So the torture is finally over. After all the wheeling and dealing, and all the worrying, Neymar has decided to stay. A pres conference was held today in which Santos President Luis Alvaro announced that Neymar signed a new 5 year, 40,000 pounds a week deal. Such wages are out of the reach of the club but with help with marketing agencies, most of the salary will come from their coffers (The huge steps in marketing in Brazilian football have been a God-send). It’s the same style of wage structure that saw Robinho, Adriano, and Ronaldo’s return to Brazil. It’s huge money but we got Neymar to stay. He never wanted to leave but his father and his agent wanted the move to go through. Then Robinho, Pele, and Mano Menezes came telling him to stay. It was a lot to put on the guy’s head. In the end, he made the right decision. I love what he said today at the press conference, “Money does not bring us joy.” Who said the kid was totally immature.

Now on to the guy who made this all possible, Luis Alvaro a.k.a Mr. President. It took a lot of metal to stand up to a big club like Chelsea. He stuck to his guns and he delivered on his promise of keeping Neymar. As he said:

We are building new possibilities. Santos wants to show that things can be different. We no longer accept the idea of being an underdeveloped country, always at the mercy of economic power. Neymar is going to become an idol. From now on, you will be witnesses to the birth of a legend

I love you, you Brazilian Panda.

NEWS ROUND UP

Copa Sudamericana you say? I have no idea what you’re talking about.

So we failed in the Copa Sudamericana. In the return leg we could only muster a 1×0 win away from home. We needed a 3×0 victory to progress. As per usual recently we lacked sharpness. Ze Eduardo’s goal was the best move of the night. Though, I can’t help but think of what might have been, if Neymar had put away that header he had a little while later. Credit to Avai, they were on the back foot in the first half, but in the second they shut up shop, and held out for the win. They were deserved winners in the end.

Here’s the goal:

I liked the look of Rodriguinho and Arouca playing together. It gives Arouca the chance the bomb forward in the box-to-box role that suits him, while Rodri sits in the midfield to protect. Well, that what he should do in theory anyway. I say him wandering around trying to play as a winger at times. It was his pass that found Ze Eduardo for the second goal though. Speaking of the red haired one, he impressed me a lot. Dorival played him in an unfamiliar role as a central striker and he had an excellent game, especially in his holdup play. Someone could learn something from him *cough* Marcel *cough*. I think it might suit him better than playing as a second striker where I don’t like him at all.

Shock Signing: Rodrigo Possebon from Manchester United

When this showed up on Globoesporte I had to check if I was still awake. Wesley’s move to Werder Bremen was confirmed today, and the new management wasted no time in getting a replacement. Solid work indeed. I saw him play a bit before his leg break and he looked like quite a talent. The thing is I don’t know how well he played after his injury. Rodrigo didn’t get a game with Braga and went back to Man Utd. Next thing I see him today in the Vila Belmiro with a Santos shirt in his hands. Reports say he signed a four year deal with the club buying 35% of his registration (sounds like a loan to me). The big question is, why did Man Utd let him go?

Now, as much as I said I like the Rodriguinho-Arouca partnership, I’m hoping he gives us some more stability in the middle. From what I remember, he likes to sit in the middle of the park and pick passes. Better than the running and getting caught out of position I have to bear every week. So for me Arouca and Rodrigo is the way to go. He might not play soon depending on how fit he is.

Speaking of fitness and not playing, that’s the reason Keirrison has been warming the bench. Dorival stays he still need some time to get to full match fitness. He looked itching to go on Wednesday night. Dorival elected to send on Marcel, effectively reducing us to ten men. Hurry up Keirrison, I want Marcel to stay on the bench.

Wesley is headed to Werder Bremen

As mentioned above, the move has finally been confirmed. The fee agreed on is about 8.5 million Euros according to reports. Bye Wesley. You came back from loan and added another dimension to our play. It’s sad to see you leave without completing a full season, but these things happen. Good luck.

The youth teams keep on rolling

The Junior team beat Villarreal 4×3 to reach the final of the Torneio Coif in Valencia. Their opponents will be Ecuador (why is a national team playing?). From the report the game was an exciting seesaw affair with the kids edging it out over the little Yellow Submarines. Boa sorte na final meninos!

Next game

Atletico Mineiro at home. If I thought we were playing like crap, then O Galo has gone to nuclear waste (whatever that means). Could it be… a win? We’ll just have to see. Alex Sandro should slot back in at leftback after working out a new contract. That alone is blessing enough.

