Analysis of Brazil’s Humiliating Defeat

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As everyone has seen, Brazil received a devastating loss to Germany with the final score being 7-1. The German side scored 5 of the goals in the first 29 minutes of the game! Brazilian fans and players left the stadium heartbroken and distraught. They’re all wondering the same question. What went wrong?

Well the first two reasons are the most obvious ones. There was neither Neymar nor Thiago Silva. Some of you are probably wondering, why do these two serve such a huge role in the Brazilian squad?

First we’ll examine Silva. He’s easily one of the top center backs in the world, if not the best. Coaches never hesitate to have him defend against the biggest threat for their team. For Brazil he organizes the entire defense. He makes sure they mark their man and don’t drift out of position. He’s also got a deadly header. He’s capable of using it effectively on defense and offensively on set pieces. Even players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would have a hard time finding any space with this guy on the pitch.

Next is Brazil’s fan favorite, Neymar. He is what makes the offense and midfield click. His incredible skills help him find space to either shoot or draw a defender to allow a teammate to have open space. He has also taken on the role of creating set pieces from both corners and free kicks. He’s excelled in both in the past couple of years. The young star isn’t just an amazing playmaker, he has a deadly shot as well. When Neymar finds the space he can whip one in from even outside the box. To put it simply, he’s another Ronaldinho in the making.

So with the absence of Brazil’s two biggest players, Brazil seemed like a lost puppy. The defenders seemed scattered and out of position at times. When Germany were on the counter attack, it seemed as though they were doing what was similar to a zone coverage. Not one person seemed to mark a German attacker. Another thing they consistently did was leave the whole right side open for Muller to take. Honestly, Muller should have easily been a man to stay with. Germany has a full team of weapons, even on the bench! But Muller has been a huge impact for the team as he takes second place in the race for the golden boot (now only one goal behind James Rodriguez). Some of the goals looked like passing practice for Germany.

Brazil also seemed to have problems with advancing the ball up the field. It appeared to be that the players became too anxious and pressured. They tried moving up the field too quickly. If they had taken time to pass the ball around and wait patiently for a mistake in the opposing defense (although it wasn’t very likely) they could have created something amazing and let the ball become good friends with the back of the net.

In my opinion, I don’t believe that all the right choices were made in the roster for this World Cup. I can understand the reasons Fred was chosen. He came through a year ago in the Confederations Cup for the home team. But why wasn’t Alexandre Pato selected? He may be an injury prone and not have the blistering speed he once had. But with a couple good players alongside with him, he is a good quality player. The midfield selection was also a bit of a surprise to me. Just about all of the selected midfielders are more defensive midfielders. A couple of alternatives would have been the 2007 Ballon d’Or winner Kaka and the 2004 & 2005 Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldinho. They bring a different nature to the field. A world-class type of play style. Both serve as attacking midfielders. Kaka may play better than he has for the past couple of years seeing as though he would be playing home. Ronaldinho is one of the most creative and skillful players to ever play the game. He may be aging, but he could have been the key to Brazil’s offensive struggles and take charge of the younger players being eaten alive by pressure.

Brazil has ton of young talent overflowing with potential. In the next World Cup they will have an even stronger squad. Let’s just hope that they’ll put more careful thought into whom they choose.