Player focus: Three Forwards Striking for Redemption in the Chaos of the Brasileirão
As we head into the final quarter of the Brazilian season, a couple of certainties are beginning to emerge from the fog of unpredictability that defines the league.
The first is that Corinthians will win the title. Tite’s troops continue to grind out win after win and hold a seven-point advantage over Atlético Mineiro after 28 games - a princely advantage in anyone’s books. Their rank of Rolls Royce midfielders has been the key, making up for a Vágner Love-shaped absence in attack over the last couple of months. Some continue to chunter about refereeing decisions, but their superiority is beyond doubt.
The second is that Joinville are destined for the drop. For all their good intentions, the minnows cannot buy a victory and are already seven points from safety.
In between those two, however, lies ‘The Flux’. Vasco looked marooned a few weeks ago, but have won four of their last five to inspire hopes of survival. Their most recent win came against Flamengo, who recent results read WWWWWLLL. Coritiba have started winning after months of misery. Atlético-PR and Ponte Preta can’t seem to decide whether they’re top-four contenders or relegation scrappers. It’s chaos.
Amid the madness, though, is a nice redemptive subplot bubbling through the campaign: a handful of strikers up and down the country are sticking it to the doubters with their exploits in the final third. The leader in the category, of course, is Alexandre Pato, but here are three more doing the business in the 2015 Brasileirão.
Ricardo Oliveira (Santos)
Expectation levels were relatively low when the veteran striker was repatriated by Santos after five seasons in the Middle East. Ricardo Oliveira, though, has been the success story of the season so far, plundering 17 league goals - 37% of his side’s total - and even earning a Brazil call-up from Dunga.
Impressively lithe and energetic at the ripe old age of 35, he has profited from playing alongside Gabriel and Geuvânio, who stretch the play and create space. Then there is the Lucas Lima factor. The Peixe playmaker and Ricardo have struck up a fine understanding that has been at the heart of much of their side’s best play.
Ricardo’s finishing has been staggeringly good. His goals have come from just 81 shots, giving him a conversion rate of 21%. There has also been great variety to his strikes, with 6 left-footed efforts, 2 headers and 2 from outside the area. One howitzer, with his weaker foot against Cruzeiro last month, will live long in the memory.
Henrique Almeida (Coritiba)
If Ricardo Oliveira’s career had appeared to be winding down, Henrique Almeida’s was in danger of petering out before igniting.
The talisman as Brazil won the Under-20 World Cup in 2011, he was tipped for greatness and came within a whisker of joining QPR in 2012. However, work permit issues scuppering his big(ish) move and the forward struggled to live up to his reputation during spells with Granada, Sport, Botafogo and Bahia. Coritiba gambled on Henrique in July, signing him on loan until the end of the campaign, in the hope that he might rediscover his scoring boots.
They have been vindicated and then some. In just over 900 minutes on the pitch, Henrique has chipped in with 8 goals for the Coxa, including winners against Palmeiras, Chapecoense and Avaí.
Henrique, now 24, has always been about the hustle and bustle, and that style is reflected in the stats. He has managed 2.6 shots per game - only Marcos Aurélio (2.7) averages more for Coritiba - and prides himself on being in the right place at the right time in the area - all but one of his strikes have come inside the box.
His efforts can land him in trouble with officials, though. 3 yellow cards led to a suspension this weekend and Coritiba lost to Cruzeiro in his absence. With him on the pitch, however, Ney Franco’s men should have enough to beat the drop.
André (Sport)
A former cohort of Neymar’s at Santos, André flopped in Europe and, despite his undeniable scoring knack; was largely unloved at Atlético-MG and Santos. A move to Recife seems to have done him the world of good.
The 25-year-old is not always the most pleasing on the eye - his 47 unsuccessful touches tell of a player who tends to hinder rather than help in the build-up. There is plenty of allure to his remorseless finishing, though, with 8 goals dispatched from within the penalty area proving crucial to Sport’s attempts to consolidate after an explosive start to the campaign.
Like him or loathe him, André is a player who knows his limitations. Of 36 shots at goal, there have been only 6 from outside the box and just the one with his weaker left foot. In that respect, he is perhaps the heir to the cult goal accumulator Dadá Maravilha, whose most famous aphorism - “There is no such thing as an ugly goal; not scoring is ugly” - is probably stitched into André’s favourite socks.
Which strikers have impressed you in the 2015 Brasileirão season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
