Brasileirão In Focus: Bahia

Esporte Clube Bahia are back in the Brazilian top-flight after eight painful years in the lower divisions. Their return has been a long time coming, considering Bahia is the biggest club in Brazil’s huge and populous northeast region.

The Tricolor squad this year is made up of tons of loan signings, mainly squad players from big clubs like Corinthians, Vasco and Cruzeiro. The more interesting names in the Bahia squad are four of these signings, Zezinho, Lulinha, Dôdo and Jobson. The first three are youngsters who have all been tipped as ‘the next big thing’ early in their careers, their progress seems to have stalled a little, but it will definitely be interesting to see how each of them get on. The fourth name is by far the most intriguing, 23 year old striker Jobson.

Jobson: Will he finally realise his potential?

At 21 years old, Jobson was the star striker at Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro, he had set the Brasileirão alight and was ready to sign for Minas Gerais giants Cruzeiro. Everything was all set for the transfer, until Jobson failed a drug test and the move was cancelled. It turned out he had a serious addiction to crack cocaine and was subsequently banned for two years from the game. The ban was later reduced to six months and he was resigned by Botafogo.

He managed to reclaim the form that he had back in 2009, but his attitude and lack of discipline meant he was very inconsistent and got in to a lot of trouble with Botafogo, often missing training sessions and succumbing to the temptations of the Rio de Janeiro nightlife. At the end of 2010 he was loaned out to Atlético Mineiro, but was altogether unimpressive during the Minas Gerais state championships, only making a handful of appearances.

Now at Bahia, he appears to be pleased with his new club, and excited in the wake of the new season. Whether this attitude is sincere or not remains to be seen, but what is certain is that the 23 year old still possesses a huge amount of talent, and if he plays to full potential he will be indispensable for o Tricolor. For the sake of football, here’s hoping we will see the true Jobson.

Bahia play a fairly standard 4-4-2 formation, with two defensive midfielders. Their key will surely come in attack, where Jobson and Souza will lead the line.

Expected Formation:

Brasileirão In Focus: Avaí

Competing in the Série A for the third year in a row (their seventh Série A in their history) Avaí will be hoping to cement their place this year amongst the mid-table of the Brasileirão. Nicknamed ‘o Leão da Ilha’ (the lion of the island), they hail from the coastal city of Florianópolis in Santa Catarina state in the south of the country. They are not a big team in Brazil by any means, their only national honour coming in the shape of the 1998 Série B title, but they are beginning to form their own identity in Brazil’s top league since gaining promotion in 2008.

The 2010 season was one of mixed emotions for Avaí, they were eliminated in the last 16 of the Copa do Brasil in a close game against Grêmio, and then later in the year they participated in the Copa Sulamericana, their first ever continental tournament. Avaí performed well in the Sulamericana, reaching the quarter finals. In the league, their form was inconsistent at best, and they ended up in 15th position, just safe from relegation.

The squad has changed significantly from last season with several departures, the most notable being Patric moving to Atlético Mineiro, and the trio of Émerson, Davi and Eltinho all joining newly promoted Coritiba. In the other direction, the transfers were more low-key, but the signing of Marquinhos from Santos was celebrated amongst Avaí supporters, being the midfielder’s return to the club he helped gain promotion in 2008.

Avaí play a 3-5-2 formation, with the cover provided by the three centre backs allowing the wing backs to function as attackers, a very Brazilian strategy. In defence, they are able to soak up pressure and get plenty players behind the ball, both on the flanks and through the middle. They are strong at set-pieces, with Marquinhos able to put some really good crosses in to the area.

Goalkeeper Renan will shine for Avaí, if they can hold on to him...

The real shining star of this team is the man between the sticks. 20-year old Renan is another of Brazil’s extremely promising young goalkeepers, and with a call-up from the national team already, Renan seems to be a little bit ahead of the rest. A great young keeper, excellent shot-stopping abilities, has a good command of his area and fabulous distribution. He’s a very important part of the Avaí side and they will be hoping that they can stave off interest from São Paulo giants Corinthians.

There are some other excellent talents in the squad, new-signing Jonathan Estrada looks like he will be integral to the Leão squad this season. The 28 year old Colombian is a central midfielder, and he is a tenacious ball winner, and also likes to drift out to the left and help the team going down the wing.

This year promises to be another season full of uncertainty, as already they have given a very poor performance in the Santa Catarina state championships, failing to make it to the final. However in the Copa do Brasil, they have progressed to the semi-finals against Vasco, after seeing off Botafogo and São Paulo in the earlier rounds. It goes without saying that Avaí are the definition of an unpredictable club, expect some disappointing results against poor opposition, and some mighty scalps against the grandes.

Expected Formation:

Brasileirão In Focus: Atlético-PR

The fact that they are currently being overshadowed by their city rivals Coritiba is not necessarily a bad thing for Atlético Paranaense. O Furacão (the hurricane) had a very impressive campaign in last year’s Brasileirão, going under the radar for the whole season and finishing in 5th place, missing out on a Copa Libertadores place by only three points.

New manager Adilson Batista has tried his best to hold together the nucleus of last year’s side, and new director of football Alfredo Ibiapina has promised to spare no expense to improve the squad. Some important players left the club at the end of last season, winger Maikon Leite returned to Santos at the end of his loan deal, centre back Rhodolfo was snapped up by São Paulo, defensive midfielder Chico joined Palmeiras, centre forward Bruno Mineiro joined Sport Recife, and 21 year old goalkeeper Neto got a big money move to Fiorentina in Italy.

