- Raposa could be playing in Serie B next year.
One of the biggest weeks in the Belo Horizonte club’s history and all for the wrong reasons.
Staring the club’s first ever relegation in the face ahead of the final weekend of the season is not how Cruzeiro fans would have envisaged ending the year. At the start of the new year they arguably looked like one of the best sides on the continent, but a combination of multiple factors has culminated in their season taking a dramatic turn for the worse. Managerial changes, player injuries and departures as well as no home stadium have all had a role to play in the potential downfall of one of the nation’s Giants.
With Cuca at the helm, Cruzeiro finished as runners-up in the 2010 Campeonato Brasileirao ensuring qualification to the Copa Libertadores the next year. Employed in June 2010, Cuca set about shoring up the backline as a priority. His side kept 13 clean sheets in their remaining 31 league fixtures. To put this into perspective, this year’s league leaders Corinthians have kept the same amount of clean sheets so far this season.
Teams on the continent also struggled to break through the solid defence. In a Copa Libertadores group alongside Estudiantes (LP), Deportes Tolima and Guarani (PAR), Cruzeiro conceded just one goal in six group games, scoring 20 in the process. With Mauricio Victorino and Gil looking unbeatable in defence, Thiago Ribeiro and Wallyson were forming a formidable partnership in front of Walter Montillo in attack. The highlight of the competition being the 5-0 thumping of Estudiantes (LP) in Brazil.
The pair scored nine of the sides 20 goals, Wallyson with six and Thiago Ribeiro with three. They qualified as top seeds for the first knockout round and were pitted against Once Caldas. After a 2-1 victory in Colombia, with Wallyson on the score sheet again, qualification looked like it was in the bag. However, at home in the second leg they were reduced to 10 men early on and lost their cool. A poor,disjointed performance ended with elimination via a 2-0 home defeat to the Colombians.
Though they won the Minas Gerais state championship days after, the team had taken a severe knock. With the Mineirao being renovated for the 2014 World Cup and America Mineiro’s stadium also undergoing similar works, Cruzeiro became a nomadic side. Travelling to Sete Lagoas (over 80km) and Ipatinga (230km) for home games has had a huge impact.
Home sweet home | Cruzeiro long to return to the Mineirao
They failed to win in their first 5 fixtures of the new Brasileirao and a 1-1 draw with America Mineiro spelt a far too hasty end for Cuca. Joel Santana replaced him, and after a promising start, failed to maintain the winning form as the defence began to leak more and more goals. There was much chopping and changing at the back as the centre back partnership of Gil and Victorino was broken. Partially due to the foreign-player limit and also due to injuries. The team lost the day-to-day consistency that good form brought under Cuca.
Coupled with this, Thiago Ribeiro and Wallyson failed to keep up their goal scoring form. The former transferred to Cagliari early in the season and then Wallyson suffered a season-ending injury. Of the club’s other strikers; Ernesto Farias, Wellington Paulista, Bobo, Jose Ortigoza and Anselmo Ramon, none could match the absentees for goals. A win ratio of just over 50 per cent (8 in 15) was not good enough for Joel Santana who has sacked in September.
As Cruzeiro clung to the feeling that they deserved better, they failed to realise the perilous danger they were sliding towards. Turning the club upside down with changes would not send them back to the top, but further down the table. Walter Montillo was carrying the team. If he was not scoring in their best results, he assisted. Without him they may not have been offered the luxury of holding their future in their own hands and already been lost to Serie B. Not only was the team changing regularly, so were the managers, creating extremely difficult conditions to work under.
Emerson Avila was brought in as manager but once again he was replaced after just six winless games in a pitiful 22-day spell by Vagner Mancini. This is without doubt the height of bad decision making by the club. In desperation to change fortunes they made another change that sent the club further into turmoil. Mancini has failed to improve the side’s form. They are still wrought with defensive frailties, lack genuine firepower upfront, and now face the very real possibility of relegation this Sunday. From a positive forward momentum early in the year, rash decisions, lengthy injuries leading to a lack of squad consistency, have sent the club backwards.
The good news is that they do not have to rely on other results, it is in their hands. They face local rivals Atletico Mineiro as they look to hold on to their unblemished top-flight status. There are two teams below them, Ceara and Atletico Paranaense, who could displace Raposa if they fail to beat Atletico Mineiro. And who is in charge of the local rivals they face this weekend? That’s right, Cuca. His new team could consign the club that hastily sacked him, to relegation. To add another dimension to the mix, if Vagner Mancini’s side fail to win, the current Cruzeiro manager’s previous club, Ceara, could achieve safety.
There will no doubt be many twists and turns on Sunday evening but as it stands, Cuca can bring about one of the darkest days in Cruzeiro’s 90 year history.
Related articles
- Wallyson Has What It Takes To Play At The Top. (purple-patch.org)
- Wallyson’s wonder goal hands Corinthians 1st loss; Vasco & Flu claim narrow wins (101greatgoals.com)
Tags: Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, Thiago Ribeiro, Wallyson, Walter Montillo
