Ponte Preta secured an 8th-placed finish in 2016, which was their highest ever placing since the current league format was adopted in 2003. The fairly inexperienced Eduardo Baptista was the man tasked with improving on that 8th-placed ranking and he managed to do so with a 4-1-4-1 system that suited Macaca very well. The previous year’s team had been built on defence, but this year’s Ponte Preta was far more balanced, with the team even finishing in the bottom seven in terms of goals conceded, but finishing in the top eight in terms of goals scored. William Pottker and Roger scored the majority of those goals - with 14 and eight goals respectively – but a lot of their chances were created by the impressive wing play. Rhayner and Clayson were particularly good on the flanks, while Pottker and Roger also took turns playing out wide, with their versatility turning out to be very useful. What will have disappointed coach Baptista, though, was their away form. Ponte Preta managed to take 41 points at home, the 5th most in the league, but they picked up a meagre 12 points on the road, the 6th worst record. The fact that they could not pick up a single win in their final dozen away matches of the season meant that they were only ever going to finish so high, so they’ll need to improve on the road if they want to kick on and break into the top six next season.
In terms of standout performers, the attacking players grabbed most of the headlines and that is probably fair given the shift in approach witnessed over the course of 2016. Yet there was still some impressive defensive performers, with Reinaldo – on loan from Sao Paulo – playing superbly well at left-back, while a mixture of Fabio Ferreira, Kadu and Douglas Grolli played in central defence, with injuries making it difficult for an established top two to emerge. There was a similar story at right-back, with the position shared by Jeferson and Nino Parabia. The star, though, was 14-goal man William Pottker, whose creative impact was as crucial as his goalscoring one.
Although there is bound to be interest in the 22-year-old goalscorer, there is a good chance that Ponte Preta can keep hold of Pottker for another season, with the player’s contract running until 2019. They may lose players in other areas of the park, with on-loan midfielder Maycon a significant loss, but the squad looks strong enough to fight for another top half finish in 2017. A tightening up of central midfield, one area where they were sometimes overrun, would keep this team looking in good shape. Their main problem ahead of the new campaign, though, is that coach Eduardo Baptista impressed so much that he has been hired by Palmeiras. 35-year-old Felipe Moreira has been hired as his replacement and, with this being is his first gig as a head coach, he is even more inexperienced than Baptista was, so it remains to be seen if he’ll be a success.
