Brazil v Iraq, Group Match, Rio 2016 - Brazil's dismal display

In an absolute shocker,  Brazil have failed to score for the second consecutive game in the Olympic men's soccer tournament. I gave the excuse of “first match tensions,” but they are supposed to ebb away in the second game. And against a team like Iraq, when a team fires blank, then, I cannot give or accept any excuses.

 In 2012, I saw a young Brazilian side to score 6 goals against Iraq and to witness a goalless draw against a football team who looked naive and disorganized, deserves much criticism. I must admit, Rogerio Micale is not getting his formation right. I back his idea of 4-2-4, but at the moment, I feel, he needs to switch back to 4-4-2 and it’s not a pragmatic formation, but a compact one from where, you can switch to either 4-2-4 or 4-3-3 as well.

Critics and the media created the hype that Gabriel Jesus is the next Ronaldo. Now, I have always failed to digest such crap thoughts. There can one Ronaldo in this planet and he is R9. And there won’t be another R9 ever. Ronaldo hardly needed to excel with the help of others, but he not only scored goals all of his own, but aided others to do the same.

If you watch the Copa America 1997. Quarterfinal match v Denmark in the World Cup 1998, Copa America 1999 and World Cup 2002, you would realize about the quality of Ronaldo, who could carry on as a lone striker and also the architect of creating opportunities to score goals. Rivaldo and Ronaldinho will tell you better.

Gabriel Jesus is not a lone striker and prefers to be on the wing and even if you wish to play him as a striker, get a competent second striker behind him. Or, fix the wing backs to run high up and provide the crosses so that he can hit hard to strike gold. I prefer to dish out a combination between Jesus and Neymar where Neymar will be playing behind Jesus.

I don’t think Renato Augusto is needed anymore in this team. Neither he gels well with Thiago Maia nor with Felipe Anderson. A total waste. If he is included only because he is from Rio, then, such sort of selection policies will not bring anything good. Moreover, Why is Douglas Santos there? Brazil require William and Zeca as the wing backs.

Again, neymar looked short of match practice and fitness. I guess, the summer holidays had been pretty amusing enough to gain weight. I am not ready accept, a Neymar freekick will hit the wall rather than flying over the wall.

I am a huge fan of Rogerio Micale. But so far, he has failed to deliver the sort of footballing display for which I had been waiting for. The domination is there, but that free flowing football and penetration is largely missing. Micale must buck up as soon as possible.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar