The Official 2015/16 Football/Soccer Thread

Young_Chitlin wrote: »

Oh ? wow that was the equalizer

AggyAF wrote: »

toheeb27 wrote: »

Such a shame that this is what Brazil has to offer now, smh.....

Remember Brazil used to be the standard? After the early 00s they fell off . My dads days they were even better in the 70s

The arrogance and lazy-mindedness of a magazine from 29 years ago is still present.

Rather, they extend throughout the culture of Brazilian football.

You can see it in the press, who stoke the myth of invincibility.

You can see it in the supporters, who behave like spoilt children and turn against the team when times are bad.

You can see it in the coaches and players, who exhibit one of the pitfalls of success - to stop doing whatever it was that brought success in the first place.

When Brazil won World Cups they were usually fitter than the opposition, and ready to turn on the gas in the second half.

Tactically astute

Inevitably, the rest of the world has caught up in this area.

But in another area Brazil have been overtaken.

They were also tactically more astute than their opponents, the fruit of intense coaching work done in the 1940s while Europe had its mind on weightier matters.

The back four with attacking full backs, the 4-2-4 and 4-3-3 systems - all were Brazilian innovations.

In the heat of Mexico in 1970 they arrived at 4-5-1, pulling all but Tostao behind the line of the ball when they lost possession.

They were a team; they created the collective framework in which the great players could shine.

The lesson that Brazilian football wrongly drew from so much success was that it was enough to put their great players on the pitch, let them parade their instinctive talent and victory would naturally follow.

Tactics and team organisation, it was said, were unnatural for the Brazilian player.

'The star decides the game' is a popular catchphrase.

Rivaldo is clearly a star player, as is Romario.

But for all their talent, if the playmaker never passes to the goalscorer, the team is in trouble.

Where before the team made the stars, now the stars fail to make the team.