As the debate about the correctness of the CBF's decision to
fire Mano Menezes continues, Menezes’s successor, Luiz Felipe Scolari, has
remained tight lipped about his tactical plan for the future of the Brazilian
national football team. Meanwhile, speculation
proliferates about the kind of team that Scolari will field on the pitch in
light of his work with Gremio, Palmeiras, the Brazilian national team from
2001-2002, Chelsea, Portugal and Bunyodkor.
Predicting the strategy and tactics of any coach of the Brazilian national team
at the World Cup itself is invariably a difficult exercise, but we can say how
Scolari is likely to commence his tenure as coach of Brazil, particularly if we
operate on the premise that he is likely to begin with a tactical strategy that
is familiar to him qua Brazil 2002, and then adapt that strategy based on the
performance of the team. Whether Scolari ultimately chooses the formation he
deployed in Korea and Japan for World Cup 2002 for World Cup 2014 is anyone’s
guess, but for now, we should expect the following from “Big Phil”:
Greater freedom for the fullbacks
Expect
Scolari to unleash the fullbacks and restore Brazil’s wide play. Menezes had
focused on attacking down the center by nurturing creative midfielders such as Oscar
who would orchestrate attacks from the center of midfield. Under Menezes, wide
play from Marcelo and Alves supplemented the Brazilian attack but was never
fully a pivotal component of the formation. Scolari, however, had the luxury of
Roberto Carlos and Cafu as his fullbacks, and he is likely to expect the same
attacking contribution from Marcelo, Alves, Adriano, Rafael and company. In
other words, expect to see more wide play from Brazil.
The return of
Hernanes
Scolari himself has said that he has been watching Hernanes
carefully in recent games, and, given the recent human cry in Brazil about
Hernanes’s absence from the national team, it would make sense to see the Lazio
playmaker in the yellow jersey again soon. Hernanes is known for his ability to
play on both the left and right sides of midfield, as well as for his dead ball
prowess and skill in the air. If Ronaldinho, in particular, fails to step up to
the plate, Hernanes is likely to command the attacking midfield and may well
inherit the famed number 10 jersey from Oscar.
The return of
Ronaldinho
In recent interviews,
Scolari repeatedly stresses the importance of bringing more experienced players
into the squad to partner with those who have never played in a World Cup. Big
Phil has a deep and well known professional relationship with Ronaldinho,
who—as we all know—played a crucial role in Brazil’s success in 2002. If the
choice were between Ronaldinho and Kaka, Scolari will surely go for Ronaldinho,
whereas Carlos Dunga took the other path and went with Kaka in 2010.
A holding midfielder such
as Sandro
It’s hard to imagine who Brazil’s holding midfielder might
be, particularly given Leiva’s prolonged layoff due to injury. One option would
be Tottenham's Sandro, who played at the Olympics and did a decent job of keeping the
defensive end of midfield tidy and free from worry. Paulinho or Ramires
represent other options, though both are not classical holding midfielders in
the vein of Gilberto Silva or Carlos Dunga.
A classical centre forward
such as Leandro Damiao
Scolari has explicitly said that he is not “enamored”
of the false number 9 formation favored by Spain and an increasing number of
club and international teams. He feels the false number 9 formation, which
lacks a target striker or two up front, fails to play to Brazil’s strengths and
footballing tradition. Expect Leandro Damiao to be given the lion’s share of
the attacking responsibility while being flanked by Neymar and Hulk. We should also
expect to see Wellington Nem join the first team on a more regular basis as
well.
Summary
In his initial phase as coach, we should expect Scolari to
restore width to the Brazilian attack and transfer significant responsibility
for the attack back to the strikers as opposed to the midfield. Whereas Menezes
focused most of his attention on the Brazilian midfield, Scolari will initially
focus on attacking down the flanks and getting the ball to a target striker
such as Leandro Damiao. The recalibration of attention on wide play and pure
strikers should complement all of the work done on Brazil’s midfield by Menezes
and set the foundation for a highly offensive-minded team. The key question,
however, concerns the ability of the current set of fullbacks to pose a
consistent and varied attacking threat as well as the ability of Neymar, Damiao
and Hulk to score goals against highly defensive minded teams.
