I will start my post-match analysis for the Brazil vs Germany match by saying that (1) nobody should blame the heavy loss on the absence of Neymar and Silva (2) Brazil might have lost the match even with the presence of both Neymar and Silva but maybe not as heavily as 7 goals (3) Scolari selection mirror that of Spain in this tournament in that both are based on big names past glory and not current form and hard work. (4) Scolari tactics also mirror that of Spain (see explanation below) (5) Brazil awful play makes Germany look like a mini-god of football (6) The Germans won the psychology game before even kicking the ball. To my first and second point, it would be absurd to blame the heavy loss on the absence of Neymar and Silva in the sense that this is Brazil where every player on the bench you should be as good as those starting 11 (check Brazil’s USA 94 , France 98 & Japan-Korea team selection). Brazil had 3 days to have mastered how they are supposed to line up against the German. It must be a costly oversight for them not to have watch/study the Germany vs Algeria match in order to come up with a counter tactics. Anyone who watch the match will agreed that even with the presence of Neymar and Silva, that Brazil would have lost the match with the way they are set up to play but maybe not as heavy as 7 goals but even in the previous matches Brazil have played, their defending have always been questionable. To my third point, this Brazil squad is the most threadbare and non-samba Brazil style-like of all time. This is a Brazil squad with two center forwards in Fred and Jo who is chosen based on their confederation cup performance and not their current club form. These are players whose best European adventures are both in France and Russia respectively but simply can’t cut it among the top leagues of the world. To put it in a better perspective, you may want to check where Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Adriano, Kaka and even Robinho were plying their trade in any world cup year. Those guys are on top of the world where they were playing. A squad with a right back like Maicon, who is so past it that he is left gasping for breath after the first five minutes. A squad with midfielders like Ramires and Paulinho, who cant even pass the ball 5 yards square. A squad containing reserves from QPR, Napoli and Spurs. A squad that includes a host of subpar players who were picked by Luiz Scolari based on personal rather than professional reasons. To my fourth point, I believed Scolari only tactics in this world cup is (1) pass the ball to Neymar, (2) pass the ball to Neymar, and (3) pass the ball to Neymar. With Neymar, Scolari had seemed content for his team to defend deep and attack on the break. But against Germany, they played a high line which was easily exploited by the German attackers, while huge holes in the midfield allowed the Germans the freedom of the pitch. It’s a reflection of Spain’s tiki-tika and nothing but tiki-taka. To my fifth point, Germany is receiving all the praises after thumping Brazil but the truth is that Brazil inflicted this humiliation on itself. Germany did not have to work for its goals but instead were given by the Brazilian. David Luiz and Dante on the night were so embarrassing on their defending on almost all of the seven strikes. In fact Mourinho has been vindicated by David Luiz woeful performance. To my last point, having watch all the favor Brazil have been receiving from referees in their previous games and most importantly the number of fouls that Brazil committed in their quarterfinal win over Colombia, the German coach (Joachim Low) took to the press in a psychology battle and called for a clamp down from the referee that officiated Brazil vs Germany match and in this regard any attempt to favour the Brazilian have already been foiled to the barest minimum. In conclusion, even though the attitude of some Brazilian players throughout the games they played should be questioned, but its all down to Scolari and he must take the blame for most of what went wrong and he must also defend the selection of some players in that squad as well as answer the absence of many players not included in the squad for instance Atletico Madrids in-form defender Joao Miranda. Also the poor handling of the Diego Costa case which saw Brazil loses perhaps its only world-class center forward of post Ronaldo era to Spain. With Neymar out, Ronaldinho and Kaka would have been useful too even at the age of 34 and 32 respectively. These are player who can provide spark out of nothing and Brazil has very few of those right now and if truly Scolari chooses his forwards based on current form then I don’t see how Fred and Jo are any better than Ronaldinho and Kaka and at worst case scenario, I would have bring one of them as cover for the triplet of Fred, Jo and Neymar. If you honestly thought you could win a World Cup with someone like FRED as your lone striker and JO coming off the bench, you must be completely out of your mind.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 19:24:10 +0000
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