Tabloid transfer talk this morning claims City are set to sign Rafael de Souza Rodolfo, otherwise known as Pernao, otherwise known as the ‘new Robinho’. The sixteen year old Brazilian striker is currently with Fluminese, though he has yet to feature in their first team. The Mirror claim he is rated at £3 million.
The Mirror:
City moved quickly to invite the youngster to Manchester last week and expect to complete the deal shortly, which will include further add-ons, following discussions with his club and family.
Pernao was able to meet and train with his idol Robinho and wants to follow the same route to Manchester as his friends, the Da Silva twins who have already made the first team at rivals United.
The youngster’s desire to join Robinho has enabled us to move ahead of Chelsea who are also said to be interested. This is another reminder of why having Robinho is so good for City in terms of our profile. He may not track back and tackle much, but he remains our biggest galactico and is a posterboy for the Brazilian national side around the world. In terms of raising our global profile, which is a stated aim of Garry Cook and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, this is huge. Other players also want to play alongside such a talent. It’s good for their egos and increases the idea they’re joining one of the biggest clubs. To have sold him this Summer after just one season, which was speculated on by some, would have diminished us in the eyes of the football world and made other potential signings more hesitant about joining our ‘project’.
Until recently continental clubs used to lead the way with plucking South American prospects, think Kaka at Milan or Ronaldo at PSV. Nowadays the greater finance and profile of the Premier League along with a steady increase in the number of established Central and South American players plying their trade over here is enabling English clubs to have greater access to this fertile recruiting ground.
Manchester United have shown the way with the Da Silva twins. However no-one can deny the ethical questions of these practices which were none to subtly put by the Brazilian legend Carlos Alberto recently when he accused United of “raping” Brazilian football in their bid for 17 year old Dodo. The recruiting of young players has always been a murky world, look what happened to City schoolboy international Ryan Giggs. It’s now a global murky world. Uefa and Fifa may well tighten the rules one day, but in the meantime City’s youth and reserve teams could be taking on more of an international look, especially as we set up overseas academies. Hopefully we will only sign genuine talents who are likely to make it, as there are already to many depressing tales of those who don’t.
One thing’s for sure, Pernao is unlikely to be the last ‘new Robinho’ we’re linked with.
Blue Days
18 August 2009
Pernao /
The Guardian:
That cruel Stretford End banner flaunting the number of years since Manchester City won the league championship may be ticking over for a year or two yet, but Mark Hughes left Ewood Park on Saturday night looking like a man who knows that, at last, he has a proper football team on his hands.
The Independent:
There was a moment after Emmanuel Adebayor had sat down for his first interview as a Manchester City player in South Africa this summer when you wondered why on earth Mark Hughes, with his work ethic and his messianic drive for a “winning mentality”, had wound up with a forward quite like him.
The Times:
This was not the cymbal crash of Arsenal’s 6-1 evisceration of Everton but there was a persuasive percussion to Manchester City’s display. The first few notes were not loud but it sounds as if a powerful rhythm will emerge.
The Telegraph:
As the Manchester City coach weaved through the traffic, inching past thousands and thousands of fans in their sky blue shirts, some clutching inflatable bananas, all with a song on their lips, Robinho, Stephen Ireland and company realised how big this season could be.
Manchester Evening News:
Nine years ago, City fans descended on Blackburn in their hordes, determined to see a new Blue moon rising above the moors.
Stephen Ireland:
“The difference between this season and the last is the team spirit.
“From the moment we arrived back for preseason the manager has been drumming it in to us about how we had to be mentally stronger this season. He said we had to have a better attitude and he was right.
“There were some bad habits in this squad last season. The manager and coaches were trying to get us out of them but because we were in Europe and had so many games and so much travelling, I always felt as though we just didn’t have enough time on the training field and away from match situations to sort it out and put things right.
“What he has done this time is get players who have the right attitude. They are quality players of high calibre but they are also winners and that’s the difference. These guys are inspirational. There is a hunger there and a desire and they have the right approach to everything.”
Mark Hughes:
“Everybody has a view on Ade [but] until you work with him, you can’t shape that view yourself. I have not seen anything like that,” he said after a performance which confounded popular theories
“There will be opposition where we will have to have a real physical presence.
“Roque can play with the lone striker all day long. Ade can play off people and drop into deeper areas and then go beyond people as well, because he has the pace to do that. Maybe people thought that I was looking for two combinations of a big guy and a small guy, but actually they can all play together because they are all quality players.”
Emmanual Adebayor:
“In my three years there [Arsenal] I learned a lot, but now I am a City player, and that is where my focus lies.
“When I have the fans behind me I will always give 100 per cent.
“I am injury-free now, and I hope God will put his hand on me and keep me that way for the rest of the season. If that happens, I will keep working hard.
“This team can achieve things,” he said. “At Blackburn we showed character and we showed personality.
“We showed on Saturday that in difficult moments we can fight together to achieve things.”
