Where am I?

So I’ve been away for a LONG time. A combination of the World Cup, life, and some confusion with my being able to access this blog on my new computer. Here I am though, I’m back.

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.

Category: Team News