The Noise from Brazil : Ronaldinho

Are Flamengo the wrong club in the right place for Ronaldinho?

Jon Cotterill — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:50:00 GMT

The former FIFA world footballer of the year is back home. Here, TV Globo’s football commentator Jon Cotterill looks at how cash-strapped Brazilian clubs are bringing back the stars

Ronaldinho Gaúcho’s transfer from AC Milan to Brazil’s biggest club, Flamengo, made the headlines all over the world. The club’s website, already geared up to cater for the estimated 38 million Rubro Negro fans, crashed due to the massive demand for news on the player.

The 30-year-old is following in the footsteps of big names such as Ronaldo, Robinho, Roberto Carlos, Adriano, Fred and Elano who have all returned home in recent seasons.

But financing the transfer fee and wages of super stars like Ronaldinho is well beyond the means of any Brazilian club. The attacking midfielder’s move is one more example of the growing trend in the country of sponsors and sports marketing companies stepping in to make a deal possible.

Traffic Sports are paying the bulk of the player’s salary, which is reported to be around £380,000 a month. Before switching to Roma in July 2010, Adriano was believed to be earning a similar amount cobbled together from sponsors Olympikus, Ale and Bozzano.

Sample Ronnie's sheer delight at being unveiled at Flamengo

Brazilian investors have caught on that money can be made from having a famous face on their products and even though Ronaldinho Gaúcho’s career appears to be on a downward spiral, the signing could turn out to be a real cash cow for the moneymen and Flamengo.

As well as the increased revenue, the returning stars have delivered on the pitch and helped their clubs pick up domestic honours. Corinthians won the São Paulo state league (the Paulista) and the Brazilian Cup with Ronaldo in 2009. Flamengo and Adriano won the league the same year. In 2010, Robinho led Santos to the Paulista and the Brazilian Cup, and Fred played a part in Fluminense’s success in the national league.

Flamengo’s coach, Vanderlei Luxemburgo, called Ronaldinho’s arrival ‘the biggest signing ever in Brazilian football’. While the former Real Madrid manager recognizes the 30-year-old’s marketing value to Flamengo, he says that it’s more important that the player leads the club to glory on the field.

After failing to make Brazil’s World Cup squad for South Africa, Ronaldinho believes that playing in his homeland will strengthen his attempts to return to the national squad. Though Gaúcho will be given more time on the ball than he was accustomed to in Europe, he may find the task of getting back on to the international stage harder than he expects. While the medals have come for the returning stars, only Robinho has managed to keep his place with the national team.

Ronaldinho’s fate rests on a club that is once again going through a major rebuild. After winning the league in 2009, Fla survived relegation by the skin of their teeth last year. With five championships to his name, Luxemburgo is the Brasileiro’s most successful coach. However, he hasn’t won the league since 2004 when he was at Santos and his last ‘rebuild’ almost led Atlético Mineiro to disaster in 2010.

Ronaldinho is expected to bolster an attack that produced just 41 goals in 38 games in the league last season. While Flamengo want to win the Rio state championship (the Campeonato Carioca) for local bragging rights, their priority will be the Brazilian Cup as taking the trophy will earn the club a place in next year’s Libertadores.

Can Ronnie contine his involvement with the national team?

After 2010’s debacle, success on the pitch is naturally a big concern for Flamengo. But the Rubro Negro’s are also looking for a quick commercial return on their investment.

Hours after the attacking midfielder put pen to paper on Monday evening, the Rio outfit were selling shirts with Ronaldinho’s name on the back for a princely sum of R$159.90 (£60). However, initial sales have been slow as fans are waiting for the arrival of the 2011 kit that will be launched in February.

Flamengo are keen to repeat the financial success they had with Adriano. In 2009, Fla sold 932,000 items bearing the club’s name – Adriano’s number ten shirt was responsible for 80% of this figure. Replica kits sales were four times higher than in 2008 and at one point, the club claimed they were selling a jersey every 14 seconds. With Ronaldinho on board, Flamengo can expect an even greater turnover.

However, one place where shirt sales will be rock bottom is in the blue, black and white half of Porto Alegre. In the days before he finally signed for Fla, it seemed certain that Ronaldinho was on his way back to his first club, Grêmio. But after embarrassing the tricolor Gaúcho by spurning their offer, the player and his agent (his brother Roberto Assis) have become hate figures at the Estádio Olímpico.

Palmeiras were equally enraged. After announcing that they had met all of Ronaldinho’s financial demands, they too were snubbed. Both club directors and coach, Luis Felipe Scolari, continue to vent their anger at Ronaldinho and his brother.

