Brazilians must listen to Coutinho so they can win the mind games
HAVING been one of the few Brazilian players to actually produce in their disappointing opening game, Philippe Coutinho was also one of the few from their camp to produce some sense in the aftermath.
“We need to take responsibility and our heads have to be in the right place,” the playmaker said.
It’s just that isn’t really a mindset that many around the squad seem to be following.
Although so much of the talk around Brazil has been about transforming the psychology of the national side after that 7-1 loss to Germany in the 2014 semi-finals, much of the reaction to the opening 1-1 draw against Switzerland has actually been reminiscent of four years ago.
There’s been moaning, complaints about opposition and officials, excuse-making and a general refusal to take responsibility.
All of this culminated in Fifa’s firm rejection of a Brazilian complaint about the minimal use of video review in that first game.
The federation, in a threepage letter written by team co-ordinator and former player Edu, argued that better use of VAR would have avoided “clear” refereeing mistakes, and revealed their request for the audio used by match officials was denied by Fifa.
The world governing body responded, emphasising there were “no clear and obvious errors” in the match.
“As has been repeatedly communicated, the question that VARs should ask themselves when the referee makes a decision during a match is not ‘Is the referee’s decision correct?’” Fifa responded.
“They should ask themselves whether ‘the referee’s decision was clearly and obviously wrong?’ ”
So much for their heads being in the “right place”, as Coutinho (left) argued.
This instead felt like entirely the wrong reaction, with Neymar personifying the team for the wrong reasons, as the infantilism of his performance seemed to be reflected in the infantilism of the response.
The bottom line is that, as with 2014, it is a mindset that doesn’t exactly encourage a cold willingness to face up to problems that are there in the team.
Tite has been attempting to change that, but it can still feel like he’s fighting a tide on the big occasions like the World Cup, even if their surge in qualifying means he has had substantial — if not complete — success.
Those changes should mean they have enough to beat a Costa Rica side who are themselves not at the level they were in 2014, but there are still questions over whether they will do so in any kind of convincing manner… and whether they can do it at all.
‘Should’, after all, does not mean ‘will’. And, as good as Switzerland were in the opening game, the nature of Brazil’s display was so disappointing that it’s difficult not to have doubts.
They were not just lacking in any spark or power, but often seemed physically bullied and not quite right in formation. There are many senior football figures now wondering if they are “overrated”.
Whatever the truth of that, the way the Swiss frustrated them has emboldened Costa Rica.
Captain Bryan Ruiz said: “Switzerland pressed them in midfield and that’s what you need to do because everybody knows that Brazil are best from midfield going forward. We need to win the ball back quickly and counter-attack quickly.”
That thought process also illustrates how many have noticed the clear gaps in the Brazil side.
The gaps become more apparent when a self-indulgent Neymar tries to embarrass defenders, rather than just play.
It might have been a problem solved for the side in a manner they didn’t want, given the injury doubts about the PSG star. He insists he’s fine, even if he still won’t be 100% right, but the real key is now that right mindset Coutinho referenced.
That will involve putting all the noise behind them.
Brazil don’t want to be going into an awkward last match against Serbia needing a win. There’s one way to prevent that, and that’s to take responsibility.