Mano Menezes, Brazil's Midfield And The Ronaldinho Card

In recent weeks, the soccer blogosphere has been filled with commentary about Brazil’s defeat to Mexico in the Olympic final, and much attention has focused on Mano Menezes, the coach of the Brazilian national team. Many people—World Cup legend Romario included—have called for his dismissal, and rumors have proliferated about other options investigated by the CBF including Pep Guardiola and Luis Felipe Scolari. One school of thought, most famously propounded by Romario, maintains that Mano Menezes erred in selecting Hulk over David Luiz as one of the three overage players. The other school of thought maintains that Mano’s problem was that he failed to start Hulk for the final against Mexico, leaving the right flank exposed and leading to the first Peralta goal. As the celebrated blogger Jack Lang notes, "that Menezes failed to replicate the gung-ho nature of this decision [to include Hulk] in his starting 11 was the greatest frustration of a hugely disappointing afternoon for Brazil."

The reality is, the central question about the state of Brazilian football today does not concern Hulk or the Brazilian back line. Brazil have a phenomenal set of four defenders in the form of Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Dani Alves and Marcelo. The quality of the Brazilian defense was on display in the 3-0 victory against Sweden on August 15. The central question for Brazilian football today concerns the composition of the midfield, and this is the area that Menezes himself singled out in 2010 as the area in which Brazil was having problems. The secondary, related question about the Brazilian national team concerns team leadership and mentorship on the pitch itself, in the heat of the battle.

The issues with the Brazilian midfield are as follows:

• Recent Chelsea signing Oscar is an extraordinary player with vision, skill and creativity. That said, he failed to run the Brazilian midfield in the final against Mexico, and the same could be said of other matches as well. This is not a criticism of Oscar per se. It’s more a function of his style of play, temperament and the slightness of his physical presence.

• Only Ronaldinho can provide Brazil with the direction in midfield and overall leadership and fight that the team needs. Some people—though the number is becoming fewer and fewer—claim that role can be filled by the injury prone Paulo Henrique Ganso. Others will argue Kaka can do the same. The reality is that Ganso has barely played for Brazil in the last two years, and when he has, he has been less than spectacular. Kaka failed to give Brazil the direction it needed in the match against the Netherlands in World Cup 2010 in a high pressure situation. Moreover, Kaka has little experience playing alongside this generation of Brazilian-based players. Ronaldinho may be able to partner with Oscar in an attacking midfield pairing that complements Oscar’s skill and work ethic with Dinho’s singular ability to impose himself on a game.

• Hernanes and Lucas Moura represent other options that Menezes may want to consider alongside Oscar and Ronaldinho. The Lazio playmaker is known for his ability to play in the center of the park in a genuinely ambidextrous vein on either the left or right side of midfield. Paris Saint-Germain bound Lucas Moura could be yet another option for Brazil, making up the fourth wheel in a midfield quartet now composed of Oscar, Ronaldinho, Hernanes and Lucas Moura.

• Philosophically, Menezes shows allegiances to the legendary, attacking Brazilian coach Tele Santana by wanting playmakers deep in midfield as opposed to holding midfielders such as Lucas Leiva known for the bite of their tackle. Brazil 1982, recall, had Falcao and Cerezzo as deeper lying midfielders behind Socrates and Eder. Brazil 2014 can feature Oscar and Ronaldinho in what amounts to two number 10 shirts that would ideally be supplemented by playmaking ability deeper in midfield as well. Romulo and Sandro did well for the Olympic squad, but do not have the skill and experience to break down teams like Spain and Germany at the 2014 World Cup.

• Ronaldinho is back in form as demonstrated by his performances for Atletico Mineiro. In recent weeks, Dinho has chosen to show his stuff on the field and remain mostly silent off it. More importantly, Ronaldinho provides a young Brazilian team with leadership and experience that they will need when the team goes down by a goal or two and faces 10 men behind the ball for extended periods of time.

Mano Menezes should select Ronaldinho for the upcoming friendlies on September 7 and 10 against South Africa and China. He himself has described Dinho as “part of a project." Now is the time to bring Dinho firmly back into the fold and let him lead the Selecao, assuming, of course, that the former 2004 and 2005 FIFA World Player of The Year continues to deliver quality performances and a respectable attitude.

Brazil Include Ronaldinho In Preliminary Squad For Olympics

Brazil national coach Mano Menezes announced a preliminary list of 51 players for the 2012 Olympic games in London today. Mano included Ronaldinho (Flamengo), Thiago Silva (AC Milan), David Luiz (Chelsea), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Dani Alves (Barcelona), Hernanes (Lazio), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan) and Hulk (FC Porto) as possible candidates for the prized berths for three, over 23 year old players. True to Mano’s recent squad selections for the national team, Kaka and Robinho were omitted. Of the under 23 year old players, standouts include Neymar (Santos), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Leandro Damiao (Internacional), Lucas Moura (Sao Paulo), Oscar (Internacional), Henrique (Granada, Spain) and Casemiro (Sao Paulo). Expectations for Olympic gold are mounting in Brazil given the abundance of talent in this generation of under 23 year old players. Brazil have never won Olympic gold even though they are five time World Cup champions.

