Are you saying that there isn't favoritism tords Rio SP in Brazil? Come on....dont even try to deny it. If Ricardinho was playing for INTER do you think he would be on this team? Of course you are from Sao Paulo so you can't see this.
I am truly sorry Redshift, but you did the best you can. I feared that Parreira's imcomptency would be the toughest thing to overcome. It's also sad to see the fans of Alex's former teams show a lack of support for this cause.
For Dida, R10, Gilberto Silva, R9 and reflexive nationalism (as well as the happiness another victory would bring)... I am going to support Brasil. The enthusiasm has been much diminished, however.
It may be harsh (though not by much), but I am being honest. Only with someone as blind as Parreira would Alex be considered an outside shot. There has to have been a personal motive behind this... and any manager letting petty personal motives interfere with footballing judgement loses an incredible amount of respect from me.
I just can't understand, Alex was selected for almost every game from 2003-4. Without him, how could Brasil won the Copa America? Parreira insists that his selection is based on 3 years of work. Then how could he drop him in favour of an inferior player who has contributed virtually nothing to the Selecao in these three years. This is totally unjust.
Yes, it is total hypocrisy. It has nothing to do with him playing in Turkey either... Parreira himself managed Fenerbaçe... he knew what Alex was doing.
Like I said... I cannot fathom what else Alex could have done to deserve being there. Part the Red Sea?
But it does have something to do with him playing in Turkey - Ricardinho is playing in Brasil, and Ricardinho is the only Brazil based player on the selecao for this world Cup. It's a tough call. I like Alex. He's an excellent attacking player and it's a shame he isn't going. But he was always on the outside looking in, to be honest. Even in Copa America 2004, he did well but sometimes he vanished... he can get isolated and disappear in matches.
He "disappears" because he plays off the ball. 7 assists and 1 goal in 5 matches (and the decisive penalty to qualify Brasil for the final) is good by any standard.
Yup - I forgot him, but admittedly didn't focus much on the keepers since he'll be lucky to get a single minute.
And if the problem is not having enough domestic players... then why not Mineiro? Nilmar? Junior? Each of them have counterparts on the seleção than are less deserving than they are.
Well, you're engaging in a bit of revisionist history now. Alex's stock has been going down with Parreira since 2003. How well he plays for Fener is largely irrelevant when Parreira is looking at who to include on his bench and what they bring to his team. Alex is fantastic and there's no doubt Parreira knows this, he's not blind. But once Alex was not a starter and Parreira wanted something different on the bench, his chances were always small. You're taking this way too personally and I doubt there is anything personal between Parreira and Alex.
Alex said that he did discuss with Parreira before joining the Fenerbache. If Parreira told him that moving to Turkey would harm his chance of being selected for the World Cup, Alex would never leave for Turkey. I think you have a point concerning Alex's performance in the Copa America, he didn't really play well in two of the three group matches (against Chile and Paraguay). Actually I think Parreira began to lose faith on Alex after the game against Columbia, when Alex started but did not play well. He was then dropped for the next match away to Ecuador. But I would like to point out that nobody can perform well every match. Adrinao, Ronaldo all had very poor matches, but they are guaranteed a place in the Selecao. In my humble opinion, Kaka rarely plays well in the Selecao, so why he is guarantedd a place in the starting line up? Just because he plays for Milan? We all know Juninho is a very good player, but has he contributed more to the Selecao than Alex has? A good national coach should select players based on what they can contribute to the national team, not based on what clubs they are playing for. Alex is simply better than Juninho and Ricardinho. And has contributed more to the Selecao then Kaka as well.
In the Copa America, Alex played in 5 games (all except Paraguay). In those games, Brasil was undefeated. His best game was against Mexico (MOM) but he was significant in pretty much every other one.
Like I said, he did well, but playing 'off the ball' or not, I don't think he's the type of player that Parreira really wants in his system. And it does also have something to do with where he plays/politics. I was a fan of his back from the 1999-2000 years where he played well with Ronaldinho Gaucho, helping Brasil qualify to the Olympics. He had great potential. He missed out and was unlucky. But it wasn't surprising at all that he didn't make the roster to me. A shame, but not a surprise.
I never said the chances were good, or that Parreira's impression of Alex was good (or improving) -- it is precisely because of this that I am criticizing him. How is that revisionist history? I'm disappointed, but I am not taking it personally. I do maintain however, that it seems there is a personal problem between Alex and Parreira... because by any objective standard, he is one of the best Brasilian players... a geniune craque, whereas many of the others selected are merely good players.
This is just a stab at it. Alex isnt a role player. The team has to have some type of core built around him. Not to the extent of Riquelme, but to a significant extent. I just dont think that CAP would be willing to give him that much of the ball, considering what he said in an interview about Ronaldinho sharing the ball. Just a hypothesis.
I am only a bit surprised... there seemed to be movement in his direction. Also, I think Alex has more than just potential... the last 3 years have proved that. He is the real thing. This injustice is on par with not taking Falcão in 78.
I don't agree that he needs the team to be built around him. The duo of Ronaldinho and Alex has been fantastic in the past, and having two creators with superb passing ability and vision would make the team stronger, not less.... it would reduce the dependence on either. I think that Parreira sees him as incapable of defending, doesn't value his skillset as much, and has a personal friendship with Ricardinho (who came through for him in 2002). Additionally... I think there may be some personal problem between the two that we don't know about. Quite frankly, I don't know why the decision was made and I don't particularly care about the motives. Judged on its own, it stands out as a terrible choice.
And in 78...Falcao had taken Inter to 2 Brazilian Championships (75 and 76) and soon after undefeated in 79. The consequence was that Falcao only had 1 World Cup in which tp play that he was still around his prime...in 82. By 86 he was done. Shameful.
This is where I think you are engaging in revionist history. There has been no movement towards Alex lately, only away from him. Yes, there has been more popular support, but that's irrelevant. From Parreira's side we had seen no indication of a move back towards Alex.
No doubt, but does Alex bring something different to the team? Juninho brings the ability to play long passes, and score from indirect setpieces, as well as a different dimension to the build up. Ricardinho, well that would be hard to explain. Personally I like him and he scores goals, as well as creates. He fits into CAP system a lot easier than Alex would.