José Boto talks about the planning for the season at a press conference at Ninho do Urubu

On the afternoon of this Wednesday (8), the day of the professional squad's re-presentation, Flamengo's football technical director, José Boto, gave a press conference at Ninho do Urubu and spoke about the football planning for the 2025 season. Before answering questions from journalists, Boto made it clear that from now on the training and travel schedules will be announced in advance. He also introduced his direct assistant, Alfredo Almeida, and the new head of the red-black medical department, Dr. Fernando Sassaki.

Check out some excerpts from the interview:

Press information

"You'll receive some material, access to the professional squad's schedule. Every week you'll receive a spreadsheet showing what's going on, what time training starts, travel—all of this will be delivered through communications, along with the entire preseason plan. There will be some open training sessions for you to take photos, and players will be available for some interviews. I was also told there were questions regarding the length of the preseason in the United States. Nothing, it was a technical decision that led to the shortening. That's basically it."

Negotiations

"I come from a culture where secrecy is the lifeblood of business. Talking about the progress of negotiations hurts Flamengo. I won't answer, I never will. There's no point in asking me if such and such a player is real because I won't answer. When they're signed, they'll be introduced here, and then we'll explain the entire process. Keep sending names because they facilitate some ideas, but I won't answer; it's part of my culture."

Filipe Luis

"We've been in daily contact since December 18th. Now that he's here, it's easier; working face-to-face is always better. I stand by everything I said on the first day. He's someone I see a wonderful future in. And I want to be the Portuguese director who will end the dominance of Portuguese coaches in Brazil. This will happen through Filipe. With all due respect to Portuguese coaches—some are even my friends—but I want to help end that dominance, and there's nothing better than being Filipe."

Alfredo Almeida

"He's someone with a lot of experience, especially in training methodology, and he'll be a huge support for the youth team as well. And as the name suggests, he's my assistant. I'm monitoring the team somewhere, and I need someone to take care of the more technical side. It's not just hiring. It's a more technical approach than what we're doing here."

Base division

"The youth academy is always something that was looked after with great care at every club I've played for. It won't be any different here. What does winning at the youth academy mean? It's the number of players who play in the first team or who can be sold. That criticism I made was general because Brazil has the conditions to produce more of the players that delight us."

Below, all the information about the main team's preseason:

Watch José Boto's press conference on FlaTV in full:

//www.youtube.com/embed/oIKr2PFhhTs