Opinion – Tostão: Brazil and Argentina are candidates for the World Cup title

I wrote this column before this Tuesday (16) match between Argentina and Brazil. Regardless of the performances and the result, the two teams are candidates for the world title in 2022. Apart from France, the best team in the world, for having more stars, Brazil and Argentina are close to the level of the other main European teams.

Neymar’s new injury, absent in this Tuesday’s match, is another consequence of the player’s physical fall, demonstrated in the matches.

Just as players need to make quick and correct choices during matches, coaches, in addition to scientific knowledge and knowing how to command a group, also need to make efficient decisions before and during matches. It’s difficult, even more on the side of the pitch, without a complete view of the set, in conditions of pressure and emotion.

As in football there are many important and unpredictable facts, many times a coach does the right thing, and it goes wrong, or the other way around. If coaches explained the reasons for their behavior, they would be better understood, and we commentators would make a fairer assessment.

Regardless of the performance and result of the game against Argentina, Tite has been conducting the team well and creating several individual and collective options, according to the moment of the match, the opponent and the characteristics of the players.

At Corinthians, Sylvinho, a disciple of Tite, accepted the criticisms and selected Renato Augusto in the right place, in midfield. With him from the center forward, the team loses the main constructor, without gaining a good attacker.

In the 1970 World Cup, I, who was an offensive midfielder at Cruzeiro, played center forward. Today, they would say I was a fake 9. It worked well, because Pelé and Jairzinho, two extraordinary strikers, aggressive and fast, needed, beside them, much more of a center forward, facilitator, than a classic center forward.

What will be the choice of Renato Gaúcho when he has Arrascaeta and all the players from the middle to the front in good physical condition? Michael should leave, although he is currently the most effective. Michael looks like a video game player, guided to dribble until he scores.

At Palmeiras, coach Abel Ferreira said he likes a 5 shirt (Felipe Melo), an 8 (Zé Rafael) and a 10 (Raphael Veiga). Thus, the teams of the past in Brazil shone. It works well at Palmeiras, because Raphael Veiga is an excellent midfielder and because opponents leave a lot of space between the midfield and the defenders. Palmeiras has the same problem.

In both Fluminense’s goals, midfielder Yago Felipe led the ball freely and submitted from outside the area, while the defenders of Palmeiras were positioned inside the area.

At Atlético-MG, Cuca almost always makes the right choices, such as putting Mariano in Guga’s place, keeping the great defensive midfielder Allan and finding the right position for the duo of strikers Hulk and Diego Costa.

Making good choices is fundamental, in football and in life. The aces are the ones who combine fantasy and improvisation with technique and lucidity to make the right decisions. It has always been like that. Garrincha was not just a brilliant artist, with no rules and no strings attached. He also had great technique. In a split second, he dribbled, took off and gave precise passes for his teammates to score. Is there art without technique?