That’s it for this post. I leave you with this picture:

Vai pra cima deles Santos!

In that we got thumped. OK, Maybe it wasn’t that bad but 4×2 looks like a pretty damning result. The crappy pitch didn’t help our passing either but there were the same problems present/ No incisiveness up front and a shambles at the back. Vitória took full advantage. We have to feel given that we had the game at 2×1 and then 3×2 before the two sending offs reduced us to nine men just as a fightback was on. Then Neymar had to go open his mouth on Twitter calling the referee a thief. *Sigh* Things are not looking up.

In happier news last year in this same fixture we got beaten 6×2, so 4×2 is an improvement.

Looking forward to the midweek match against Avai away, it’s going to be even harder. They beat Corinthians 3×2 yesterday which makes them full of confidence and us…not so much. Hopefully Neymar will be back for that one. That should keep him from getting into trouble on Twitter.

Highlights of the game yesterday.

Things looked so rosy after that Copa do Brasil game. The team was on a up, celebrating yet another trophy. Confidence was high going into the Copa Sudamericana match against Avaí. In all honesty I was dreaming of winning another trophy. It was all too optimistic.

Terrible doesn’t even begin to describe our performance. Ganso and Neymar didn’t start as expected and Andé and Robinho gone, it was a new look side. Zé Eduardo, Madson, Marcel, and Marquinhos came in. With the exception of Marquinhos they all played like crap. The defense undid all the progress it looked to have made. Dracena had a poor game and Durval may as well have been a training cone. Léo and Pará were all over the place. Our attack was nonexistent.

That was only the first half. Avaí were one up.

The defending got even worse when Wesley had to move to rightback when Léo – who was showing his age – came on for Neymar, Ganso was also subbed in. Our attack was more fluid but no more decisive and our defending had gone from terrible to catastrophic. Avaí were creating chances at their whim and the second came not far into the half. Then finally a bit of life. Neymar picked the ball up wide left at the halfway line and proceeded to cut and slide his way to the box where he slipped in Zé Eduardo who made no mistake. At that point I would have settled for a x1 result but the defense wasn’t finished with it’s comical performance. They combined to gift the opposition a third goal with a poorly executed offside trap. Not to mention a fourth goal that was wrongly ruled to have not crossed the line. It would have been more if not for Felipe who had come on for the injured Rafael. A bigger worry was the injury suffered by Neymar at the end of the game. All in all it was a day that couldn’t get any worse.

The game ended 3×1, and with three away goals the hope of progressing further into the competition doesn’t look good. The good thing is that the team can’t possibly play this bad again…I hope.

Well you might be saying, “one loss is that enough to be so gloomy about”? It’s the loss combined with the losses both completed and impending. As I already mentioned Andé and Robinho have already left. Wesley looks to be the next one on his way out, as he has been allowed to talk to Werder Bremen who have all but completed a deal. Not to mention Neymar being heavily courted by Chelsea. He wants to say but with so many different interests involved I can’t help but think he might leave. The squad was never that deep in the first place and with the performance of the reserves, the season so far looks to be the zenith of the year.

On a bright note they are a number of promising players from the youth team who are waiting in the wings. This season may be too early for them but at least the future looks bright. There are Crystian, Elivélton, and Alan Patrick and some new names in Renan Mota, Tiago Alves, and Felipe Anderson (all of them are 17). The last two in particular were instrumental in winning the Supercopa de Juniores last month.

Now for the game today against…Vitoria. They must be tired of seeing Santos. That’s three matches in three weeks. The squad:

Goleiros: Felipe e Vladimir
Zagueiros: Bruno Aguiar, Durval e Edu Dracena
Laterais: Danilo, Maranhão e Pará
Volantes: Arouca, Rodriguinho e Roberto Brum
Meias: Alan Patrick, Breitner, Madson, Marquinhos, PH Ganso e Zé Eduardo
Atacantes: Marcel e Tiago Luis

Léo is injured while Alex Sandro is busy negotiating a new contract, while Neymar is recovering from that knock. Where the hell is Keirrison is my question. So the starting XI should be:

Felipe; Maranhão, Edu Dracena, Durval, Pará; Arouca, Marquinhos; Ganso, Madson; Zé Eduardo, Marcel.

Let’s see how this goes.

I might be a bit late but it’s better late than never. A 2×1 loss to Vitoria but a 3×2 win on aggregate gave Santos they first Copa do Brasil title. It wasn’t an impressive performance by any stretch, it was enough in the end.

