Midfielder Daniel Jr, 21, liked a post criticizing the work of Pepa, coach of Cruzeiro, after the Celeste team’s defeat by Grêmio, 3-0, this Sunday (27), at the Arena do Grêmio. The match, valid for the 21st round of the Brazilian Championship, was one of the worst presentations of Raposa in the season, reinforcing the risk of relegation of the Minas Gerais team to Série B.
The post liked by Daniel Jr was published on the Instagram of Geral Celeste fans, one of Cruzeiro’s organized fans, and criticized the fact that Pepa did not give opportunities to players trained at the base of Raposa, with an illustrative photo of the number 48 shirt and quoting him by name .
— Pepa! Base Enemy! If there’s one that could at least be joining the games to help us, it’s @danieljr__10. But the technician prefers to take him just for a walk around Brazil!
General Celeste fans, on Instagram
One of Cruzeiro’s young prospects, Daniel Jr, who stands out for his dribbling skills and ability, was formed at Palmeiras and arrived at the celestial club in 2021, for the under-20. His professional debut at Raposa took place in 2022, with Uruguayan coach Paulo Pezzolano. Last year, the midfielder played 34 games, scoring four goals and providing four assists.
In 2023, Daniel only played ten games, five of them in the Campeonato Mineiro, still with Paulo Pezzolano, where he scored a goal. With Pepa, there were five matches, four for the Brasileirão and one for the Copa do Brasil.
Even with the same number of participations, the player’s timing was quite discrepant. Under Pezzolano, Daniel played just over 200 minutes, starting twice and being a substitute on three occasions. Pepa, in turn, has never worn the number 48 shirt since the start of a match, putting it on in the final minutes of the five games in question.
Daniel Jr hasn’t played since June 21, when he came on in the 39th minute of the second half against Fortaleza, in a match that ended with a 1-0 victory for Leão, at Mineirão. question.
Daniel Jr games with Pepa
In all five games he played with Pepa, Daniel Jr entered after 39 minutes of the second stage. And Cruzeiro was already losing on every occasion that the midfielder was called by the coach. In none of the matches did Raposa manage to avoid defeat. Look:
- 11th round of the Brazilian Championship – Cruzeiro 0 x 1 Fortaleza – Mineirão – Entered at 39 of the second half
- 9th round of the Brazilian Championship – Cruzeiro 0 x 1 Atlético-MG – Parque do Sabiá – Started at 40 of the second half
- Copa do Brasil Round of 16 – Cruzeiro 0 x 1 Grêmio – Mineirão – Entered at 43 of the second half
- 7th round of the Brazilian Championship – Cruzeiro 0 x 1 Cuiabá – Arena do Jacaré – Entered at 42 of the second half
- 5th round of the Brazilian Championship – Cruzeiro 0 x 1 Fluminense – Mineirão – Entered at 39 of the second half
Pepa receives criticism for not using the base
Pepa has been criticized for the few opportunities given to young people trained in Cruzeiro. Without counting on Lucas Silva, revealed in the club, but already experienced and rotated, only Kaiki, among the “Cria da Toca”, entered the field in the defeat against Grêmio, entering in the 41st minute of the second half in place of Marlon.
In the match against Corinthians, Robert entered at 37 of the second half. Against Palmeiras, Kaiki was used from the 39th minute of the second stage.
Pepa commented on the criticisms regarding his work with the Celeste base after the 0-0 draw against Internacional, on July 1, for the 13th round of the Brasileirão. The Portuguese said, at the time, that he would not place youth from the base just for the sake of it.
— Today Stênio played, Marlon today was hanging and got yellow, under normal conditions, Kaiki goes inside, another base player. Today Robert was supposed to join the game. From the 65th minute, as I said, (the game) completely changed (with the expulsion of Lucas Oliveira) and we changed it too, we removed the wingers to be more comfortable behind, so it was not possible for the “kid” to enter – said Pepa, at the time.
— But this cannot be “entering for the sake of entering”. We have to remember, and we have to be very sincere here, that Cruzeiro had three years in Série B. It is natural that the very quality of the base, one thing is Série B and another thing is Série A, they are completely different things. We have to have this ability to work, prepare the offspring, and not launch to say that it appeared, that Cruzeiro or Pepa launched.
Pepa, after Internacional 0 x 0 Cruzeiro
— It is for (the young people from the base) to go inside (the field) prepared and not to burn the boys, not to send them to the fire to burn. They are being prepared. We are constantly monitoring. I train many under-20 players with us, even one from the under-17, who is also in the under-20, trains with us. It is a process that takes a long time. The level of demand in Serie A is completely different from Serie B – concluded the Portuguese coach.