This season proved that there’s one Fortaleza with Rogério Ceni and another, much worse, without the current champion coach. Pernambucanos had a good run in league, but finished very close to relegation, after Ceni was gone.
Leão do Pici was having a very good season, just like the last one, up until Rogério Ceni was hijacked by the champions-to-be Flamengo in early November. Fortaleza was standing in a safe mid-table position with legitimate ambitions to grab Libertadores spot, provided they could keep the good run until the end of the season.
However, as soon as Ceni left, the club stopped performing, as they did last season during the brief period Ceni left to join Cruzeiro. It really seemed at one point the club was overly dependent on the former iconic goalkeeper. In a matter of 2 months, Fortaleza was lying in relegation spots.
The last 8 rounds were very tough for the team. They were only able to pick 3 wins, which proved just enough to save them, as their competitors were doing even worse.
Felipe Alves and Paulão at the back, Felipe and Juninho in midfield and Romarinho in attack were, unsurprisingly, the solid references for the team, but it was the surprising appearance of young Luiz Henrique in the final third of the season that proved to be essential to help the team grab those crucial final points.
The club will need to work very hard to reshape the team away from Ceni’s overwhelming shadow. Otherwise, they will surely struggle in the next season.