There have been some good signings, with World Cup winner and ex-Manchester United midfielder Kléberson signing from Flamengo, former Atlético Madrid midfielder Cleber Santana arriving on loan from São Paulo and Robston joining from Atlético Goianiense. These are impressive names for a club of o Furacão’s size, but the fear is that the players that have left have not been sufficiently replaced yet. The directors are still on the hunt for new recruits however, and by the time you read this they may have improved the squad further.

Atlético are a team with more quality than some may realise. Their defence is strong, centre back Manoel in particular is a very talented player, only 21 years old, but with bags of technique and maturity. In front of him, o Furacão have a wealth of choices in the defensive midfield position, and it is such an important position in the Brazilian domestic game. Besides new signings Kléberson, Cleber Santana, Robston and Paulo Roberto, they also have Fransérgio, Deivid, Wendel and Guilherme, all relevant options with something to give to the team.

36 year old Paulo Baier is still o Furacão's primary creative force.

Despite having a team full of youth, potential and secure defensive capabilities, Atlético’s key player comes in the shape of a 36 year old veteran playmaker who goes by the name of Paulo Baier, a wonderful player with great awareness, superb vision and an astounding range of passes. He is also deadly from set-pieces (corner kicks in particular) and is the focal point of almost every Atlético attack. The fact that he never won a national championship in Brazil is a mystery to me, but that’s a story for another day.

The only area where Atlético appear to be lagging behind their peers is up front. The now departed Bruno Mineiro performed an important role for o Furacão last season, and in his absence they seem to lack a central goalscoring figure. The current first choice is Ecuadorian forward Joffre Guerrón, who certainly has talent, but appears to lack the ability to play as a central forward in a 4-5-1, often getting lost and isolated during the game. They have another option in Adaílton, but he seems to suffer from a similar problem. However the apparent emergence of squad player Federico Nieto may be cause for celebration, the huge Argentine front-man has performed well in recent substitute appearances, scoring some important goals.

For the start of the season, I expect Adilson Batista to go with a formation that exclusively plays to the strengths of o Furacão, which means three defensive midfielders and Paulo Baier in a playmaker role. In recent games they have lined up in a 4-3-2-1/4-3-1-2 formation, and I would guess that they will go with the former when they start against Atlético Mineiro at the weekend.

Expected Formation:

Brasileirão In Focus: Atlético-MG

Atlético Mineiro, o Galo, is an absolutely huge club in Brazil. They are the one of the two giants of Minas Gerais state, along with bitter rivals Cruzeiro. When you consider that the state of Minas Gerais has a population of approximately 20 million people, that gives you some idea of the level of support for this club.

The free spending policies of their president Alexandre Kalil has made Atlético a very interesting team to keep an eye on, especially throughout the off-season, as they buy and sell players like no other team in Brazil. Several first team players left the club this year, World Cup 2002 winner Ricardinho was shown the door, top scorer Diego Tardelli was sold to Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, midfielder Diego Souza joined Vasco, Obina was sold to China, and Julio Cáceres and Édison Méndez returned to their countries of birth, joining Olimpia in Paraguay and Emelec in Ecuador respectively.

Coming the opposite way, Atlético signed a wealth of new players, leaving them with a team almost completely unrecognizable from that of last season’s. Some of the more interesting additions include the signing of former Inter Milan and Roma winger Mancini, Ceará’s goalscoring forward Magno Alves, Richarlyson of São Paulo, former Avaí right-back Patric, and Dudu Cearense from Olympiakos.

As you could imagine, with so many new faces in the squad, the first big task for manager Dorival Junior is to get the team to gel together. During this year’s Campeonato Mineiro they have been impressive, showing good signs for the rest of the season. They reached the final against rivals Cruzeiro with such ease, but lost 3-2 on aggregate to their city rivals.

The team certainly has talent throughout the squad, but as is so often the job at big teams in Brazil, the manager has to try to consolidate this talent into a secure unit. Renan Ribeiro has had another good season, continuing his growth as a player and further establishing himself as one of Brazil’s best young goalkeepers. In front of him, the centre-back partnership of Réver and Leonardo Silva has impressed many, both are tall, powerful and they seem to be functioning well as a duo.

Fillipe Soutto looks to be the future of the Galo midfield.

Several young talents are also making a big push into the first team at Atlético this year, a quick glance at their first choice eleven throws up names such as Renan Ribeiro, Fillipe Soutto, Bernard and Giovanni Augusto, all of whom are under the age of 23. The real shining star from that list, in my opinion, is 20 year old Fillipe Soutto, a defensive midfielder with great passing, good aerial presence, and a maturity well beyond his years. One worry for him is that with former CSKA and Olympiakos midfielder Dudu Cearense being signed to strengthen the team for the Brasileirão, Fillipe may see himself being pushed to the bench.

Up front, Mancini and Magno Alves have the potential to be one of the most dangerous forward pairings in the Brasileirão. The latter is a complete forward, big, powerful, with decent speed and a natural eye for goal. He had a good campaign in this year’s Campeonato Mineiro, finishing with ten goals in total. Mancini has looked very impressive since he joined, albeit playing in a more withdrawn midfield role, but it seems like he will be employed just behind Magno Alves when we go in to the regular season.

Expected Formation: