Attacking football fan that I am, I would be delighted if Tite makes the selection, as I read and watched around that he will make the squad against Serbia, in the debut of the Qatar Cup, this Thursday (24), with a single midfielder – in this case, Casemiro .
When I read and watched around that it will be like this, I was not convinced. I haven’t yet, and I’ll only be convinced when the team takes the field that way at the Lusail stadium.
Because? For the simple reason that the coach will throw away, almost suddenly, a formation used, and with great success, in the more than four years of preparation for the World Cup.
Since the defeat by Belgium, in mid-2018, which took Brazil out of the Russian Cup, the Brazilian team has gone to the field 50 times: 30 in competition games (Qualifiers or Copa América) and 20 in friendlies.
In only two of those games, I repeat, only two, did Tite decide to have only one midfielder on the pitch, and in those games nothing was at stake for Brazil, quite different from the situation in the World Cup match against Serbia.
Change is not fearful? Is it not inconsistent? Isn’t it unnecessary?
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Fabinho played as the lone defensive midfielder against Paraguay, in Belo Horizonte (Mineirão), 4-0 against Brazil, in February this year. It was a duel for the Cup Qualifiers, but the selection had already been classified since 2021.
Ahead of him were the attacking midfielders Lucas Paquetá and Philippe Coutinho and the attackers Raphinha, Matheus Cunha (who was not on the list for Qatar) and Vinicius Junior.
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Casemiro was the lone defensive midfielder in the September friendly against Ghana in France, 3-0 to Brazil, the penultimate match before the World Cup.
In front of him, the attacking midfielder Lucas Paquetá and a court of attackers: Raphinha, Richarlison, Neymar and Vinicius Jr.
It is this last formation that, as I read and watched around, will be announced by Tite about an hour before the whistle of the Iranian referee Alireza Faghani in Lusail, at 4 pm (Brasília time).
Really?
I would bet that Tite, whom I consider conservative in his views –and using two defensive midfielders is one of them–, fell asleep afraid of doing that, of launching an overwhelming attack right away, with two open ends (Raphinha and Vini Jr. ) and three non-marker players. They can even score, but it’s not theirs.
The big question is: in the debut of the Cup, an always nervous match, and against an opponent that is not a piece of cake –Serbia did not lose in the European Qualifiers–, Brazil needs to go all out, from the beginning, with an army of attackers?
I emphasize: I will love to see this lineup. I think it’s a strategy with a good chance of succeeding, predicting that the Serbs will defend most of the time.
And, if it works, Tite will be praised, praised for his courage and for rescuing the entire tradition of Brazilian football, according to which attack is the best defense (and I agree!).
Only… what if it doesn’t work?
What if Serbia finds a way to hold back the offensive quintet, starts to dominate the midfield and Casemiro, even though he is a fighter of the best, is unable to take care of the heavy work without the help of Fred, his constant companion?
In these 50 matches of the cycle for this Cup, Casemiro and Fred formed the midfielder duo in 15. In the last ten, they were together in six, and Brazil won five and drew one.
Casemiro’s other teammates in the midfield were Arthur, Douglas Luiz, Allan, Fernandinho and Bruno Guimarães – the latter is in Qatar.
Changing is tempting, but it would be an excrescence, an unnecessary threat to a balance sought and achieved over more than 1,500 days of work.
If I were Tite, I would start cautiously.
Especially because Fred (by the way, I prefer Bruno Guimarães, he’s better) and Casemiro are, in addition to “guard dogs”, good passers and have the conditions to, if necessary, go forward to finish.
It didn’t work out, say, in the first 45 or 55 minutes?
Enter Vini Jr., who, rested, has a better chance of unbalancing against a Serbian rear that will already be worn out.
But, regardless of the lineup, good luck, Tite, good luck, Brazil. That the hexa can come with one, two, three or even without any steering wheel.
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