Brazil – from innovators to also-rans
The answer is twofold. It has to do not only with the undoubted merits of Tite, but also with the deficiencies of his colleagues, and of the dead end at which Brazilian football found itself.
There were two separate problems – the dangers of success and the perils of isolation.
Brazilian football was not born great. It achieved greatness as a result of a process. When they won those three World Cups in four tournaments (between 1958 and 1970) they were ahead of the field in term of preparation and tactics.
As far back as 1958, they had a huge back-up staff of doctors, a dentist, a physical preparation specialist – even a premature attempt to use a sports psychologist.
The great Mario Zagallo – a player in 1958 and 1962, coach in 1970 – nearly fell off his chair when I told him that England went to Chile for the 1962 World Cup without so much as a doctor.
And in terms of tactics, they had incorporated ideas from Uruguayan, Argentine and Hungarian coaches, put them together and come up with something new. They were pioneers of the back four.
When they unleashed it in 1958 – still the only time they have won a World Cup in Europe – the extra defensive cover meant they did not concede a goal until the semi-final. By 1970 they had gone further. Zagallo is happy to see that wonderful side as a pioneer of modern day 4-2-3-1.
But so much success made them lazy and complacent, inclined to believe their own myths about innate natural talent.
And as the game moved on, they were dangerously isolated. Hardly any Brazilian coaches came to work in top level European club football, and those who did make the journey failed to last long.
Brazil were caught completely off balance by the Pep Guardiola revolution of a decade ago.
Many in Brazilian football were convinced that physical evolution had made a possession-based game impossible and that the way forward was to bulk up and use quick counter-attacks down the flanks.
They were dangerously out of date – as shown all too harshly when Germany, having taken on board some of Guardiola’s ideas, kept passing their way through the 2014 Brazil side on the way to that 7-1 win.
Tite – learning lessons in Europe
The exception to Brazil’s failure to evolve and learn is Tite.
At first glance his CV might not seem to contain anything unusual. He has flitted from job to job, fired from most of them. He has never worked in Europe; his position has been that he would be unable to achieve excellence in a second language, although the 57-year-old may be softening on that point.
But in addition to mesmerising communication skills – he comes across a little like a hip priest – he has a curious mind. The key phrase of Brazil’s World Cup qualification campaign is his “I have learned how to learn”.
When he made his name at the start of the century, Tite was a 3-5-2 specialist.
Later, with Internacional, he thoroughly enjoyed working with the Argentine midfielder Andres d’Alessandro, briefly of Portsmouth, who explained to him the workings of a European 4-4-2. His appetite whetted, Tite has spent long periods in Europe studying the way the top teams play.
A big difference in comparison with South America is the way teams stay compact – and it was this that he introduced to his Corinthians side, which in 2011-12 won the Brazilian and South American titles and beat Chelsea in the Club World Cup final.
That team was known for its single-goal victories. The compact nature of the team made them difficult to play through. It was a team based on defensive solidity.
Then came more study in Europe, where Tite’s attention focused on the way the best sides achieved numerical superiority in parts of the field where they could hurt the opposition.
All of this was then applied to the Corinthians team that won the Brazilian title in 2015. Much easier on the eye than their predecessors, they were a team whose compact nature was used to facilitate its attacking possibilities – having the team close together opened up options for a pass.
And it is this tactical idea that Tite brought to the Brazilian national team.
In November 2016, after Argentina had been beaten 3-0, the highly influential former Argentina coach Cesar Luis Menotti was full of praise.
“He has brought the defensive line 20 metres higher and brought the team together,” he said. “It’s like the Brazil of 1970.”
Can Tite get the best out of Neymar?
Tite is currently everywhere in TV adverts.
Where Dunga always came across as a warrior, the current boss strikes the pose of a wise man, and one gifted with ‘look ’em straight in the eyes’ communication skills. Indeed, one critic has referred to him as “a snake charmer”.
So far, Brazil has been charmed. With the team getting its mojo back, TV ratings for World Cup qualifiers were extremely high.
And with the country spiralling through economic and political turmoil, the national team have stood as a beacon of hope.
If Tite were to stand in this year’s presidential elections he would walk his way in – at least, before the World Cup. True to style, he refuses even to joke about such a serious matter.
The coach has – without seeking it – gained the same kind of star billing as striker Neymar. Much may depend on the relationship between the two over the next few weeks.
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