Kind of redundant to call him all the way from Europe for a backup spot for 3 days. Maybe that means he'll actually start instead of Fagner.
Tite solved the big problem for us: how to transition from defense to attack! The moment we get the ball we know exactly what to do, with guys like Casemiro, R.Augusto and Paulinho. Compare with failed schemes from Dunga, Mano Menezes...
Peru's 2-1 victory vs. Uruguay has now mathematically sealed our participation in the World Cup. Russia, here we come!
Happy and proud we qualified!!!! There were so many different scenarios being passed around about how we could qualify that I didn't expect for it to be official tonight.
Lol, we qualified. Even though I doubt it, hopefully Tite start experimenting and test out some new players. I think we can get even better. I think the RB and the back up striker position can definitely used an upgrade. Firmino wasn't good enough in both games IMO.
Tite is wasting no time regarding Russia 2018's non-soccer details, and given he's got 5 months before the next WCQ, he's being smart. Edu Gaspar, CBF's national teams coordinator, is flying out to Russia this Sunday to work on logistics. He wants the team to be in a large city and to have relatives nearby. This is CBF's 4th visit to Russia concerning logistics. If by any chance Brazil has to play in Kaliningrad, it won't be a problem for Brazilian citizens. Poland and Lithuania, which encircle it, offer visa-free travel to Brazilians (as does Russia and Europe). By contrast, U.S. citizens are required to get a visa to enter Russia, and considering how much Russian visas cost, we who hold Brazilian citizenship and are going to Russia are going to save considerable amounts of money.
I'm glad we qualified with ease, which means we don't have to worry about our trip to La Paz...where strange things happen!! But I'm still worried that the opposite doesn't happen from 16 years ago, when Argentina qualified with ease and everyone else left us for dead and we won the WC!!
Good point. This fits in perfectly with CBF sending Edu Gaspar and other representatives for logistical research. Actually being IN Russia during the Confeds - a dress rehearsal for the World Cup - makes perfect sense. I think Tite will do both: have logistical research continue during the Confeds, and he or a scout will watch some games in person.
What's great about Tite is that he doesn't have much of an ego, relatively speaking. He's well grounded with his successes and continues to look for ways to improve, unlike his predecessors. As someone else pointed out early, he also isn't closing the group off from any new players like what Dunga and Felipao did. I'll be interested to see who he calls and uses in the upcoming games.
We always tend to peak a year before the World Cup. It will be interesting to see how Tite goes about that. Next year these same players will be a year older and some are already in the wrong side age wise.
I'm curious to see Douglas Costa under Tite. He was one of the better players under Dunga and since Tite has taken over, DC has been injured and has ceded his spot to Coutinho, who's done relatively well. I hope DC gets a chance to show if he's still in form because he adds pace and his ability to unlock a defense with his dribbling. At the very least, he's a good attacking option off the bench.
This is true but with GJ injured I don't think Costa would of started. Neymar and Costa play best on the left.
Firmino really disappointed me this international break. I wasn't clamoring for him to be a starter but he should have taken advantage of this opportunity a lot better. I'd say that backup spot is still not filled yet. Despite GJ's blazing start in the NT and ManCity, I'm still nervous on putting all of our hopes into him.