Fans flock to see Ronaldinho - but will they all buy new shirts...?

Clearly, the pair have done themselves no favours in the way they handled the transfer and it’s a near certainty that Ronaldinho will be ‘injured’ for the away ties at Grêmio and Palmeiras.

Signing Ronaldinho was a feather in the cap for Flamengo and for Brazilian football in general. But there are questions over the player’s motives for returning home when he has the ability to be mixing it with the best in Europe.

His critics argue that the midfielder peaked five years ago and that he’s been on a steady decline ever since. Ronaldinho has stated that his principal reasons for going home are to win domestic silverware and to re-establish himself with the national side in time for the World Cup in 2014. But from a purely footballing perspective was Flamengo the right choice? With Ronaldinho’s predilection for the nightlife, many suspect that it could be the case that Fla is the wrong club in the right place.

While Brazil coach Mano Menezes thinks it’s an advantage that the player is back, he didn’t go as far as saying that Ronaldinho would be in the squad for the friendly versus France on February 9th.

The playmaker has plenty of time to get his form back. But he’ll be 34 when the World Cup comes around and Ronaldinho will have to be in top shape if he’s to stand any chance of helping Brazil lift the trophy in their own backyard.

Brazil's new manager threatened by Argentina – and London

Jon Cotterill — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:46:00 GMT

New Brazil coach Mano Menezes has started a revolution, with a young squad designed to be future-proof. Here, Brazilian TV commentator Jon Cotterill explains the dangers lurking ahead...

With three easy friendly wins against USA, Iran and Ukraine, Mano Menezes is enjoying a deserved honeymoon period as Brazil’s coach. In stark contrast to predecessor Dunga, Menezes is a popular figure and makes regular appearances on the country’s biggest chat shows where he gets an enthusiastic reception.

But he now faces his biggest challenge yet, against Argentina in Qatar on November 17. The next run of games – Brazil will face Argentina again in La Plata in December, and visit France next February – are part of the careful preparation for Menezes’ first big test: the Copa America in July 2011.

And while the Brazilian public might forgive failure in that competition, they will not be so tolerant in London in 2012. Winning the Olympic gold remains the Holy Grail. It's the only title that Brazil haven’t won and it has become something of an obsession. Menezes is acutely aware of this, hence his selection of so many young players.

Although the coach has already called up 34 different players, 12 of them have featured in all of his squads. Most of them fall into the 23-to-27 age-bracket that should easily see them through the cycle to the next World Cup - goalkeepers Jefferson (Botafogo) and Victor (Gremio), centre-backs David Luiz (Benfica), Rever (Atletico Mineiro) and Thiago Silva (Milan), wingbacks Daniel Alves (Barcelona) and Andre Santos (Fenerbahce) and defensive midfielders Ramires (Chelsea) and Lucas (Liverpool).

Mano has also made Robinho captain; now 26, the Milan striker is the grand old man of Brazil's forward line. His fellow ever-presents under Menezes are his club-mate Alexandre Pato – just 21 years old, but he has scored in all three of Menezes's games, plus the unofficial kickabout against Barcelona B – and Dynamo Kyiv's Andre Ribeiro, who only left his teens a month ago.

Ganso, Neymar and Pato celebrate US success

This being Brazil, the squad to face Argentina is not short of exciting new talent, including two outstanding 18-year-olds in Santos striker Neymar and Inter Milan midfielder Philippe Coutinho. But perhaps recognising the need for guile, Menezes has also called up Ronaldinho.

The 30-year-old AC Milan legend hasn't appeared for Brazil since April 2009, but Menezes believes the time is right for his return. "He's having a good run in a position we need," says Menezes. "He’ll give the team something in an area that we still need to develop and improve." He'll also bring experience: of the current squad, only he, Robinho and Alves have won more than 20 caps.

There are, however, some notable absences. Hernanes has been playing well for Lazio but fails to feature. Nilmar, Giuliano and Carlos Eduardo have also been dropped. And there’s still no place for the more experienced players such as Julio Cesar, Juan, Lucio and Luis Fabiano.

MANO WHO?
Luiz Antonio Venker Menezes, 48, replaced the much-maligned Dunga in July this year after Brazil went out to the Dutch in the World Cup quarter-finals. But Mano wasn't the CBF's first choice of replacement: Muricy Ramalho's club Fluminense refused to release him. It was only then that Menezes was offered the job. Fortunately, Corinthians didn’t stand in his way.

