Barros arrived at Palmeiras to be a more discreet manager than Mattos

Anderson Barros, 53, has an expression to define his work style. He calls himself a “process enabler”. Within Palmeiras, the football director is seen as the antithesis of Alexandre Mattos.

Because it is so different from its predecessor, it got the job at the end of 2019.

Ironified for not using WhatsApp and criticized by the fans a few times for what was considered the absence of reinforcements (abundant in the Mattos era, which lasted from January 2015 to November 2019), Barros has a World Cup title on his resume. Brazil, one Paulista and one Libertadores in two years.

Next Saturday (27), Palmeiras once again defines the continental title. Face Flamengo, in Montevideo.

The manager refused all interview requests from the sheet. He argued that his behind-the-scenes style worked and he wouldn’t change.

The article spoke in the last two weeks with officials from the Football Academy, people linked to President Mauricio Galiotte, players and businessmen to draw the profile of a top hat who, if necessary, accepts taking the blame for decisions taken by others.

This happened when the hiring of Hulk was considered, in January 2021. The attacker said he accepted to reduce (but not too much) the salary of about R$ 2 million a month he received in China. The deal didn’t go ahead because the order was to turn off the taps and not spend too much.

Abel Ferreira did not want the backup. Not for his technical quality, but because the team was about to decide the Libertadores title against Santos and the arrival of such an expensive player could influence the environment.

The image remained that the “guilt” was Barros’s.

He was nominated for having a reputation for maintaining good atmospheres among athletes at the clubs he has played since he started playing football, at Flamengo, in 2004. After that, he went through Figueirense, Coritiba, Vasco and Botafogo.

The idea with his arrival was to avoid someone from the media like Mattos, who, encouraged by the Palmeiras board, became a more famous name in the club than most of the cast. At Galiotte’s request, he even made a commercial for Avanti, a fan partner program. Palmeiras sold t-shirts with the director’s caricature.

For better or for worse, Mattos’ style was to meddle in different aspects of club life. And so it won. It won two Brazilians (2016 and 2018) and one Copa do Brasil (2015). But because of a string of poor results, it banned club employees from using the training center’s gym, for example.

The wear and tear would be inevitable and the person responsible for football has accumulated dislikes. When the time to change arrived, the board looked for someone with a different profile. He found Barros.

The substitute prefers to have meals at concentrations or at the CT at different times than the players. If you need to be in the same room, choose a table far away, to give the group freedom.

The refusal to use WhatsApp is because I don’t like digital conversations. Prefer to resolve by phone or, preferably, in person.

After the episode in which Luiz Adriano told the Palmeira fans to shut up in the match against Sport, employees of alviverde were alarmed by the striker not understanding the gravity of the situation. Barros called him right away and, without ever changing his tone, explained the problem the center forward had created and why it couldn’t happen again.

The player said he understood and regretted his own reaction – after being substituted in the derby against São Paulo, two weeks ago, he applauded the public that cursed him at Allianz Parque and caused new controversy.

Anderson Barros is never in the middle of the players’ circle or, as the soccer players say, “in the review”. But the athletes and employees of the Academy emphasize that the director is always present and, from a distance, watching what happens, with his hands in his pants pockets.

The top hat knows how to have the image, for part of the fans, of being “slow”. The complaint is about hiring. Barros’s answer is so simple that even club members and advisers, accustomed to years of bonanza in the transfer market, refuse to believe: he doesn’t have the key to the safe.

The order he received was to curb spending and use more players from the base categories. At the same time, ensure that they do not leave for free or for values ​​below acceptable, something that happened on some occasions in the management of its predecessor.

Gradually, he found a way to negotiate expensive and little-used names, such as Lucas Lima, Diogo Barbosa, Vitor Hugo and Borja. Deyverson went and then came back. When Viña was sold for 11 million euros (R$69 million at the current price), Palmeiras went to the market to hire Jorge and Piquerez.

Also important for the board was keeping the budget to accommodate the return of Dudu, then loaned to Al Duhail, in Qatar. A return that wasn’t official, but everyone at Palmeiras knew it would happen. The striker’s trip to the Middle East still brought in 7 million euros (R$ 44 million) for the club.

When Colombian Santos Borré, then at River Plate-ARG, was quoted, Barros reminded Galiotte that the possible signing would receive around R$1.1 million per month. And when Dudu returned?

He scored points with staff and cast for never being seen nervous or screaming. Another director from Palmeira recalled that when Barros renews contracts for boys from the base, he doesn’t take pictures with them to post on social media.

The responsible for football is seen happy after the victories and titles, but never too excited, according to witnesses. In 2014, when he was working at Coritiba, his son Pedro Paulo died when he fell from the window of the apartment where the family lived, in the capital of Paraná. The father was in Chapecó, for a match at the Brazilian Nationals.

When he learned of a press professional who had lost a child, he asked the club’s communications professionals to get the journalist’s phone number so that he could call to show solidarity.