Sport | Football
Robinho has to perform or perish
- By Jon RhodesDeputy Sports Editor
- Published: 00:00 September 4, 2010
Robinho has finally ended his unhappy stint in the blue half of Manchester but while the bright lights of Milan may be more to the Brazilian's liking than the pleasures of Lancashire, question marks hang heavy over this most inconsistent of stars.
Serie A will offer the playmaker a final chance to live up to his billing in a major European league following less than impressive stints in Spain and England.
Robinho's time in the Premiership drew plenty of criticism but perhaps wasn't surprising given the requirements of the league.
Tactical discipline and lung-busting performances are not attributes you would readily think of when considering the Brazilian and City's insistence on restricting him to the left wing left both player and fans frustrated.
At Real Madrid, meanwhile, the prevailing view was of a player full of tricks but lacking any real end product. The Madrid giants may have protested when the Brazilian engineered a move away from the Spanish capital but secretly there must have been some relief to be rid of a player who had never lived up to his early promise.
There is a feeling among commentators that Robinho's problems stem more from the cultural differences between South American and European football.
Robinho finished last season back with Brazilian side Santos, the club where he made his name.
Cultural clash
In Brazil there is a culture of pandering to star players, an environment that is lacking in the talent-packed squads of Europe's big guns.
Robinho has suffered when his star has been forced to shine in the same vicinity as others. In short, he needs to be loved.
Brazilian football perhaps also offer more room for expression away from the tactical constraints of Europe.
In a recent friendly against the United States, the playmaker had pundits purring with his performance in a position where he was nominally stationed on the right but was given the freedom to drift inside and orchestrate the play. He was also captain and obviously thrived on the affection.
It will be interesting then to see how the 26-year-old fares in Serie A, a league known for its tactical discipline.
The rough and tumble of the Premiership may have not been to the Brazilian's liking, but who's to say the star will find any more joy when faced with stifling Italian defences.
The problem for Robinho is that time is running out for him to prove himself as a world class talent.
Failure in Italy would see him dismissed as a nearly man, condemned to see out the rest of his career as a squad player or back home.
To avoid that fate he must start delivering from the off. The last chance saloon, it seems, has just welcomed its latest customer.
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