Pointless Drivel

My first season with Brazilian third division outfit Criciúma is off to an impressive start (click here if you missed the first installment). In the Santa Catarina State Championship we have played nine and won nine, with only our neighbours Avaí looking anywhere near our pace. Life is good for the Tigre fans and their new English manager, even though I only know two words of Portugese so far (nenhum comentário, in case you wondered).

On top of the nine straight league wins, we’ve only conceeded two goals. One of these goals was particularly annoying, though. It came against a ten man Figueirense (great website, available in English) who were already comprehensively beaten. The goal was a comical defensive cock up between our keeper Zé Carlos and new star signing Alceu. Admittedly, I was playing Alceu as a centre back due to an injury to Felipe Figueiró, but it was woeful stuff. Both Zé Carlos and Alceu got an ear-full after the match, but I was more pissed off about losing Felipe Figueiró to injury. It leaves us with just two first team centre backs.

In other news, I think there’s unlikely to be a repeat of Big Phill’s famous victory with Criciúma in the Copa do Brasil. We drew the mighty Flamengo in the first round. Ugh. Next week we take a one goal deficit to the Maracanã and I’m not hopeful of turning things around. Even if Felipe Figueiró comes through a reserve game in one piece, we’re hopelessly outclassed against the Mengão.

I’m loving managing Criciúma so far and have been doing a little background research on them. Although their website is all in Portugese, I’ve discovered they have a rather good club song — Anthem of Criciúma. You can download an MP3 of it from here. Sing-a-long-tastic, although maybe not as catchy as the Sky Blues Song of my own Coventry City. Here, courtesy of Google, is a translation of the lyrics:

Remembering the heroes of the past
They wrote their names in history
Oh! Tricolor preordained
A present and future glories of

Save the Criciúma
In the National Sports
Save the Criciúma
Equity immortal
At the time of decision
A voice shouted happy
My povão

Criciúma, Criciúma
Our Club of love
Soul, heart and claw.

Will vibrate with
Your flag unfurled
Where is the most dear
The champions – our champion

Great stuff, although I’m curious about the world “povão” which Google failed to translate.

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.