Pointless Drivel

There had been a number of teams chasing our star midfielder, Alceu. Most of last season he was a wanted man, but I’d almost written off any real bids ever materialising. A £900,000 offer from Coritiba seemingly came out of nowhere.

We signed Alceu for free in 2009 and he was a first team regular and our first choice free kick taker — far too important to let go for cash we didn’t have a pressing need for. Thus, Coritiba’s offer was immediately turned down — even though it matched his valuation.

Undettered, Coritiba immediately came back with an offer of £975,000. At this point I wondered whether this offer might be too good to turn down; I had the very capable Paraná playing his heart out in my reserves and 15 year old prodigy Givaldo in my youth team. I decided to negotiate, asking a rather cheeky £1.4M. That kind of transfer fee could be used for real investment in the club.

Our match with Cidade Azul provided a brief distraction from the transfer saga. As if knowing this could be his last match for the Tigre, Alceu scored in the second minute, with Mateus finishing them off with another goal before half time. Alceu grabbed the plaudits of the press, Cidade’s manager, and man of the match.

The next morning, I was absolutely stunned to see  that Coritiba had come back to me and agreed to my £1.4m valuation, and I duly accepted.

There were no complaints from fans or players at Alceu’s departure, however the board were delighted with the cash injection. I plan on hiring a few more scouts, a new defensive coach, and pestering the board to upgrade our training facilities a the the end of the season.

So farewell Alceu, though your stay with the Tigre was short you served us well.

Alceu’s Criciúma stats

• 2010: Played 17, scored 4, assists 2, man of the match 2, average rating 7.28
• 2009: Played 53, scored 12, assists 8, man of the match 7, average rating 7.07

In my latest game of Football Manager 2009, I have started out in the Brazilian third division managing Criciúma E.C. — a team from the southern state of Santa Catarina.

Criciúma, Santa Catarina, Brazil

I didn’t know anything about Criciúma until yesterday; I picked them as they were one of the more promising teams in the third division, with a decent squad and above average training facilities. Essentially, given the lack of money in the lower divisions of Brazilian football, Criciúma have a youth academy. The club actually have some rather prestigious history too, having beaten Grêmio in the 1991 Copa do Brasil final. At the time they were coached by the then largely unknown Luiz Felipe Scolari.

As well as having the Brazilian leagues active, I also have England, Spain, and Italy available. My plan — should I not get bored of the game — is to make my name in South America, build up a knowledge of the leagues and players, and then move to Europe to try to build a team in the Brazilian mould. Even if I don’t manage this, I hope to learn more about Brazilian football.

Getting Started

My first order of business when taking charge of a new club in Football Manager is to focus on the coaching staff, in particular the fitness coaches. I’ve been burned by scrimping on this area before, with players never able to reach peak condition for match days. After firing a number — okay, most — of my coaching staff, the Criciúma board would only allow me six coaches in total (despite having had many more than this). This was kind of annoying, but having made them payout a £100,000+ in contract terminations, I wasn’t going to kick up too much of a stink.

After hiring a number of new coaches, my training ratings slightly improved. With one or two more coaches, allowing staff to concentrate on their areas of expertise, things should be much better.

The Players

Next up, Criciúma’s weak midfield desperately needed some new faces. With just three centre backs in the first team, I was after some defensive cover too. The board made no cash available for transfers, so it was time to hunt for players without clubs.

One of the players that I signed on a free was Alceu; a twenty-four year old defensive midfielder who started out at Palmeiras, where he won six youth caps for Brazil. I’m not sure what happened with Alceu’s career, but, after five seasons with the Verdão, he moved to Japan where he played for Kashiwa Reysol and Consadole Sapporo. Quite a step down, even if Palmeiras were not hugely successful during his tenure (2002-2007).

After two seasons in Japan, Alceu returned to Brazil for spells with Clube Náutico Capibaribe and São Carlos. Strangely, as of 2009, Wikipedia has him back at Kashiwa — had they loaned him out? Whatever Alceu’s history, my assistant manager rated him as an excellent signing and the Tigre fans were ecstatic when I got him. I’m hopeful he can prove himself at the Estádio Heriberto Hülse, in particular if he can take free kicks like this one he scored against Paraná.

In addition to Alceu, I signed two other midfielders on a free: Fausto (29), an influential defensive midfielder; and Fábio Baiano (33), a journeyman central midfielder with good creative and attacking qualities who has won bags of trophies with Flamengo and Grêmio.

Next was the small matter of attending a Trial Day arranged by the Brazilian Players’ Association. Here forty-six players without clubs form two teams and play a match in front of managers and scouts. From this rabble I spotted two centre backs who I am now actively pursuing: Leandro Falcão (19) and man-of-the-match Jaílson (22). Jaílson in particular looks a good prospect, having spent time with big boys like Atlético Mineiro and Bahia and never quite making their first teams. If I manage to lower my wage bill, I’ll definitely try to sign him.

The Tactic

I knew before I started the game that I didn’t want Criciúma to play in an English style, even though a direct 4-4-2 probably would have been quite effective in the lower Brazilian leagues. Instead, I wanted to play a typical Brazilian 4-2-2-2: balanced attacking/defending, a slow build up, and a short passing game that keeps the ball on the deck. Criciúma’s lack of traditional wide players made the decision to go with 4-2-2-2 a simple one.

I’m now tweaking this tactic for my squad ready for our first game, a Santa Catarina State Championship group stage match against Concórdia for which we’re massive 1-33 favourites. I’ll let you know how it goes.