The book “Mensch – Behind the Cones”, by English journalist Jonathan Harding, deals with the culture of German football and the reasons why so many coaches born in the 2014 world champion country are successful in the Premier League. Cases of Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool, Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea, and Ralf Rangnick, recently signed by Manchester United.
“The English work above a volcano and the Germans assemble their strategies on the plain, below the mountains”, he describes.
The metaphor explains why no England-born coaches have been champions since Howard Wilkinson’s Leeds United in 1992.
If the British work on top of volcanoes, where do Brazilians work? Burning inside the lava?
Take Sylvinho’s recent case and compare it to Marcelo Gallardo’s transformation to iconic, River Plate’s most victorious helm since Ángel Labruna, who pulled the club out of line in 1975. Gallardo had only one job as a coach, before he be hired by River, in 2014. He was champion by Nacional, from Uruguay.
Nobody here will say that Sylvinho will become the new Marcelo Gallardo, but there are similarities in the two bets. Both were champions as players at the clubs that adopted them, both had experiences in Europe and were given an opportunity after a single experience as bosses.
Sylvinho had 11 career games for Lyon. Today, he has 51 games as a coach. Only.
If a club of the Corinthians’ caliber is betting on a young coach, it is because it considers him promising. Inside the club, it is said that Sylvinho has the repertoire of Tite, with more tactical culture, having worked with Guardiola and Roberto Mancini.
What is asked, in this case, is time to work.
Those who do not offer this basic condition are not just clubs or officers. We are also fans and commentators, journalists and ex-players.
There is a list of young Brazilians who have lived between a heaven of praise and a hell of criticism – and unemployment – in recent years: Roger Machado, Eduardo Baptista, Maurício Barbieri, Alberto Valentim, Fernando Diniz, Rogério Ceni, Fábio Carille.
Some, like Roger, Rogério and Fernando Diniz, accumulate more studies than generations that have established themselves, from Rubens Minelli to Telê Santana, from Felipão to Luxemburgo. They also live more with an intransigence that prevents them from establishing themselves, jumping from two to three jobs a year.
Fernando Diniz started the 2021 season in São Paulo and was the leader of the Brazilian Championship exactly one year ago. He fell, passed by Santos and Vasco and ended up unemployed. He’s not bad. If you think differently, how can you explain the fact that the officers of three giant clubs hired him?
Brazil is fascinated by the competence of the Portuguese to the point that reporter Irene Palma, from the newspaper A Bola, asked Flamengo’s vice president, Marcos Braz, why. The Premier League is fascinated by the Germans and the reason is the same: competence.
The crisis of Brazilians – and of the British – involves impatience. Klopp, Guardiola, Gallardo, Jorge Jesus, Abel Ferreira… All work with the peace of the plains, far from the volcanoes, at the foot of the mountain.
Pressure in Lisbon
The silent war between president Rui Costa, of Benfica, and coach Jorge Jesus should not lead to either the club’s dismissal or the coach’s request to leave. Jesus should be the coach on Thursday (30), in the classic of the Portuguese Championship with Porto. But Benfica has been playing poorly.
The substitute
Paulo Sousa could replace Jorge Jesus at Estádio da Luz, but he has an old dispute with the Benfica fans, for having left Benfica for Sporting, as a player, in 1993. If Jesus and Paulo Sousa don’t get it right, Flamengo runs the risk of staying at a crossroads.
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