When Tite took over as Brazil coach almost three years ago, the pieces immediately fell into place. He gambled on a teenage centre-forward named Gabriel Jesus, who straightaway appeared to have solved a long-running problem. Gabriel worked well with Neymar, and as the wins kept rolling in and confidence soared, Philippe Coutinho was at last successfully incorporated into the side.
Brazil, at one point in danger of missing the 2018 World Cup, cruised to Russia and travelled with high hopes of winning the competition in Europe for the first time since 1958. In the event, they fell short, losing the game of the tournament 2-1 to Belgium. Tite recognises that the balance of the side was not quite right — not helped by the slump in form of the talismanic Gabriel.nike nfl jerseys cheap china
Since the World Cup, things have gotten worse. The pieces are not falling into place. Brazil put together a run of six wins without conceding a goal, but the level of performance was not satisfactory. Tite is struggling to get the pieces to fit once more; the evidence that he has yet to succeed was clear in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Panama.
Brazil went into this game, staged in Porto, Portugal, with a reserve defence. But further forward, in the absence of the injured Neymar — plus Vinicius Junior, who had been called up for the first time — the coach went with a lineup that he has been very keen to see in action: Casemiro holding the fort, Arthur shuttling in midfield, Coutinho pulling the strings, Richarlison cutting in from wide on the right, recent AC Milan signing Lucas Paqueta on the other flank, and Roberto Firmino at centre-forward.
Fearing that he delayed too long in the World Cup to introduce Firmino, Tite has given him an extended run, leaving Gabriel on the bench. Those who watch Liverpool might feel that this is an easy decision, but the context is different. For his club, Firmino often drops into midfield, combining and opening space for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to burst beyond him. At their best, the Liverpool front three operate as one force.cheap nfl jerseys china nike
With restricted training time and players with different characteristics, Tite has yet to find a way to get the best out of Firmino. He is not linking up with Coutinho and forming part of a circuitry of passing on the edge of the penalty area. And he is a centre-forward with an obvious lack of physical presence in the penalty area — hence the choice of Richarlison, a mixture of wide striker and penalty area operator.
