.
Again, our favourite moustache man had to improvise due to the large amount of injured players: Luan, Maurício Ramos, Thiago Heleno and Román are all recovering from muscle-related injuries, while Barcos is in the final stages of recovery from the appendicitis and Assunção has been feeling pains in the knee. The solution is bringing up the new generation and again, Wellington took position alongside Leandro Amaro as centre-back in Bruno’s 50th game between the posts in the Verdão jersey. Full line-up: Bruno; Cicinho (Artur), Leandro Amaro, Wellington and Juninho; Henrique, Márcio Araújo, João Vitor and Valdivia (Daniel Carvalho); Mazinho and Obina (Betinho).
The little more than 7.000 souls that showed up at the Barueri stadium saw Palmeiras in one of their best performances this year: rapid, precise and fluent passing, excellent tactical effort by everyone on the pitch and just the correct amount of intensity – players showing that they knew when to push hard but also when to slow down. The end result was a resounding 3-0, with Obina participating in each of the three goals. I’m telling you: the giant has woken up and will give a great deal of teams a great deal of trouble in this year’s edition of the Brasileirão. It’s joyful to see the newfound confidence in the whole squad.
.
.
Considering all of the above, Valdivia’s comments after the game are even more unfortunate. The “I’m staying” was yesterday exchanged for a “We’ll see” attitude as he again evoked the image of his split family and uttered the phrase “contracts exist to be broken”. We all have Kleber aka Gladiador aka Judas in fresh memory and Valdivia’s stance surely echoes the attitude of the former. The last thing Palmeiras need is another backstage vendetta. If Valdivia is at all concerned about Palmeiras, he should simply put keep his mouth shut and quietly decide about his future.
— ooo —
The pressure on Deola became too much and the former keeper of choice, replaced by Bruno, is being transferred to Vitória for the rest of the season. It should be a good solution for everyone: at Vitória – a club from the state of Bahia and currently in the second division – Deola should have little problem securing his spot in the starting eleven. Hopefully he recovers his form and either returns to Palmeiras in 2013 or is sold for a hefty amount.
The vacant spot as Bruno’s substitute will be filled by the very promising Raphael Alemão from the youth academy.
Avanti Palestra!
ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 