Glad to see Robinho as captain lifting the trophy. What a pity he’s is leaving before we could conquer the Copa Sudamericana. Perhaps he’ll be back. Ganso as expected won the player of the tournament award. Who else could it have been?

After the win the Quarteto Santista went on the spearhead the national team to an emphatic win over the US this past Tuesday. Neymar for one played exceptionally well, which is weird given his poor performances recently in a Santos shirt. Two of the four in Andre and Robinho have left with only Ganso and Neymar remaining. Though Neymar is being courted heavily by Chelsea. The club is going to report Chelsea to FIFA for this tapping up.

Tonight we begin our road to the Copa Sudamericana title against Avai. Given their midweek excursions Neymar and Ganso will likely not play so others will have to step up. With Andre gone Marcel and Keirrison are fighting for the starting lead striker spot. Keirrison got the number 9 shirt but Marcel is expected to start tonight.

Here’s hopefully to the celebration of another title soon. Vai pra cima deles Santos!

The final is on now! Vai pra cima deles Santos!

Now to concentrate on Wednesday’s Copa do Brasil second leg. Later.

So this past Wednesday was the first leg of the Copa do Brasil final. From the title you already know the result. You also know that it should have been more, much more. It should have been a 6×0 win. My thoughts on the game are pretty succinct. Great possession, great defense, crap finishing. The last point was embodied by Neymar who in the biggest game of the season so far, decided to do this when he got a penalty.

The height of irresponsibility and he was rightly booed after. Our front four of Wesley, Ganso, Neymar, and André was disappointing all night, although some have disagreed with me on Ganso’s performance. He was better than the other three, but it was a shadow of his normal self on the field.

The second leg is next Wednesday in the Barradão. Tomorrow we have a game away to Grêmio Prudente. Dorival has already said a severely depleted team will contest that game. We might see the debut of Keirrison since his registration with the CBF was completed on Friday. I’m not expected much in an away game with the second stringers but I hope they surprise me.

That all for now. Later.

A brief recap of what happened since the last blog (when we won the Paulista)

Trophy to start of World Cup: Not too bad in the Brasileiro.

End of World Cup to now: Decidedly crap for the most part. That includes a four game losing streak only broken when we beat a weakened São Paulo on Sunday.

After eleven rounds the team sits in eight place on 15 points. That’s 9 points off the leaders Corinthians (we lost to them and I still haven’t gotten over it).

Rafael seems to have taken Felipe spot as starting goalkeeper.

Transfers: Germano, George Lucas, Nikão, and André are the big transfers out. André is a huge loss. I pray that he doesn’t disappear into the depths of Ukrainian football never to be seen again. Alex Sandro, Rodriguinho, Danilo, and Keirrison (on loan) were brought in. Sandro has looked a very promising player while Rodriguinho looks like he can do a job. I rate Keirrison to the ends of the earth. He may not have come off in Europe immediately but I think he’ll find his mojo again. Marcel has also been on loan from Benfica for sometime. He has gotten himself fit and has proved useful.

Neymar, Ganso, Robinho, and André well called up to the Brazil squad for the friendly against the US. The first three were expected but Andre’s call-up is a huge surprise. He has gone unnoticed by most scoring 26 goals in 36 games. I hope he makes the most of this opportunity. Here’s a video of Neymar and Ganso watching the squad announcement:

Tonight we play Vitória in the first leg of the Copa do Brasil final. It’s a pretty big deal since winning the Copa is an automatica qualification spot into next years Libertadores. Given our poor form I am a bit down going into the game, but the win on Sunday should have raised the confidence in the team. On Sunday we played two pure volantes in the double pivot and that seemed to help our defensive woes. I hope Dorival learns from that and plays Rodriguinho next to Arouca tonight. Especially since Edu is suspended at the back. The hapless Bruno Aguiar will take his place. The team I would like to see out tonight would be:

Rafael
Maranhão–Durval–Bruno Aguiar–Alex Sandro
Arouca–Rodriguinho
Wesley—-Ganso
Robinho–André

Yes, I want him to drop Neymar. He hasn’t been playing well recently. The team needs to be set up to compensate for our defensive frailties and attacking mindset. With that in mind I have come to the conclusion that either Robinho or Neymar plays. At the moment I take Robinho. Saying that, the likely formation will be Wesley beside Arouca and Neymar playing wide with Robinho up top. I’ll be enjoying those heart stopping counter attacks when the team loses the ball.

