Opinion – Sandro Macedo: Mano Menezes and the slap with a kid’s glove in Alexander Medina

Mano Menezes is back on the platform of the Brazilian Championship. And despite the history of triumphs with Grêmio, the professor from Rio Grande do Sul is now taking over Internacional, a new home in the south. Controversial? Until not.

Mano is a professional guy and this business of not being able to change clubs in the state is silly, especially for coaches with shooting. Mano himself took over Palmeiras after years of identification with Corinthians, in which he even had a special shirt (Sou Mano do Mano).

But Mano wasn’t too close to the coach who opened a spot for him, Uruguayan Alexander “Cacique” Medina, who was fired in round 1 of the Brazilian Nationals. The coach patted the brother with a kid’s glove when asked about Edenilson, one of Colorado’s highlights — Cacique was heavily criticized for constantly changing the midfielder’s positioning.

“The way he [Edenilson] his performance made him the highlight of the team, so much so that he was called up to the national team. That’s a strong indication that a coach with an experience like me will respect” (got it, Medina? Tap full of “media training”, à la Mano).

I even remembered another classic “Patinha de Mano” in the distant 2019, when he was coach of Palmeiras and participated in the program Bem, Amigos!, on SporTV. With Jorge Jesus bursting at Flamengo, the agenda was already the freshness of Portuguese coaches. And Cléber Machado asked what Mano thought when he heard that it was “more of the same” when he arrived at the club. The lovely little reply, full of smiles: “We also have more of the same every day in the comments, I think it’s even time for Portuguese commentators to come here so we can qualify the debate. follow-up of technicians”. Point for Mano, who wasn’t Cléber’s brother.

Mano is intelligent, and he arrived at Inter showing (at least in his speech) a lot of humility. Saying that the club is the right team to help you. He knows and recognizes that he is not at the best moment of his career after resignations from Palmeiras (2019), Bahia (2020) and Arab Al Nassr (2021). It must be tough getting fired from Al Nassr, it’s like being one of the first ones to be eliminated in the BBB. Mano just wants to go back to being a brother of the red brothers from the south.

Despite being young, Mano is a coach at the age of 59, having played for the Brazilian national team – from where he was fired in 2012 to give place in the Cup to professor Luiz Felipe 7 to 1 Scolari. Probably only Abel Braga and Dorival Júnior, among the players, should have more Serie A games on their resume, which could be an advantage… or not.

And after a Brazilian that started with nine foreigners, Mano returned to bolster the balance in favor of Brazilians. Now there are 12 home coaches against 8 outsiders.

Round 38

Update after two rounds of Serie A. Three dismissals: Brazilians 2 x 1 Foreigners. Seventeen survivors: Brazilians 9 x 8 Foreigners.

I want 1 to 1

Despite being 0-0, Flamengo x Palmeiras, at Maracanã, was a great match in the Brazilian. Of those 0 to 0 that I like, it’s a shame it wasn’t 1 to 1. And if it wasn’t bad for either of them, it was great for Atlético Mineiro… and Corinthians, who would have thought.