Football Synopsis - Robinho needs to advance in a known direction
We are all aware of what Robinho is capable of. He has all the trickery and extravagance in his footballing arsenal every game follower thirsts to watch. But he has put himself in a self-built swamp.
Robinho loves to express himself on the field in a freelancing manner but whenever put in some tactical cords he gets edgy and is not able to perform at a level his skills are destined for. The only solution then he sees is to start it all over again by getting into a new system in a different environment.
But is he not running out of good options now? He definitely needs to get a fresh start but not like he has been doing by only switching clubs but not clearing up his mind. He surely needs to do both of them together this time.
Claims of ‘ the new Pele’ emerging from this part of South America known as Brazil will never die but Robinho is more deserving of this title since he was remarkably dubbed to have same level of talent by Pele himself when Robinho was at the mere age of 15 years. Coming through the ranks of Pele’s club, Santos, Robinho was soon in the scouting note books of the biggest footballing powerhouses of Europe.
He did justice to the legend’s remarks as he helped Santos in 2002 to their first Brazilian league title since Pele won it for the club himself. After finishing the following season on second position, Santos took advantage of Robinho’s 21 goals in 37 league matches in 2004 to get back the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A title. His performance was marred in 2005 by his mother’s kidnapping, and he could play only 12 league games, scoring 6 goals.
Finding an escape from his troubled livelihood, Robinho opted to join Real Madrid in summer of 2005 in a multi-million dollar deal where he succeeded Luis Figo for the prestigious number 10 shirt. He settled well in the flamboyant style of football Real is famous for and scored 14 goals in his first season there, which is quite a significant tally considering Robinho is not an established out-and-out striker but plays wide left.
The annual change at Real’s helm continued at the start of 2006-07 season also when Fabio Capello was appointed the new head coach. Setting up more of a conservative style of football, Capello could not play Robinho much in first half of the season because of the injuries but after the turn of the year Robinho was instrumental in turning around Real’s fortune in winning their thirtieth La Liga title.
Despite not being fully fit for most of the 2007-08 season, Robinho became more prolific in front of goal and scored 15 goals in all competitions, helping his club to a second successive league title. Robinho was third-highest goal scorer in his three seasons at Real, only behind the two established out-and-out strikers at the club; Ruud van Nistelrooy and Raul.
By the end of 2007-08 season, Robinho was linked for a move to England where Chelsea was interested to get his services. Despite having fortunes of Roman Abramovich on their disposal, Chelsea could not match Real Madrid’s asking price and on the last day of the summer transfer window Robinho signed for Manchester City who had then recently became billionaires with oil-rich Abu Dhabi United Group taking over reins of the club; making the most expensive signing for an English club, and Robinho the highest paid football player in England in terms of weekly wages.
Some may argue that this move to Manchester City was more money-incentive rather than footballing ambitions but Robinho made his intentions clear, scoring 14 goals in his first season and becoming the fourth highest goal scorer in the league.
However, his second season at the club was far from any success. He remained scoreless in 10- league fixtures in the first half and then under another Italian coach, Roberto Mancini, found his chances hard to come by. As this was the World Cup season and he was curious to get his form back to get into Brazil’s squad to South Africa, he chose to go back to his boyhood club Santos in a loan move.
He had a good spell with Santos for cementing his place for the Brazilian squad for South Africa. Now he is back at his parent club Manchester City where the management and club supporters want him to stay but he is thinking of a change. It would be no surprises if Robinho is on a flight out of Manchester before the end of this month but getting his direction is the most important thing of all for him right now.
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