Football Season Guide

Serie A
Brazil
Serie A
2017
AA Ponte Preta
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AA Ponte Preta

In


Erick (Mid, Bragantino), Xuca (Mid, Mirassol), Renato Cajá (Mid, Bahia), Yago (Def, Corinthians, on loan), Artur (Def, Internacional, on loan), João Vitor (Mid, Maldonado), Matheus Cassini (Att, Palermo), Marllon (Def, Cianorte, on loan), Ramon (Att, Brasil-RS), Lins (Att, Figueirense), Naldo (Mid, Joinville, on loan), Fábio Braga (Mid, Coritiba), Jádson (Mid, Udinese), Fernando Bob (Mid, Internacional, on loan), Lucca (Mid, Corinthians, on loan), Kadu (Def, Gremio),

Out


Leandrinho (Mid, Napoli), Roger (Att, Botafogo), Diogo (Def, Criciúma), Ferrugem (Def, Figueirense), Rildo (Att, Coritiba), Matheus (GK, Fortaleza), Abuda (Mid, Atletico GO), Tiago Alves (Def, Nautico), Giva (Att, Nautico), Felipe Menezes (Mid, Ceara), Felipe Azevedo (Mid, Chiangrai), Marcos Serrato (Mid, Villa Nova), Rodrigo Miranda (GK, Uniao Madeira, on loan), Zé Roberto (Att, Bahia, end of loan), Maycon (Mid, Corinthians, end of loan), Thiago Galhardo (Att, Coritiba, end of loan), Antônio Carlos (Def, Tombense, end of loan), Douglas Grolli (Def, Cruzeiro, end of loan), Reinaldo (Def, Sao Paulo, end of loan), Cesar (GK, Flamengo, end of loan), Rhayner (Mid, Tombense, end of loan), Wellington Paulista (Att, Fluminense, end of loan),

An eighth place finish made the 2016 Brazilian Serie A campaign a major success for Ponte Preta, so much so that they lost many players in the off-season, as well as their coach Eduardo Baptista, who joined Palmeiras. With so much changeover, Ponte Preta were expected to struggle to adapt and that’s exactly what happened as they had an inconsistent Paulista State Championship campaign and they crashed out of the Brazilian Cup early on. Yet Gilson Kleina arrived in March to take over as coach and the team is now playing much better football and they finished the Paulista State Championship off well, reaching the final by eliminating Santos and Palmeiras. It remains to be seen if this upturn in form can be carried on into the Serie A season, especially given that Kleina has struggled in the top division in his last few appointments. In terms of the squad, Ponte Preta have made some interesting signings, with Fernando Bob, Kadu and Lucca all experienced at this level and all around the 30-years-old mark. They should make this season’s Ponte Preta a more streetwise team, while they have also managed to retain the youthful flair of players like Matheus Jesus, Ravanelli and Clayson, even if star striker William Pottker is set to leave the club in the transfer window. One thing Ponte Preta can count on is a significant home advantage as they always play well at their Estadio Moisés Lucarelli and they were the fourth best home team in 2016.

Target


It would be considered a successful season if Ponte Preta can finish as high as they did last year. So eighth place is a realistic target, but they might find it even more difficult this year given the departure of Eduardo Baptista.