Mano Menezes has remarked that the Olympic squad needs an experienced central defender such as Thiago Silva in order to win the gold medal. Star midfielder Ronaldinho, meanwhile, has been outspoken about his desire to play again in the Olympics, even though he has been suffering from a recent poor run of form at Flamengo. Brazil’s midfield sparkled at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia in August 2011 under the leadership of Oscar (Internacional) and Casemiro (Sao Paulo). Casemiro recently commented that Brazil’s current Olympic squad “is the best group ever assembled, the strongest.” "If you stop to think about it,” he noted, “you can make a strong group without having the three over-age athletes.”

Brazil won the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup by scoring 18 goals en route to the trophy. Coach Ney Franco’s World Cup winning U-20 squad featured a midfield composed of Casemiro, Coutinho, Fernando and Oscar behind strikers Henrique and Willian Jose. While Oscar stole the show in the final with a memorable hat-trick in Brazil’s 3-2 victory against Portugal, Henrique picked up the Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards for the tournament’s most valuable player and leading goalscorer, respectively. Pressure is particularly high on Menezes to win Olympic gold as a stepping stone to Brazil’s preparation for the 2014 World Cup on home soil. Brazil will announce a revised list of 35 players on June 8. The final 18 player squad for the Olympic games, which take place between July 27 and August 12, will be revealed on July 6.

Brazil Scrape To 2-1 Victory Over Bosnia

Brazil scraped to a 2-1 victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina thanks to goals by Marcelo and an own goal inspired by a powerful Hulk cross. Mano opted for his trademark 4-3-3 formation with Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz and Marcelo starting behind midfielders Sandro, Fernandinho and Hernanes. Ronaldinho, Neymar and Leandro Damiao constituted the Brazilian attack with Ronaldinho playing in a deep attacking position. AC Milan’s Thiago Silva donned the captain’s armband as Brazil took the field amidst a crowd full of Bosnian supporters who made their voice heard throughout the match. Ronaldinho wore the famed Brazil number 10 jersey.

The match started auspiciously for the South Americans in the fourth minute when Dani Alves spotted Marcelo bursting through from the left flank toward goal and threaded a pass to the Real Madrid left back through a posse of players. Marcelo made no mistake and buried the ball past the keeper’s left to open the scoring. Marcelo’s goal should have been the cue for Brazil to open the floodgates and take control of the match, but Bosnia and Herzegovina refused to lie down lightly. In the 13th minute, Vedad Ibisevic equalized for Bosnia following a giveaway by David Luiz and horrendous goalkeeping from Julio Cesar, who allowed the ball to bounce off and over his body into the net without making an effort to stop the ball with his hands or feet.

In the 20th minute, Brazil almost took the lead when an inspired Fernandinho pass found Leandro Damiao, whose shot was blocked by goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. The rebound fell to Lazio midfielder Hernanes but was snatched away by superb defending from the captain Emir Spahic. The remainder of the first half featured lively play from Bosnia and Herzegovina as Brazil failed to find their feet in midfield and create the killer playmaking passes that could split the Bosnian defense. Ronaldinho, in particular, had a disappointing evening marked by mislaid passes and lack of midfield creativity. Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic caused problems for the Brazilian defense but the two teams nevertheless went into half-time tied at 1-1.

Brazil improved significantly in the second half following the substitution of Ronaldinho with Ganso but continued to struggle in the latter third of the field. Hernanes failed to convert a header resulting from a Marcelo cross and Neymar had a shot denied by Begovic. In the 90th minute, however, Brazil’s persistence paid off when Marcelo fed Hulk a ball on the left flank. The Porto striker delivered a powerful cross into the area which was deflected into the Bosnian goal by Sasa Papac.

Overall, this was yet another disappointing performance from the Selecao given how the team is bursting with talent. Mano seems to have decided on three skilled midfielders who play deeper in midfield in the form of some combination of Fernandinho, Sandro, Hernanes and Elias. Brazil’s midfield failed to create enough quality scoring opportunities, however, and the strikers, correspondingly, appeared unable to create the spaces that would lead to high percentage scoring opportunities. Given Ronaldinho’s poor performance, the obvious question is whether Kaka can revitalize the Brazilian midfield. Meanwhile, up front, Mano will have to reflect on whether Robinho can provide a more credible scoring threat amidst an attacking line-up that appears to lack the experience to break down highly physical defending such as that delivered by Bosnia and Herzegovina in today’s friendly in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Nevertheless, this is Brazil’s sixth consecutive victory and follows upon victories against Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, Gabon and Egypt.

