Looking at the Brazil squad heading into the tournament we identified one major weak link. That was none other than their head coach Tite. We understand that it’s really easy to point to the manager when things don’t go as planned. He’s usually the first guy to go at the national and club level after a big loss. Ironically in most cases bringing in someone new doesn’t necessarily fix the problem. When it comes to this Brazil team though we could make the argument that the manager failed them, here are our reasons why.
What National Team Features A Better Collection of Talent?
Basically the reason why we really have to pin Brazil’s elimination on the manager is because there’s arguably no other team at the tournament that featured such a collection of talent. There’s an argument to be made that a lot of these talented players failed to step up in the big moments. Still, that lack of intensity can also be traced back to their manager.
With such a collection of talent it can be tempting as a manager to say to the team “just play”. It was essentially proven in the tournament that Brazil could over power weaker competition. Even in that Cameroon game though where Tite decided to make sure all of the players he called up got a chance to play it was evident that there was not much direction on his part. He never found that perfect spot between getting his players to play within his system and not hampering their abilities to make sure that they fit within a rigged system. This may not all be Tite’s fault. It’s actually a long standing issue with Brazilian football.
Traditionally Brazilian Managers Are Not Household Names
Luis Felipe Scolari, former Brazil manager once famously said that he was determined to walk into the dressing room and give his team a tactical lesson. Yet when he walked in he saw Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, and others and just said to them, “Go out and have fun, I’ll let you know if I make a substitution.” He’s a World Cup winning manager, but he’s also the same guy who managed Brazil in their 7-1 defeat to Germany at the 2014 World Cup.
In Argentina there are multiple managers that have garnered worldwide fame. Marcelo Bielsa, Carlos Billardo, Cesar Luis Menotti. All of them created their own “schools of thought” within football. In Brazil there’s not necessarily too many schools of thought from former managers. Dunga tried his hand at fielding a Brazil that was more defensively solid. Sadly, it seems like he went to the other extreme in which his system choked the creativity out of his players. With not too many options within the local market it could be in Brazil’s best interest to look to a foreign manager for help. Perhaps Luis Enrique could help bring some of Spain’s Tiki-Taka philosophy and mix it with Brazilian skill!
Talent Can’t Overcome Everything These Days
This World Cup has made one thing clear. In this day and age talent can’t overcome everything. A well organized team at the back can frustrate a more talented squad, and ultimately kill them on the counter attack or take them to penalties to have a chance to win. This is where having a coach who won’t run out of ideas really comes in handy. Tite showed his lack of ideas by just subbing players by design instead of trying to adjust to what that particular game was calling for. Taking off Vinícius Júnior in the 65th minute of the game Croatia was a perfect example of this. Brazil needs a head man with a better willingness and ability to adjust according to the reality of the game at hand. Something that Tite always showed he lacked throughout his entire tenure.