Considering his predecessor lifted the World Cup as captain of the Seleção, Menezes is hardly a big name. His rise to the top job in Brazil has come after just five years’ experience as a coach at two of the country’s big clubs. In his younger days, he studied physical education and business administration. He had a short and undistinguished playing career in the minor leagues before turning to junior team management in 1992.

He got his first crack at a senior side in 1997 with Guarani RS, and success with minnows in the state of Rio Grande do Sul brought him to the attention of giants Gremio. Taking charge in 2005, Menezes got them promoted from the second division at the first time of asking; two years later, Gremio made the finals of the Copa Libertadores, losing to Boca Juniors.

In 2008, he took charge at Brazil’s second-biggest club, Corinthians, who had just been relegated to Serie B (by losing to Mano's Gremio). They earned promotion the same season and the following year the Musketeers won the Sao Paulo state championship and Brazilian Cup. Corinthians were leading the Brazilian league when Menezes was invited to take over the national side.

Corinthian champion: Mano (top left) with president Lula (and Ronaldo)

The appointment of Menezes – and the previous offer to Ramalho – surprised many in Brazil. Dunga had been panned for being overly defensive and not playing the ‘Brazilian way’. The CBF declared that they were looking for a coach who would get Brazil back to their more traditional style of attacking football. While Menezes and Ramalho have good records at club level, both have reputations for being defensive-minded and packing their teams with volantes (defensive midfielders).

In his first game in charge of Brazil, Menezes turned this reputation on its head. A young Brazil team put on a stunning performance against a tough USA side, winning 2-0 thanks to Neymar and Pato. Wins against Iran (3-0) and Ukraine (2-0) followed, although Brazil have struggled to reproduce the mesmeric football they fashioned against the US.

MANO OF THE PEOPLE
Menezes’ achievements on the pitch have been accompanied with a very successful PR campaign off it. From the day he was appointed, Menezes has been very careful to distance himself from his predecessor in every way possible. Right now, the current Brazil coach has the Brazilian public behind him, and after witnessing the way Dunga was vilified, he is doing everything to keep it that way.

Menezes immediately set about giving the fans what they want. The first thing he did was to call up breakthrough Santos youngsters Neymar and Paulo Henrique Lima – something Dunga had stubbornly refused to do. He has now repeated the act with Ronaldinho, cast aside by the last coach.

While Dunga was often irascible in his dealings with the press, Menezes is completely media-friendly. The former Corinthians man is composed, affable and says all the right things. Menezes has avoided any controversy and been careful not to criticise, but even more careful to praise all and sundry.

All smiles: Mano management skills

The coach’s public image is carefully managed by his daughter, Camila. The 26-year-old journalist is her father’s press officer and is behind his slick presentation skills and use of new media. Camila recently completed a Masters degree in International Journalism in England before returning to Brazil to set up a website and a blog for Mano.

She was also instrumental in persuading the coach to become one of the first football professionals in Brazil to embrace Twitter. Father and daughter collaborate on content but it’s Camila that scribbles most of the tweets.

On the coach’s Twitter page you’ll find the following inscription: "Since July 2010, carrying the dream of 190 million yellow and green hearts". Stuff like this has an appeal and Menezes now has 1.7m followers - second only in Brazil to TV star Luciano Huck.

The ‘Mano brand’ is riding high. But it has been suggested in some quarters that the coach is guilty of playing to the gallery somewhat. Menezes is so keen not to offend, that he can come over as a little contrived and too eager to please.

But these are minor quibbles. Menezes was a good choice to lead Brazil. He has the knack of getting the best out of his players and he’s willing to give the youngsters a chance. The initial signs are positive and Brazil appear to be returning to their more traditional style of creative play.

November’s friendly against arch enemies Argentina is important and will provide a useful stick to measure Brazil’s progress. But we’ll only know for certain what Mano Menezes is about when the South Americans take part in a game that leads to silverware.

Brazil squad vs Argentina in full
Goalkeepers Victor (Gremio), Jefferson (Botafogo), Neto (Atletico-PR)
Wing-backs Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Rafael (Manchester United), Adriano Correa (Barcelona), Andre Santos (Fenerbahce)
Centre-backs Thiago Silva (AC Milan), David Luiz (Benfica), Alex Costa (Chelsea), Rever (Atletico MG)
Defensive midfielders Lucas (Liverpool), Ramires (Chelsea), Sandro Ranieri (Tottenham), Jucilei (Corinthians)
Midfielders Douglas (Gremio), Philippe Coutinho (Inter Milan), Ronaldinho Gaucho (AC Milan), Elias (Corinthians)
Forwards Robinho (AC Milan), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Andre Ribeiro (Dynamo Kiev), Neymar (Santos)