Fair enough... go on... ... Oh, that's it? LOL Line-ups are official now: Brazil Alisson; Danilo, T. Silva, Marquinhos, Alex Sandro; Casemiro, Fred, Paquetá; Raphinha, Gabriel Jesus, Neymar Colombia Ospina; Muñoz, Sánchez, Tesillo, Mojica; Barrios, Lerma, Moreno. Cuadrado; L. Díaz, Zapata
Worse than underwhelming. We really need to solve the issue of where to play Neymar because as it is, we're losing one whole position on the field because he can't be up front on his own but he can't be on the left either. So we put him and Gabriel Jesus up front and still have 2 wide players, leaving only Casemiro and Fred in the middle. Let's see if any subs are made to change things up, whether it's Antony or Vini on the left or something in the midfield.
Maybe I should have expected the 4-2-4 but I was surprised. Vini Jr. in for Fred. So Vini on the left and Raphinha on the right, Paquetá and Casemiro in the middle.
Jesus and Raphinha off. Should be Jesus and Neymar, but we know that would never happen. Matheus Cunha and Antony on.
Matheus Cunha misses an open header. Seems like he could have done a lot better with that. Clearest chance we've had all game.
Yeah, Brazil definitely better despite the potential fragility of the 4-2-4 and now we scored! Paquetá! 1x0
On the one hand it looks like a frango from Ospina, on the other, the way he hit it, like you described, has to throw the keeper off completely.
There's a reason I highlighted how many yellows we had coming in! Casemiro is out of the next game with this yellow card.
Paquetá out for Fabinho. I like seeing Fabinho and Casemiro together. I'd rather Neymar came out but, I went over that before.
Underwhelming, as with most of our matches. We're officially qualified after 12 matches with 34 out of 36 possible points. Still need to solve the Neymar and number 9 issues. A few experiments I'd like to see in the 5 or 6 remaining matches: 1. Subbing Neymar, just to prove it's possible 2. Matheus Cunha and Richarlison in the number 9 position 3. No number 9 at all, Neymar and Paquetá switching positions and either Vini on the left or an extra midfielder. Casemiro out against Argentina.
Honestly it gets tough to draw many judgements in games like these that become a foul fest. But yeah, specifically the #9 position is a problem. I feel like we have good options on the wings now which is good. Paquetá has been delivering. I just hope come WC Casemiro doesn't get suspended like in 18 because I think we lose a lot without him. Fabinho is not even close to being as good as him IMO and we end up losing a lot.