With that all said good luck to the boys tonight at the Vila. You can do it.

We are the Champions! My apologies for my absence in recent weeks. A combination of a hectic workload and my computer catching a virus was responsible. However, I am here now to celebrate. We did it. We are the champions of the Paulista.

After an exciting 2×3 win in the 1st leg against Santo André, we had the upper hand going to the Pacaembu. The place was packed to capacity and the atmosphere was electric as the teams walked out. I was nervous but optimistic as the game was about to start. When the team sheet showed two pure defensive midfielders I breathed a sigh of relief, believing that that would improve our defensive frailties.

Then Santo André scored in the first minute. Thus, the madness began.

Neymar scored a beautiful equalizer six minutes later after a cheeky backheel from Robinho found him in the area. Two dummies later the ball was screaming into the back of the net. A few minutes later Santo André scored a goal that was wrongly ruled offside. They would get that goal back after Ale rose above Durval to head in their second.

The game took an interesting turn when an altercation after a strong challenge on Neymar resulted in red cards for Léo and Nunes. That reduced both sides to ten men. Neymar’s second goal followed soon after from another backheel from Ganso. Santo André kept attacking and we were being tested severely. Marquinhos then got himself sent off with a stupid challenge from behind. It was now us on nine men against ten.

I was expecting Dorival to tell the team sit back and get to the half. For some strange reason though we kept attacking. This soon backfired. Robinho lost the ball at the edge of their box and their swift counterattack left Braquinho alone to slot home their third goal. Robinho was mostly at fault but Arouca deserves some of the blame. When Robinho lost the ball Arouca was in the penalty box. He’s our defensive midfielder. It was even worse considering that we were on nine men. What the hell was he doing there?

We managed to make it to the half without further mishaps. The aggregate score was now 5×5. However, we would get the trophy based on our better regular season finish. All we needed was to be organized for the second and withstand Santo André’s pressure. Oh, and to park the bus of course. The thing is, we are atrocious at parking. I wasn’t feeling too confident but I was wishing for the best. Somehow we would pull it off, somehow. I knew we needed someone to step up and lead the team. Someone who would take the game to Santo André if we were to pull this off.

That man was Ganso.

We came out for the second half playing a 4-1-1-2. Ganso, Robinho, and Neymar were the only attacking force, sometimes supported by Para on the left. That’s when Ganso came into his element. He was the man who stepped up and took the game by the scruff of the neck. Santo André couldn’t get the ball off him. He almost set up Robinho for the equalizer with a defense splitting pass. Shortly after the ball landed on top of the net after an audacious effort from forty yards out. With this freakish force handling Santo André’s defense I began to rest easy. We were making it to the finish line.

Then Roberto Brum got himself sent off.

It was one of the stupidest challenges I’ve ever seen. He had no hope of getting the ball and still went in from behind. Now on eight men we had to begin defending with our lives. Robinho and Neymar were substituted for Rodrigo Mancha and André. The first was to store up the defensive, the second to provide an outlet to relieve the impending assault. Santo André duly obliged.

Wave after wave crashed against our defense but we held firm. When it did get past Felipe was there to save the day. Once when he wasn’t, one of the posts gave him a hand. Ganso was now on his own, but it didn’t seem to matter. He worked tireless up front against three, four, and even five defenders. I don’t once remember seeing him lose the ball. He always won either a freekick or a throw-in. Ganso was a one man army.

The tension was tangible. The minutes ticked away. Four minutes of extra time came and went. Finally the referee blew his whistle. Most of the Pacaembu roared in response. I myself breathed a huge sigh of relief.

We were the champions once again. Ganso was declared the hero all around. What a performance.

Highlights

A photo gallery of the final: click

There is no rest after this achievement though. The Brasileiro starts next week. See you at the weekend were I’ll have a preview of our campaign and assess how well our squad is prepared. Before that though there is the second leg of the Copa do Brasil against Atletico Mineiro. For now though:

Campeão!

PS. Neymar was voted the best player of the Paulista. Congratulations!

We are the champions, I’m drunk and I’m going out to continue celebrating. I made a few new friends at the bar I watched the game, most of them Arsenal fans that felt that Santos was an Arsenal with balls. Who am I to say anything? I think they are right.

Thank you Santos, you are beautiful and I love you! Wherever and however you stand, I’ll be with you!

CONGRATULATION CHAMPIONS!

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