Given – Stunning save from a Samba header in the first half. Had to be at the top of his game to keep a clean sheet. 9
Richards – His physical presence justified his selection. Showed good concentration and application. 8
Dunne – Who needs Lescott? The kind of physical game that suits him down to the ground. 8
Toure – A stern test on his debut. Came through with flying colours. 8
Bridge – Looking fitter and stronger than last season. Great to have a full-back who’s happy running with the ball. 8
Wright-Phillips – Off to a flier, turning inside Warnock and setting up the first goal. From then on worked intelligently for the cause. 7
Ireland – The high balls from Blackburn were bypassing him, but his own passing was excellent. Capped off a decent performance with supremely cool goal. 8
Barry – Excellent debut, using all his experience to shield the defence and keep possession. 8
Robinho – Struggled to get into the game, but looked dangerous when he did. 6
Adebayor – Stunning opening goal, followed up with a hard working performance and lots of good touches. 8
Bellamy – His movement and work for the team made him a constant menace to the Blackburn back line. 8
Subs:
Tevez – Great to see the Argentine, but he needs another week of training to get on the same wavelength as his new teammates. 6
Not used: Taylor, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Petrov, De Jong, Weiss.
Man of the match: Given.
Goals: Adebayor 3, Ireland 92 for City.
City came through a strong test at Blackburn with a great pair of goals at the beginning and end of the game from Adebayor and Ireland. In between there was grit, determination and character in defence to keep an Allardyce bombardment at bay.
Hughes surprised me with his starting eleven by leaving De Jong on the bench and going 4-4-2 with both Adebayor and Bellamy playing up front. For a difficult away game, this was a bold selection from the manager.
It paid off immediately with Adebayor’s stunning goal. I don’t think any City fan could have dreamt for a better start. There were several qualities to note about this goal:
- It started with a clearance off the line from the much maligned Richard Dunne and continued the full length of the pitch with great pass and move football.
- After setting Wright-Phillips away on the wing, Adebayor headed for the penalty area to get on the end of the return. This was something he hadn’t been doing pre-season, when he was happy to link up play and pull out wide. On numerous times here he looked to get on the end of things which is exactly what we’ve needed from a striker.
- It was the first of two assists from Wright-Phillips, who also set up a good chance for Tevez. To often last season his final ball let him down, so hopefully this is a sign of better things to come.
As the first half wore on, Blackburn put us under increased pressure with Hughes decision to go with the taller defenders in Richards and Dunne, ahead of Zabaleta and Onuoha, being vindicated. Errant finishing and Shay Given prevented the home side going in level at the break with the pick of the Irishman’s saves coming when he clawed out a Samba header that was heading for the bottom corner.
It was good to see the team come out stronger after a half-time team talk. It’s not always been clear how effective Hughes’ in-game influence is (and that’s putting it politely). In the first half we were looking to get the ball forward early and it was coming back far to regularly. This had resulted in a steady stream of throws and corners into our penalty area.
In the second half we were more patient and sought to keep the ball with our superior passing. Initially we weren’t creating many chances but more importantly the intensity of pressure had been relieved at the back.
As the game wore on and the intensity of both teams pressing game subsided we started to find gaps in the home side’s defence. Ireland spurned one good chance before sealing the game with an almost comically good goal. After initially trying to go round Robinson, his chance seemed to have gone, but after seeing he couldn’t make the pass to Adebayor, Superman turned again and passed the ball into the net. Adebayor still looked to be thinking he should have received the pass!
The TV cameras showed a hug between Hughes and Richards as they celebrated the goal, which was good to see after the reports last season that they haven’t always seen eye to eye. Picking the England U-21 international ahead of Zabaleta shows the management still have faith in Micah and he responded with a committed display.
The new signings all had excellent games. Adebayor’s goal and level of involvement gathered plenty of praise, while Barry continued his excellent pre-season form. My doubts over Toure’s lack of height for this fixture proved unfounded as he competed for everything. His ability to spot danger and make clean interceptions showed great defensive qualities, while his ability on the ball gives a new dimension to our build up play.
It’s not surprising to see players give their all on a debut and it will be interesting to see if Adebayor and Toure can maintain this level of performance. Today though, everyone was just delighted to have got the win, no-one more so than the manager.
Hughes:
“We are delighted to make a statement.”
“Ade was excellent. The goal settled him down and his attitude was first class.”
“I thought his general play and attitude to team-mates was excellent. If you’ve got front men who will chase and harry and try to rectify mistakes, those are great qualities. Everyone was bouncing off everyone else.”
Adebayor:
“It’s a fantastic start for me and the team. I am happy to be at a club where the fans are 100 per cent behind me.”
It was fabulous to come away with a clean sheet after our defensive frailties and, despite the excellent performances of the new signings, I’d make Shay Given the man of the match for a couple of outstanding saves and giving that sense he wouldn’t be beaten.
There should also be a special mention for Richard Dunne. All the speculation about Lescott and his own future could easily have unsettled the skipper, but this was an outstanding performance in his unfavoured left centre-back position.
One final point that’s worth noting is the players we had on the bench. Over the past couple of years we’ve been blessed with seeing top quality players in the starting eleven, but surely no City teamsheet has ever had this depth of quality.
External reports:
Daily Mail
The Guardian
The Independent
Manchester Evening News
The Telegraph
The Times
Blog reports:
Norfstander
Bitter and Blue
Video:
Match highlights