The current cold snap should surely make it more understandable that a Brazilian striker once made a one-man bid to introduce the idea of a winter break to the English game.
Jo was a big-money signing for Manchester City who failed to reproduce the form he had shown for CSKA Moscow in Russia. Everton took him on loan, and he made an acceptable start – which came to a swift end when he ducked out of the Christmas and New Year fixtures by flying back to Brazil. It was the end of his English career, and after a loan spell to Galatarasay in Turkey, he moved back to Brazil in 2011. Barring brief jaunts to the United Arab Emirates and China, he has been back in his homeland ever since.
And this same Jo, treated as something of a joke in England, has just been named Brazil’s player of the year. He was the cutting edge of a Corinthians side who, all but written off at the start of 2017, ended up cruising to the league title. He was the fulcrum of the attack – and it was vitally important that he maintained consistency throughout the campaign. The club have financial problems – paying for that new World Cup stadium is not proving easy – and some of their opponents have deeper squads. Jo’s immediate reserve is also known to English fans – Colin Kazim-Richards, who has yet to win the confidence of the Corinthians fans. It was all up to Jo, and he delivered the goods.
So was he just not good enough for the Premier League? It is a possibility, although it is a road we should be careful of going down. Look at Paulinho – undoubtedly an expensive flop at Tottenham, but subsequently firing on all cylinders for Brazil, and now for Barcelona as well. Sometimes it is simply the case of the wrong man at the wrong place at the wrong time – and much of this surely applies to Jo.
He first got into the Corinthians side as a 17-year-old. What was immediately striking about him was a versatility to his game which still applies. A gangling, left-footed figure, he can operate with his back to goal and link the play, but he is also quick enough to be played behind the opposing defensive line.
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Perhaps, though, the human being did not benefit from the early success of the player. Specialists in Brazilian youth development talk of a phenomenon which surely applies worldwide – that of delayed adolescence. As he makes his way through the youth ranks, the youngster is focused on his football. His friends, meanwhile, are out having the adventures and escapades which, in so many cases, are important in turning a boy into a man. And then the footballer signs his first big contract. He has money, and he want to play catch up. He is anxious to do some of the things that his friends have been doing.
This might explain what happened to Jo. He went from collecting the football stickers to becoming a sticker to be collected. And then he clearly wanted to collect a few experiences of his own. As he is quick to confess, his problem was alcohol. And he now accepts that, for a few years, he went off the rails.
Back in Brazil, he helped bring his time with Internacional to a close in March 2012 when he failed to turn up for a flight to Bolivia for a match in the Copa Libertadores. It soon emerged that he had been too drunk to travel. Within a couple of months he was looking for a new club.
He found Atletico Mineiro - and redemption. He was top scorer in the competition as the club finally won the Libertadores title, and earned himself a recall to the Brazil side. Jo was the reserve centre-forward in the 2014 World Cup squad – a post that many in Brazil think he should be holding once more.
Gabriel Jesus – a player who has made rather more of an impact than Jo at Manchester City – has solved Brazil’s centre-forward problem. But who is his reserve? Roberto Firmino is first in line – but he never played for a big club in Brazil and has little constituency with fans and media. And anyway, he is hardly a targetman figure with penalty-area presence. Recent squads have included Diego Souza to fill the targetman role, but throughout his long career he has always been a midfielder. Might Jo be a better alternative?
If he can make sure he does not overindulge in festive celebrations and make a strong start to 2018, then there may yet be a second World Cup for a man considered a joke by many in England.
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