This Sunday (8), the last round, we will meet the Brazilian champion, those classified for the Libertadores and Sudamericana and those relegated to the second division.
The main Brazilian teams are, every day more, a selection of South American players. The best go to Europe, and the ones below are in Brazil. This is the result of the huge financial and investment difference between the clubs. In the HDI (Human Development Index), Brazil is below Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Corinthians took a leap in quality with the arrival of reinforcements. If individual quality hadn’t improved so much, the tactical system and the coach would have been heavily criticized, as happened when the team was in the relegation zone.
Corinthians’ tactical design, forming a diamond in midfield, with a centralized midfielder, a midfielder on each side and an excellent link midfielder (Garro), in addition to the excellent attacking duo (Memphis and Yuri Alberto), is an old way of playing that has been abandoned by current tactical schemes, with two open wingers and a center forward.
Real Madrid, at their best last season, played like Corinthians, with three in midfield, Bellingham between the three and the attacking duo formed by Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior. The attacking duo was already a Brazilian tradition, like the one formed by Bebeto and Romário in the world champion team in 1994. The absence of wingers is a problem, as the full-back has to defend and advance, in addition to not having the help of a tip in marking.
All tactical designs used today in Brazil and around the world that use a line of four defenders are the result of the traditional tactical scheme with two lines of four and two attackers, used by Brazil in the 1994 World Cup. The two players on the sides score alongside the two steering wheels. The shortcoming of this tactical formation is the fact that the two midfielders are very far from the attacking duo, which is the reason for the subsequent presence of a connecting midfielder.
England, the 1966 world champion, was the first team to use both lines of four. But there were no spikes. It was a line of four guards who alternately scored and advanced.
Today, because of the enormous intensity and movement of players, there is no longer any place to analyze the team’s way of playing through tactical design. It changes every moment. Much more important are the ability to have compact teams, to defend and attack as a block without leaving too many spaces between sectors, to alternate marking more advanced and more backward, to vary the style of retaining the ball, exchanging passes, with quick transitions from defense to attack, and several other details. As a rule, it all depends on individual quality.
Botafogo’s goal against Inter was a mix of individual talent and rehearsed planning. After a short corner and a perfect pass from Almada, Savarino, from the edge of the area, hit a beautiful and accurate shot. It is the union of natural and artificial intelligence. The natural must command the artificial. To paraphrase Charles Chaplin, we are human, we are not machines.
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