Robinho scores the winner on his Santos re-debut. I made that word up, re-debut. Although it’s too soon to say whether Robinho’s move back to Brazil was the right move, I’m going to go ahead and say that it was … for now. In Europe, Robinho found a series of coaches who didn’t have patience for his antics. He’ll find more patience at Santos, but the question is, is this move detrimental to his long-term professional development? Probably. Pampering won’t make Robinho a better player.
These Brazilian boys need to just stay home, until they are prepared to face the big bad world. Many top footballers (Kaka, Eto, John Terry*) have all turned down the opportunity to join the Mancs from their respective clubs, probably because it wasn’t a good career move, no matter how much was on offer.
* In JT’s case we can safely speculate that he didn’t join because of the presence of his “best pal” Wayne Bridge.
I think Robinho’s situation isn’t necessarily an issue with Europe. He performed well enough in Spain. It’s more a matter of having the right set up. He seems to drop off when he isn’t allowed to be the guy. He just doesn’t seem to deal well with adversity.
JT stayed behind because this Perroncel woman lives down the street from him and his family in Surrey. Practically a 5 minute drive from his house…. Well that’s my theory…
Regarding the Man City signings? They simply went after mercenaries. We all know they tend to be devoid of heart, soul and genuine passion. All that really turns them on is the cash.
Robinho’s problem is that Manchester City kept signing more and more people like him – Adebayor, Barry, Tevez, Santa Cruz, De Jong, Lescott, Kompany… the mercenaries kept on coming. All very good footballers but all prepared to ditch the clubs and fans that had invested huge amounts of time and effort into advancing the quality of their lives and careers.
They were prepared to be hated, reviled and booed.It was a small price to pay for the ridiculous salaries coming their way.
Clive spot on, and simply put they all can’t of course play at once. So suddenly you have a lot of very unhappy, overpaid prima donnas like Robinho sitting on benches with nothing to do but rage about the injustice of their lives to anyone who will listen.
You saw when Robinho initially came to England he was scoring a goal every single game…. then all of sudden he is not loved and simply decided to chuck his toys out of his pram…..
RMP. Tevez is a player who faced adversity and dealt. Almost inexplicably, he spent time on the bench at West Ham, and then came back to be their savior. Life for him in England has not been easy off the field. He hasn’t picked up the language and often speaks about missing home. But he is a much better player and respected for what he has accomplished for himself on the pitch.
As a side note, thinking back, how crazy is it that Mascherano and Tevez were both at West Ham and unused for so long? Mascherano couldn’t even get a sniff of the pitch. Now Zola would kill for two players like that.
I’m getting tired of seeing these guys run home at the first sign of trouble. Come on, man up! It is understandable to miss home, but that is the life they signed up for. Either toughen up or stay home.
Fair points Clive…. but once Tevez was at United, why did he leave? I understand the Hammers part, however, United are United… I may be wrong but I know City doubled his United salary from last year. Remember United were already paying him good money in the first place and guaranteed champions league football every season. I don’t think it would have done him any harm to fight for a starting place at Old Trafford. With C Ronaldo gone he was going to get more games for the Red Mancs. And now look at City?! With all that cash spent, and the awful season Liverpool are having…. City are still huffing and puffing to get that 4th spot to qualify for the champions league.
And the chairman is right! Homesick?!? Come on. You are grown up! Walk it off mate! Is not like some of them are being sent to play football in mars or something? If somebody paid me 160 grand a week, I would even move to Kazakhstan or even the Vietnamese league….. I am sure the homesickness would go away every time I look at my bank balance….
RMP, i think you’re missing the point IMO. The issue is that City bought too many players in the first place, thus leaving the likes of Robinho out. The whole Tevez issue was not only money. Like any other Striker they want to be the starter and they want to be paid well. Tevez was being paid well but not used. Every game he played he played like it was his last, you can’t say the same for Robinho. Almighty Feguson has issues with tevez and wouldnt give him the time on the pitch he deserved, look at Berbatov. Now Tevez has shown his true fighting colors with CIty, not for money put to simply play the game. I saw just about every game Tevez played for Boca and I cannot remember once when he was lollygagging on the pitch. I can’t say the same for Robinho, he didn’t leave for the money as he took a huge paycut, or because he missed home. He realized he needed to be on the pitch more than the dance floor. Maybe he’ll get his second chance in Europe, hell he’s got the talent, question is does he have the love for the game, the way he played in Santos prior to going to greener pastures.
[...] yesterday’s Daily Banter, we discussed Robinho’s departure from Manchester City back to his previous [...]