Mano Menezes Selects Ronaldinho, Neymar, Ganso and Hulk For Brazil Squad Against Bosnia

Brazil national football coach Mano Menezes announced an intriguing line-up for the February 28 friendly against Bosnia by selecting Ronaldinho, Ganso, Neymar, Hulk and Leandro Damiao and omitting Kaka, Robinho, Pato, Lucio and Maicon. Given Mano’s preference for a 4-3-3 formation in recent friendlies, Ganso, Ronaldinho and Fernandinho could well start behind Neymar, Leandro Damiao and Hulk in a radically offensive formation marked by four attackers (Ronaldinho, Neymar, Leandro Damiao and Hulk). Mano is likely to put Leandro Damiao’s capabilities as a center forward to the test and play Hulk in his natural position at Porto as a right sided attacker, leaving Neymar on the left. Mano explained his decision to omit Kaka from the squad by noting, with respect to the Real Madrid playmaker’s recent performances, “Perhaps I didn’t see something from him that I wanted to see.” In the case of Ronaldinho, in contrast, Mano remarked that he envisioned the Flamengo star midfielder as “part of a project” and that he had chosen not to “read too much” into the player’s largely drab performances for Flamengo of late. Highlights of Mano’s squad selection include the following:

• The continued central partnership of AC Milan’s Thiago Silva and Chelsea’s David Luiz.
• Left back Marcelo, who will surge up the left flank as well as cut diagonally inside and head toward goal.
• Skilled midfielders who can play in deep positions such as Fernandinho, Hernanes and Sandro that can complement the attacking positioning of Ganso.
• The inclusion of Sao Paulo starlet Lucas Moura as another attacking midfield option, particularly as a possible second half substitution for Ganso, Hulk or Ronaldinho.
• The surprise inclusion of Jonas, despite his two goals in the Egypt friendly. Jonas lacks the technical ability of Hulk and Ronaldinho, but evidently found the positioning and composure to find the back of the net in a Brazil friendly, which is more than can be said of most Brazil strikers in recent international matches.

The squad for the Bosnia friendly builds logically on the work Mano has done in the past 18 months as coach of the Brazilian national team. Fans should expect a highly offensive starting line-up against Bosnia that tests the mettle of Hulk and Damiao, in particular, in relation to competition from Lucas Moura and Jonas for starting spots in the Selecao.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Diego Alves (Valencia), Rafael (Santos)

Defenders: Marcelo (Real Madrid), Daniel Alves, Adriano (both Barcelona), Alex Sandro (Porto), Thiago Silva (AC Milan), David Luiz (Chelsea), Luisao (Benfica), Dede (Vasco da Gama)

Midfielders: Danilo (Porto), Elias (Sporting), Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk), Hernanes (Lazio), Sandro (Tottenham Hotspur), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Lucas (Sao Paulo), Ronaldinho (Flamengo)

Attackers: Neymar (Santos), Leandro Damiao (Internacional), Jonas (Valencia), Hulk (Porto)

Flamengo Hires Joel Santana As Coach To Replace Luxemburgo

Joel Santana has assumed the position of coach of Flamengo for the fifth time in his career after Flamengo fired Vanderlei Luxemburgo late last week. Luxemburgo was fired after he became embroiled in a battle of words with Flamengo’s star midfielder, Ronaldinho, related to the latter’s alleged discipline problems and love of the nightlife. The 63 year old Santana was widely expected to take over as coach of Flamengo after he resigned as coach of the Brazilian club Bahia last Thursday, on precisely the day Luxemburgo was fired.

Santana was announced and introduced to Flamengo on Monday. He returns to Flamengo with the objective of reintroducing harmony between the players and the position of coach. In a press conference, Santana pledged to give Ronaldinho the freedom and respect befitting a player of his caliber, adding that Dinho could play anywhere he wanted on the field:

"Ronaldinho is the team's star, idol and he'll settle games for us. He's talented and knows how to play, the quality of this kid is impressive. When you buy a rare piece you have to put it in the best place in the house. He'll play where he feels best. If he wants to be on the left we'll put him there, if he prefers the right, he'll go to that sector. Is he in the middle? Then he'll play in the middle."

Santana delivered his remarks just days after Ronaldinho scored a thrilling injury time goal against Bolivian team Real Potosi to clinch Flamengo’s qualification for the group stages of the Copa Libertadores with an aggregate 3-2 victory. According to Flamengo director Paulo Coutinho, Santana has already set his sights on winning the Copa Libertadores with Flamengo and is considering multiple reinforcements to the existing team.

Santana most recently coached Flamengo from 2007 to 2008 before coaching hosts South Africa for the 2010 World Cup and then assuming a position at Bahia. Brazil 1982 Word Cup star Paulo Falcao takes over the helm at Bahia from Santana in his first coaching stint since being fired from Internacional in July.