Tweet
Tim Vickery column
By Tim Vickery
South American football reporter
Chelsea's programme for Saturday's home match against Portsmouth announced that the club "have brought a touch of samba football to Stamford Bridge with the acquisitions of Brazilian internationals Alex and Juliano Belletti".
Elsewhere in the same publication captain John Terry welcomed the new players and put the samba stuff into perspective.
Alex's arrival at Chelsea ensures the
Blues have good cover in defence at
Stamford Bridge
"Suddenly we've got Brazilians in the back four!" he wrote.
"The only other Brazilian we've had since I've been here is Emerson Thome, so we specialise in Brazilian defenders."
In fact Belletti, as he himself points out in the programme, is "a typical Brazilian full back" who likes "to get forward up the wing". A converted midfielder, he offers lung power and attacking ability.
Alex can also score, both with towering headers and ferociously struck free-kicks.
But the giant centre back has been signed to stop goals rather than set them up - and bringing in a Brazilian for such a task is not as incongruous as it might first appear.
I still wince about a line I wrote in my first piece for World Soccer magazine, just over 10 years ago.
It was a profile of Carlos Germano, a Brazilian goalkeeper who, as his name suggests, was the descendant of German immigrants. This, I foolishly argued, was surely the perfect combination - some German defensive steel to back up the Brazilian flair.
It sounds good, but in fact it was glib nonsense.
Check the statistics - Brazil's defensive record in World Cups is way superior to Germany's. There have certainly been Brazil teams which were not great defensively - even the classic 1970 side may well fit into this category.
But in general the Brazilian centre back tradition has much more to celebrate than lament.
In the 1930s the elegant Domingos da Guia did much to advance the idea of the centre back bringing the ball out and initiating the attacks. A few years later Brazilian coaches hit upon the idea of the back four - coming off the WM system they decided to withdraw an extra player to the heart of the defence. It had the by-product of pushing the full backs wider and giving them freedom to roam forward - hence the likes of Belletti.
But the main purpose behind the change was to provide extra defensive protection through the middle, with one centre back marking and the other available to cover.
An excellent example is the 1958 side, Brazil's first World Cup winners and still the only South American triumph in Europe. Big Bellini won everything in the air, the classy Orlando Pecanha swept up on the ground and Brazil didn't concede a single goal until the semi-final.
More recently there is the extraordinary story behind the 1994 World Cup win.
First choice centre backs Ricardo Gomes and Mozer were both forced out on the eve of the tournament. Next in line, Ricardo Rocha, was injured in the opening games, so Brazil patched up a terrific combination between Marcio Santos and Aldair, who had not even been included in the original squad.
Brazil had such strength in depth that truly great defenders such as Julio Cesar and Mauro Galvao were not even considered.
With strong recent displays from Lucio and Juan, as well as the commanding form of Alex with PSV, it is probably true that Brazilian centre backs have more international prestige than ever before.
In fact it is doubtful whether they have the same embarrassment of riches as in 1994.
And the recent signs from Brazil's youth teams have been worrying, leaving the doubt that maybe more emphasis has been placed on size and build than defensive technique.
Even so, Brazil remains a fair producer of central defenders - and while there may be the odd casual lapse to tolerate, Chelsea fans should feel comfortable enough about the presence of big Alex in the middle of their back four.
By Tim Vickery South American football reporter
Chelsea's programme for Saturday's home match against Portsmouth announced that the club "have brought a touch of samba football to Stamford Bridge with the acquisitions of Brazilian internationals Alex and Juliano Belletti".
Elsewhere in the same publication captain John Terry welcomed the new players and put the samba stuff into perspective.
Alex's arrival at Chelsea ensures the
Blues have good cover in defence at
Stamford Bridge
"Suddenly we've got Brazilians in the back four!" he wrote.
"The only other Brazilian we've had since I've been here is Emerson Thome, so we specialise in Brazilian defenders."
In fact Belletti, as he himself points out in the programme, is "a typical Brazilian full back" who likes "to get forward up the wing". A converted midfielder, he offers lung power and attacking ability.
Alex can also score, both with towering headers and ferociously struck free-kicks.
But the giant centre back has been signed to stop goals rather than set them up - and bringing in a Brazilian for such a task is not as incongruous as it might first appear.
I still wince about a line I wrote in my first piece for World Soccer magazine, just over 10 years ago.
It was a profile of Carlos Germano, a Brazilian goalkeeper who, as his name suggests, was the descendant of German immigrants. This, I foolishly argued, was surely the perfect combination - some German defensive steel to back up the Brazilian flair.
It sounds good, but in fact it was glib nonsense.
Check the statistics - Brazil's defensive record in World Cups is way superior to Germany's. There have certainly been Brazil teams which were not great defensively - even the classic 1970 side may well fit into this category.
But in general the Brazilian centre back tradition has much more to celebrate than lament.
In the 1930s the elegant Domingos da Guia did much to advance the idea of the centre back bringing the ball out and initiating the attacks. A few years later Brazilian coaches hit upon the idea of the back four - coming off the WM system they decided to withdraw an extra player to the heart of the defence. It had the by-product of pushing the full backs wider and giving them freedom to roam forward - hence the likes of Belletti.
But the main purpose behind the change was to provide extra defensive protection through the middle, with one centre back marking and the other available to cover.
An excellent example is the 1958 side, Brazil's first World Cup winners and still the only South American triumph in Europe. Big Bellini won everything in the air, the classy Orlando Pecanha swept up on the ground and Brazil didn't concede a single goal until the semi-final.
More recently there is the extraordinary story behind the 1994 World Cup win.
First choice centre backs Ricardo Gomes and Mozer were both forced out on the eve of the tournament. Next in line, Ricardo Rocha, was injured in the opening games, so Brazil patched up a terrific combination between Marcio Santos and Aldair, who had not even been included in the original squad.
Brazil had such strength in depth that truly great defenders such as Julio Cesar and Mauro Galvao were not even considered.
With strong recent displays from Lucio and Juan, as well as the commanding form of Alex with PSV, it is probably true that Brazilian centre backs have more international prestige than ever before.
In fact it is doubtful whether they have the same embarrassment of riches as in 1994.
And the recent signs from Brazil's youth teams have been worrying, leaving the doubt that maybe more emphasis has been placed on size and build than defensive technique.
Even so, Brazil remains a fair producer of central defenders - and while there may be the odd casual lapse to tolerate, Chelsea fans should feel comfortable enough about the presence of big Alex in the middle of their back four.
Comment