With the 2025 Brazilian Championship over, won by Flamengo, it was time to reward the best player. Giorgian de Arrascaeta, 31, who has played in our football since 2015 (Cruzeiro until 2018, Flamengo from 2019) won.
Arrascaeta, or Arrasca in the popular shortening (and Arráshca in the Rio pronunciation), won two awards: the very traditional Ballon d’Or, created in the 1970s by Placar magazine and offered since 2016 by ESPN, and the Craque do Brasileirão, existing since 2005, in partnership with CBF-Globo.
The midfielder is going through his best phase. In 33 matches in the Brazilian Championship (out of a possible 38), he scored 18 goals, second only to Cruzeiro striker Kaio Jorge (21 goals), and provided 14 assists, more than anyone else. Remarkable.
Immune to injuries that hindered him in previous seasons, Arrasca shone even brighter in 2019, when, also physically intact, he scored 13 goals and contributed 14 assists in the Brasileirão won by the Red and Black.
And suddenly reality sets in: Arrascaeta is not Brazilian, but Uruguayan.
Because he is the athlete that is missing from a Brazilian team that, even with a super coach (the Italian Carlo Ancelotti), lacks confidence, as a result of the modest fifth place in the World Cup qualifiers that start in six months.
Arrasca would fit perfectly into the Canarian team, as a third midfield man, the one with the freedom to create, without having to score a lot – let the midfielders do it, as Jorginho and Pulgar do at Flamengo –, enhancing his strongest points: reading the game, efficient short passing (ball passes), precise finishing from short and medium distance.
Furthermore, he is well above average in dead balls, which, it is known, can decide matches.
Arrascaeta, it should be noted, is a player to dictate the rhythm (pause and accelerate), to create attacking plays that don’t require so much haste. He is not a slow player, but his pace suits him well. For playing at high speed and in counterattacks and for constant pressure marking, he is not exactly recommended.
Much for this reason, due to the style of play undertaken by his country, Uruguay, of recovering the ball and quick exits to catch the disorganized rival, undertaking a “structured rush”, the number 10 stood out little.
Arrasca’s positioning in Celeste proved to be inadequate. He plays as a centralized midfielder, not as an open midfielder, on the sides. Especially because, when open, he stops being a midfielder (it’s in the name, midfielder plays in the middle), he becomes a winger.
It would be beautiful to have an Arrascaeta in green and yellow. Because, which is absurd given the amount of manpower, Brazil doesn’t have a single star with his characteristics.
Our best midfielder today, Matheus Pereira, from Cruzeiro, who has not yet been called up by Ancelotti, is more vertical, sharp. Lucas Paquetá, a possible name in the World Cup, is not doing so well and has irregular performances.
Ancelotti’s Brazil is formatted to play with two midfielders and four attackers (two in the middle, two on the wings). Without an Arrasca, especially because we don’t have one.
And, without an Arrasca to fuel the attack, who will do it? One of the attackers in the middle, retreated, out of habitat and without the quality to do so. We will improvise – we are even good at it, but it should be the exception, not the rule.
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