Arthur Cabral scored three against Corinthians on May 17 and has seemingly been living on credit ever since. Almost six months later, that balance ran out long ago. The fans already applauded him that afternoon. Now they want a centre-forward. The count is almost six months, not six full months. It only reaches that mark on November 17 if the drought continues. There is no need to round up: the correct number is ugly enough. And Botafogo are about to face Corinthians again in the return fixture of the Brasileirão. The league has come full circle, the opponent is back on the calendar, and Arthur Cabral’s last goals are still the same ones. Supporters are almost using the fixture list to measure the drought.

He is the problem

My assessment is simple: Arthur Cabral is not good enough for what Botafogo need from a centre-forward. I am not going to use the system, the coach or his teammates as an excuse for these performances. The criticism here is about his football. Almost half a year without a goal cannot become an endless investigation into who has yet to discover the secret to making him work. Three goals in one afternoon are not a loyalty programme. They do not guarantee months of patience or turn every subsequent match into a tribute to what happened in May. It was good. It is over. Now he needs to perform for the rest of the season.

One goal would be something new

I am not asking for another hat-trick. A simple goal, the kind that adds just one to the score, would do. That is where expectations have landed. Botafogo need a striker who delivers. With this drought, Arthur Cabral delivers a memory from May and a wait that never ends. Fine for a scrapbook. Far too little to lead the attack.