Author: Zetona (Page 14 of 14)

Due to the site crash, old articles like this one may not display videos and images correctly. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Here’s a special Christmas treat for you, courtesy of our own Zetona!

This summer, Rogério Micale led Brazil’s Olympic to their first-ever gold medal, finally doing away with the one nagging goose egg in Brazil’s trophy cabinet—a significant accomplishment, even if the Olympics are a glorified youth tournament. More pertinently, because it taught us a lot about the future of Brazilian football, in terms of young and upcoming players, forward-thinking tactics, and preparation and mentality. But to properly it into context, first we must remember what we were able to take away from Brazil’s other recent coaches. The reason why is simple: we learned a lot from each of their tenures, but little of it was positive.

Part 1 will be devoted to analyzing the work and legacy of Mano Menezes, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Dunga in their coaching spells post 2010, to provide a basis of comparison when I dive into Micale’s legacy in part 2.

Now that the intros are done, it’s time to take a nice, objective look at our past few coaches, leaving aside personal biases to really focus on what they did well and where they could have done better.

Note from Black Matt: I haven’t been able to finish Part II of my “Brazil All-Time XI” series, so February is “Guest Article Month” here on the site.  Kicking things off is our own Zetona, who gives us his thoughts on what Brazil need to do to make 2016 successful.  Later in the month, we’ll feature a two-part “Seleção Classics” article from Lisgar. 

So without further ado, take it away, Zetona! 

2016 is shaping up to be a big year for Brazilian football. Of course, we said the same in 2015, and 2014, and 2013, and 2012, and 2011, and 2010, and you know what, maybe I shouldn’t start this article with the tiredest of clichés. But by my count, between eight World Cup qualifiers, the Olympics, and the Copa America Centenário, we could see some players putting on the yellow jersey over 20 times this year,^[1] more than any year since the 90s. The current side is a far cry from the glory days of the late 90s, and after the last two years of tournament disappointments and sub-par displays, there’s plenty of pessimism in the air. If the cards fall just right, though, this year could sweep those bad vibes away.

Here’s what needs to happen this year for it to keep us smiling.^[2]

Note from Black Matt:  this is the first guest article I’ve ever put up since taking over the Brazil World Cup Blog a few years ago.  I’m thrilled that the author is our very own Zetona, who has become our resident expert on the Brazilian domestic game.  (His overall knowledge of world football, of course, is equally extensive.) 

True story: a few weeks ago, when Zetona sent me his first draft, I opened it up intending to just glance at it briefly, then return to it when I had more time.  Fifteen minutes later, I had read the whole thing twice, having been hooked from the opening sentence.  I’m sure you will all enjoy reading Zetona’s thoughts as much as I did. 

So without further ado…take it away, Zetona!