What are Tite’s likely squads for the World Cup, a year from now – The World is a Ball

There is less than a year left before the start of the Qatar World Cup, the first to be held in the Arab world.

On November 21, 2022, two teams will be chasing the ball at the Al Bayt stadium in the city of Al Khor.

One of them will be the Qatari, for being the host and head of group A.

The other will be chosen in a draw in April of next year, in Doha, and will not be the Brazilian team, as Brazil will be one of the seeds and, consequently, will not join Qatar in the group stage.

With 364 days to go before the World Cup kickoff, coach Tite has a consolidated base to take to the Middle East country.

Of the 23 vacancies (three goalkeepers and 20 linemen), if there is no injury or disciplinary problem, 17 are theoretically defined: three goalkeepers, three defenders, two full-backs, three midfielders, a midfielder and five attackers.

Below is the current picture, sector by sector. In parentheses, the number of games in which the athlete started after the end of the Cup in Russia, in 2018 – Brazil played 42 games since then.

Goalkeepers (3)

Favorites: Alisson (Liverpool), 29, Ederson (Manchester City), 28, and Weverton (Palmeiras), 33.

My analysis: Brazil is very well served by goalkeepers. Alisson (19 games) should start for the second Cup in a row, with Ederson (16 games) being the immediate reserve and Weverton (6 games), Olympic champion in Rio-2016, the other substitute. Neto (1 game), 32, from Barcelona, ​​Everson (zero game), 31, from Atlético-MG, and Santos (zero game), 31, from Athletico-PR, Olympic champion in Tokyo-2020, are on stand by ”.

Sides (4)

Favorites: Danilo (Juventus), 30 years old, Daniel Alves (Barcelona), 38, Alex Sandro (Juventus), 30, and Renan Lodi (Atlético de Madrid), 23. Guilherme Arana (Atlético-MG), 24, is in the race .

My analysis: Good scorer, Danilo (25 games) is the starting lineup on the right, however, if Daniel Alves (11 games) is doing well at the time of the squad for the Cup, Tite can scale him, due to better technique and, mainly, experience. Emerson (2 games), 22, from Tottenham, has been called up and is trying to join the fray. On the left, Alex Sandro (21 games) appears at the front in the fight for the title. For the excellent performances for Atlético-MG, Guilherme Arana (1 game) threatens Lodi (11 games), negatively marked by his failure against Argentina in this year’s Copa America final.

Defenders (4)

Favorites: Marquinhos (PSG), 27, Éder Militão (Real Madrid), 23, and Thiago Silva (Chelsea), 37. There is a dispute between Lucas Veríssimo (Benfica), 26, Felipe (Atlético de Madrid), 32, Diego Carlos (Sevilla), 28, and Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal), 23, for the remaining vacancy.

• My analysis: Marquinhos (37 games) is unanimous, and more and more Militão (15 games) is gaining ground and supplanting the experienced Thiago Silva (25 games), starting the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. Veríssimo (3 games) has rivals for the last vacancy three players (Felipe, Magalhães and Diego Carlos, this Olympic champion in Japan) who did not act as first-team players. Possibly the post will be for whoever is better close to the Cup, and it may be that by then a new name will emerge. Summoned a few times, Rodrigo Caio (zero game), Flamengo, is unreliable due to constant physical problems.

Flywheels (4)

Favourites: Casemiro (Real Madrid), 29, Fred (Manchester United), 28, Fabinho (Liverpool), 28. The fourth place is open, with a chance for Gerson (Olympique de Marseille), 24, Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa) , 23, and Bruno Guimarães (Lyon), 24.

• My analysis: Casemiro (31 games), one of the best in the position in the world, is in the starting lineup. His current partner in midfield contention is southpaw Fred (14 games). Douglas Luiz (5 games) was out of the last round of the qualifiers, in which Gerson was (3 games). Bruno Guimarães (1 game) is, like Douglas, gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics. Both Arthur (18 games), 25, starter in the 2019 Copa America conquest and who is unable to gain a foothold in Juventus, and Allan (5 games), 30, from Everton, who were not called up this year, seem like cards out of the deck .

