The oldest coach active in the three main national divisions in 2025, Hélio dos Anjos, 67, says he misses “old-fashioned football”, but would prefer never to coach a Serie A team again rather than give up his own convictions.
To renew his contract with Náutico for 2026, a club that helped them rise from Series C to B this year, he needed to remodel his contract: in addition to his field work, he now controls, alongside his son and assistant Guilherme dos Anjos, the management of the club’s entire football department.
“Today it is unbearable. To talk to a player, there is the figure of the advisor, the agent who made the purchase or sale for a certain club, the main businessman, who is its owner, even a spiritual guru. It’s a difficulty”, he explains to Sheet.
“If I discuss something with my athlete, he calls his manager, who never says it’s wrong. He says that the coach is bad and that he already has another team for him. That’s how they resolve it now”, he adds.
His stay in the market is seen as an exception to a trend that, for him, has a name: ageism.
The coach, who has spent time with 35 clubs, in addition to the Saudi Arabian national team, important titles and several successes in his career, states that age has become a label of disqualification absorbed by managers.
“Brazilian coaches suffer from ageism. There are great professionals who have been at home for a year or two: Vanderlei Luxemburgo, Oswaldo de Oliveira, Celso Roth… because they were labeled as outdated at the suggestion of an elite press. All of these have much more to offer Brazilian football than I do and are out of the market”, he says.
Hélio dos Anjos recalls a recent episode in which his name was vetoed from a club that competed in Série A this year, even though it had been champion in previous seasons: “they mentioned my name and the president said that I was completely outclassed. The team was relegated and I joined Náutico. Is that really so?”, he asks.
For him, the origin of this prejudice is directly linked to the disaster of the 7-1 defeat of the Brazilian team in the 2014 World Cup.
The experienced commander points out that the rout in the semi-final against Germany put an entire generation, personified in Luiz Felipe Scolari, into question and opened up space for a “fad” for foreigners who were not always qualified.
“That result undermined almost all Brazilian coaches who were in that age group of Felipão, branded as outdated, who have no education or no knowledge”, he points out.
“The fad led clubs to make a lot of mistakes. [português] Pepa arrived in Brazil without ever managing a mass club. THE [Jorge] Sampaoli coached three mass teams in Brazil, but what won? If a Brazilian did what [Luis] Zubeldía did at São Paulo for as long as he stayed at the club?”, he adds.
Physical and structural modernization is seen as necessary by the coach, who praises the stabilization of clubs and the rise of emerging forces, such as Mirassol. However, he points out that the new generation of technicians has allowed an emptying of authority.
“The younger coaches left the command empty. I don’t know an executive who takes care of the discipline. Today, the physiologist decides who a coach will choose. He can even give me information, but he doesn’t decide. The older ones don’t accept that. I have more than 20 professionals who work directly with me at Náutico, but the decision is mine.”
Despite the criticism, the experienced professional avoids blind nostalgia. He recognizes merits in names like Abel Ferreira and welcomes the rise of Filipe Luís, from Flamengo, and Rafael Guanaes, from Mirassol.
“Who stayed [dos estrangeiros] it was due to competence. Abel is there because he gave results, but now only those who give results will be left behind. Guanaes is very well formed, mainly because it got its start working in the last divisions of São Paulo. This, combined with the study, is what’s best for Brazilian football”, he explains.
For the future of the Brazilian team, the veteran avoids the obvious. Although he respects the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, his bet would be on a domestic solution that has “gained its edge” in recent years.
“I would really like it to be a Brazilian. I think Rogério Ceni was the right name for this World Cup. He went beyond that initial excitement, balanced himself, took a lot of beatings and today has a very good level of work.”
Since 2018, he highlights that he has achieved significant achievements almost every year alongside his son, but even so he always ended up being passed over in the market. There were six titles in the period and three hits.
“The Serie C clubs that look for me know that my value is high. I don’t devalue myself. These are my numbers. Honestly, there are coaches in Serie A who don’t earn what I earn. If I have to stay at home, I will. But my numbers are there.”
