It was with a huge sense of belief and expectation that Tite was given charge of the Brazilian national team and early indications are that the federation made the right call. The Copa Libertadores and FIFA Club World Cup winning manager has not only started his tenure with two wins from his opening two matches, but he has managed to win convincingly, with attacking, expansive, possession based football.
Here are 5 things we learnt from Brazil’s 3-0 and 2-1 victories against Ecuador and Colombia respectively
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1) Tite’s gameplan: Hard Pressing, fast Counters, overloading the midfield
In contrast to Dunga’s pragmatic approach, Tite believes in possession football and controlling the tempo of the game. He achieves this by entrusting the midfield in a trifecta of players, each with a very specific role.
Casemiro acts as sheet anchor, the ball winner who drops back to be the third central defender when the wingbacks go upfield in attack. Renato Augusto acts as a regista or deep playmaker role, using his great positioning sense to make key interceptions and threading in fantastic passes for the front three.
Paulinho is the box-to-box midfielder, overloading the opposition penalty box when the team is attacking and having the engine to cover back and do the dirty work when the team is defending.
Against Ecuador, Paulinho, having the most stamina among the three midfielders, pressed high, while Casemiro and Augusto covered the opposition midfielder, cutting out any through balls. This system ensures Brazil recover the ball quickly and enjoy a majority of the possession.
2) The marauding wing-backs are back!
Under Dunga, the traditional policy of Brazilian wing-backs bombing forward was abandoned. Marcelo was dropped in favour of the more defensive-minded Filipe Luis and safety was given first priority. With the adoption of so-called “European tactics”-gone were the days where we used to see Roberto Carlos and Cafu bombing down the wings.
Tite has however, brought back the system, with a few tweaks. He recalled Marcelo and along with Dani Alves, gave him license to bomb forward. The safeguard here is having a box to box midfielder like Paulinho who covers back for whichever wingback is further upfield, as and when possession is conceded while in the attacking third.
The best example for this coming to fruition was the second goal Brazil scored against Ecuador. Marcelo, free from defending duties, charged into the a through ball from Coutinho to cut the ball back for Gabriel Jesus to score.
Casemiro being an effective sheet anchor becomes all the more important here, as now the attacking team, even when initiating a fast counter, has three central defenders to deal with. The attacking wing-back, is thus, less likely to be caught out and even if he does so, a central midfielder covers for him. The fact that Willian is adept at defensive duties down the right wing is an added benefit, especially since the 33-year-old veteran Dani Alves does not have the stamina he used to
3) Tactics may have changed. But Neymar still the main man!
Tite’s tactics may have rejuvenated the Brazilian side and given it new belief. But when the going gets tough, the team is spurred on by the magic of Neymar. He notched up two goals and two assists in the two games under Tite, and was the game changer in the second qualifier against Colombia when Brazil were looking like heading for a draw.
His clinical left-footed finish ensured Brazil came out of the bruising encounter with a 2-1 win. With 48 goals from 72 internationals, the Brazilian talisman looks well on his way to overhaul Pele’s record of 77 goals in Selecao colours.
4) A steady, settled centre-back pairing
In Marquinhos and Miranda, Tite has found the perfect centre back pairing. Miranda is all-conquering in the air, winning most aerial duels and can take care of any physically dominating striker in the business. The more slightly built Marquinhos, relies more on his positioning to negate attackers and is good with his feet. So while Miranda is the sledgehammer that destroys attacks, Marquinhos is the preventer, who sees a pass before it is made and covers.
Tite has said that Thiago Silva was not in the squad only because of injury. But it will be an immense task for even a defender of his caliber to displace these two in the starting lineup.
5) Quality subs and brought on smartly by Tite
When you have a production line as star-studded as Brazil’s, squad selection is a difficult task. Tite endured a lot of flak when he left out superstars like Oscar, Lucas Moura and Roberto Firmino, but his ploy of selecting the most in-form players for their clubs has reaped dividends.
Philippe Coutinho especially has been very effective as an impact sub. His through ball enabled Marcelo to assist Jesus for the clinching second goal vs Ecuador and the Liverpool man was key again against Colombia, assisting Neymar for his match winning goal.
Tite, again, operated against conventional pragmatic football sense that Brazil has been influenced by in recent years and made attacking substitutions when leading 3-0 against Ecuador and 2-1 against Colombia
The legendary coach has not thrown caution to the wind. Rather, he has made an effective fusion of traditional Brazilian attacking wing-backs with a European style midfield trifecta with a regista.
What makes it more effective is that his team selections ensure he has the best players at the necessary positions. Tite seems to have found the right mix. All the more importantly, Brazilian football is joyful and magical to watch again. O Jogo Bonito as they say in Rio!
