Opinion – The World Is a Ball: With three defenders, Tite would solve the problem of the sides in the national team

The coach of the Brazilian national team, Tite, must be lamenting the bad luck he is having during the Qatar Cup.

First, in the opening game, against Serbia, he lost Neymar, the best player on the team, and right-back Danilo.

Ankle injuries took the number 10, who arrived in the Middle East in great shape, and the number 2 out of the picture. They were unable to play against Switzerland or Cameroon.

Later, in the match against the Swiss, who was injured was the holder of the left side, Alex Sandro, injured in the hip. He should stay out until at least the round of 16, if the team gets there.

In the third game, the last one in the group stage, Tite, with Brazil already qualified, sent the reserves to the fields. The witch remained loose, and there were two more casualties: Alex Telles (Alex Sandro’s immediate replacement) and striker Gabriel Jesus, holder of the Russian Cup, in 2018.

The cases of Telles and Jesus are more serious (knee, both), and they will not recover in time to return to play until the end of the World Cup, whose decision is in two weeks, on December 18, a Sunday .

Five bruises, two serious and three not so much, in the span of eight days are for crossing yourself, for knocking on wood, for lighting a candle.

Brazil is the team that, during the Cup, lost more players due to injury. And, once the World Cup has begun, it is no longer allowed, under Fifa rules, to call up athletes outside the 26-man squad.

Thus, Brazil will be two less until the end of its participation, which could be this Monday (5), in the round of 16 against South Korea, or not – hopefully not, since, as long as Brazil and Korea duel in football, Brazilians have always been superior.

However, as football has become less unequal every year, month and day, and surprises are appearing at regular intervals in Qatar (Saudi Arabia beating Argentina, Japan beating Germany and Spain, Morocco beating from Belgium…), it’s good not to fool around even for a minute.

In this scenario of “loose zebra” and physical problems, the most worrying situation for Tite seems to be on the wings. Danilo, according to the latest news, is much better (as is Neymar) and may be able to face Son Heung-min and company.

But in what physical state? Not 100%, and no coach likes to cast an athlete out of top form.

To complicate matters, Alex Sandro’s recovery was slower, and climbing him would be reckless. On the left side, Tite has no one else. He would have to improvise, which is not good.

Against Cameroon, when Alex Telles left, defender Marquinhos came on. Which is right-handed. Who doesn’t have a side cacoete, much less left.

Result: the Cameroonians attacked on the right, Marquinhos didn’t come close to avoid the cross, Aboubakar sent it to Ederson’s net. (The defenders Militão and Bremer also failed in the bid, when they gave space to the center forward.)

And now? Is Brazil fated to do badly, due to lack of manpower in the position? Not necessarily. There is an easy solution to implement: change the formation from two to three defenders.

By doing this, Tite solves problems without making the team more defensive, on the contrary.

Militão, Thiago Silva and Marquinhos would play in the back, theoretically enough to contain Korea’s speedy counterattacks.

The full-backs would become wingers (Daniel Alves, who doesn’t score very well, on the right, and left-handed Lucas Paquetá, an original midfielder, on the left), with the primary mission of attacking when Brazil has the ball and of congesting the midfielder. field when you are without it.

The rest hardly changes. Casemiro in contention, Rodrygo or Everton Ribeiro (or Neymar, if recovered) in the middle, Raphinha and Vinicius Junior on the wings, Richarlison as a center forward. Fred quits the team.

Holland, with three defenders and wingers free and attacking a lot, is undefeated and reached the quarterfinals with a very good performance against the USA. It is a current example of success.

But Tite, it is almost certain, will not use three defenders. The coach is historically adept at training with four men behind and must not have trained the scheme that could be the solution to his problem.

In any case, what is not suitable is Marquinhos on the left side. With him there, Brazil loses an excellent defender and gains(?) a mediocre lateral.