The technician Flamengo, Filipe Luisstated this Friday that he managed to take the Rio team to the final of the Libertadores Cup thanks to his former coach at Atlético de Madrid Diego ‘el Cholo’ Simeonepointing out that it made him more ambitious and taught him to inspire more people. “Everyone knows the love I have for him. He is a person who has not only improved me as a footballer, he has changed my way of thinking,” Filipe explained at the press conference prior to the final that Flamengo will play on Saturday against Palmeiras at the Monumental Stadium in Lima.
“He made me a more competitive and ambitious person, and I am here thanks to him because he has inspired me to inspire people. I am very grateful to him,” he added. The Brazilian explained that, as a coach, he has tactical concepts from Simeone, and also from other technicians with whom he also worked, as well as from others with whom he has never worked. “In the end we copied things from each other,” he specified.
Filipe, who won two Copa Libertadores with Flamengo as a player, one of them precisely in Lima, pointed out that the way he approaches a final now as a coach is very different. “As a player I thought exclusively about what I was going to do on the field and in my legs. I was much more individual and focused on the opponent who had to score. Now I have to think much more about the collective, understanding how Palmeiras plays and how we are going to do it to transfer it to the players. Once they enter the field, they are the ones who decide,” he noted.
At the moment he is not thinking about his future
Asked about his future, after having been coach of Flamengo for just over a year, he indicated that he is not thinking about that and that his mind is on the team and having everything he can under control to pass it on to his players. “I always believed, because I learned from ‘Cholo’, to go game by game. I believe in what I do and in the ambition I have. I don’t look back. It is very difficult to reach a final. For both teams it was very difficult. We value it a lot and that is why we want to play a great game,” said Filipe.
The former Deportivo de La Coruña, Atlético de Madrid and Chelsea footballer thus responded to comparisons to the 2021 final that Flamengo lost precisely against Palmeiras. “They are different moments. It is clear that that defeat was recorded in the fans, but since then many players are new, and the coach is different. We have to enjoy the moment,” he said.
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Filipe acknowledged that he does not know exactly what Palmeiras will do but “everyone knows him and his way of playing is not going to change much,” so he anticipated that it will be a match “that is really going to be in the details.” “What I am experiencing in Flamengo is a pride and privilege,” the coach emphasized when remembering the massive farewell that the Rio de Janeiro team had before taking the plane to Lima, where a group of fans even entered the team bus through the roof.
“It was very pleasant, and that happens because people feel that energy and communion with the team and want to show that energy. Most of the fans do not manage to go to the stadium, and it is their very pure way of showing the love they feel for the shield. It is something that cannot be explained in words. Living that is very gratifying and it gives us that strength to know who we are fighting for,” he said.
The winner of this final will become the first Brazilian team to win four Copa Libertadores trophies, the largest club competition in South America.
