
17:26and we'll explain
17:27how the game works
17:28or if you're in a hurry
17:29head to the link
17:30in the description
17:31and I'm sure you'll love it.
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