Socks (2)

Favourites: Lucas Paquetá (Lyon), 24 years old, and Éverton Ribeiro (Flemish), 32. Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona), 29, runs on the outside.

• My analysis: Paquetá (17 games) is currently essential to the national team – he has played well and scored goals. Éverton (6 games) is on a high with Tite, and Coutinho (20 games), who has been living with injuries and played far below what he showed until the 2018 World Cup, appears as quoted due to the lack of relevant names in the position in the lists of Tite, who still believes in the player. Edenílson (International), 31, and Olympic champion Claudinho (Zenit), 24, without matches as a starter, are underdogs.

Attackers (6)

Favorites: Neymar (PSG), 29, Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), 24, Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), 30, Richarlison (Everton), 24, and Gabigol (Flemish), 25. With a chance: Raphinha (Leeds), 24, Vinicius Júnior (Real Madrid), 21, Antony (Ajax), 21, Matheus Cunha (Atlético de Madrid), 22, and Éverton Cebolinha (Benfica), 25.

• My analysis: Neymar (26 games) is a certainty in the Cup, as he is the team’s star. As Tite has always bet on Jesus (23 games), Firmino (24 games) and Richarlison (20 games), they will hardly stay out of the World Cup, even if they don’t do a regular season for their clubs. Gabigol (8 games), for his performances and goals at Flamengo, should also not be excluded. Vini Jr. (2 games) and left-handed Raphinha (3 games) and Antony (zero game) have been standing out in their teams. Reserve at Atlético, Matheus Cunha (1 game), Olympic champion like Antony and Richarlison, left a good impression in the most recent duel for the Qualifiers, against Argentina. Éverton (10 games), present at the 2019 and 2021 Copa America, does not repeat at Benfica the performances of Grêmio’s time.

After these considerations, I believe that Tite’s 23 would be: Alisson, Ederson, Weverton, Danilo, Daniel Alves, Alex Sandro, Renan Lodi, Marquinhos, Éder Militão, Thiago Silva, Lucas Veríssimo, Casemiro, Fred, Fabinho, Gerson, Lucas Paquetá , Éverton Ribeiro, Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, Richarlison, Gabibol and Raphinha.

The starting lineup would be, in a 4-3-1-2: Allison; Danilo, Marquinhos, Militão and Alex Sandro; Casemiro, Fred and Paquetá; Neymar; Gabriel Jesus and Richardison. Neymar would act as a false center forward.

If I were the coach, I would keep the three goalkeepers. On the side, I would trade Lodi for Guilherme Arana. In the middle, Fred (who I consider a common player) by Bruno Guimarães. In defense, Veríssimo by Diego Carlos. In the middle, Éverton by Claudinho. In attack, Jesus and Firmino by Vini Jr. and Pedro (zero game), 24, who has not been called up by Tite – the Flamengo player would be the only center forward in the squad.

My starting team, in a 4-3-1-2: Alisson; Daniel Alves, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva and Guilherme Arana; Casemiro, Gerson and Paquetá; Neymar; Raphinha and Vini Jr. This formation favors a more offensive midfield and left flank, with Gerson and Arana, and a faster and more dribbling attack, with “pointers” Vini Jr. and Raphinha. The lack of a classic center forward, who plays centrally and close to the goal (Pedro would be a reserve), requires that Neymar or Paquetá are always close to the area to finish the plays set up by the flanks.

Timing: The next call-up, for the Finals games in late January, should give a strong indication of Tite’s final roster. With ten months to go before the 2018 World Cup, of the 23 called up by Tite, 19 went to Russia. Only Daniel Alves (due to injury), Rodrigo Caio, Giuliano and Luan lost the vacancy.