FIFA World Cup 2018: Brazil

Despite being the competitions most successful team, few would blame Brazil for feeling anxious heading to Russia  although its hard to see how they could plunge any lower. Four years ago, the Selecao set out to right the wrongs of the 1950 World Cup, where Brazil lost out to Uruguay on home soil, only to end up with an even bigger complex than before as they underwent the ignominy of being thrashed 7-1 in the semis by Germany.

Brazil’s squad

Coach: Tite

Dunga was hired back for a second spell after Luiz Felipe Scolaris failure in 2014, but after a disastrous start to the qualifying campaign that made Brazil not qualifying for the World Cup look a real possibility and a group stage exit at the Copa America Centenario he was let go.

For his replacement the CBF chose Tite. The 57 year-old suffered a knee injury that cut short his playing career thirty years ago and since then has coached a host of primarily Brazilian clubs  most notably Corinthians, who he led to their first ever Copa Libertadores in 2012. He is best known for his teams defending, creating a strong base for them to work off. With that, he won his first nine games in charge, qualifying only behind hosts Russia for the finals.

Goalkeepers
Alisson, Ederson, Cassio

Defenders
Miranda, Marquinhos, Geromel, Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Filipe Luis, Danilo, Fagner

Midfielders
Casemiro, Fernandinho, Fred, Paulinho, Philippe Coutinho, Renato Augusto

Forwards
Neymar, Willian, Douglas Costa, Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, Taison

Tactics

Tite sets up his team in a 4-3-3 formation, with the front three narrowing off the ball to make it difficult for the opposition to play out of defence. Gabriel Jesus will block passes into the midfielders and sometimes push forward to press the centre-backs, while Neymar on the left and one of Douglas Costa, Willian or Philippe Coutinho on the right stand between the central midfielders and the full-backs, allowing them to press inside if the ball goes to the former or press outside if it goes to the latter.

With another narrow three of defensively strong midfielders behind them, the opposition is usually forced into going out wide, which causes the wide midfielders to drop back into a 4-5-1 shape. This means that the Brazilian full-backs rarely have to leave their backline when defending, maintaining lots of cover at the back and it also allows the Brazilians to trap the opposition against the touchline and win the ball back.

This zonal defence and effective pressing means they are often able to win the ball quite high up the pitch and break quickly at the opposition, with their quick talented dribblers able to combine at speed.

When they have to actually break down the opposition things can get a little more tough though. Unless Coutinho is in the midfield, it lacks creativity  made up of Casemiro, Paulinho and Casemiro. That three remain narrow and find it tough to play the ball through to the frontmen, but in staying compact they also narrow the opposition midfield, opening up space for the full-backs to bomb forward.