Brazil 0-1 Colombia: 3 things we learned as Neymar and Selecao see red
By Ryan Wrenn
Coutinho Could Be Key
Fred, his defensive contribution shaky at best, was removed at halftime in favor of Coutinho. We argued in our preview that Coutinho deserved a start, and he managed to make that case for himself in the second half. He played deeper than you would expect but proved how valuable a deep-lying distributor could be. Several times he managed to find Alves or other onrushing players with long, accurate passes that stretched a compact Colombia. Those chances never came to much, but they were still among the best Brazil had in the second half.
It’s important to understand why Coutinho stands out in this way. His compatriots who fill a similar role to him are more likely to orchestrate an attack through clever, short passes or a precisely delivered through ball. That’s the style that, for instance, Willian comes from at Chelsea. Patient build up can often yield rewards, but against a defense as enthusiastic to cut off Brazil’s primary threats as Colombia’s was on Wednesday, it can just as often come up short.
Coutinho comes from a different school of thought, thanks primarily to Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool. At their best, Liverpool were the undisputed masters of the cross-field long ball. When Luis Suarez was still with the team and Daniel Sturridge was healthy, it was not uncommon to see a wildly unlikely pass from the halfway line float over defenders heads, onto the feet of either player and into the back of the net. Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard became specialists at this type of pass and used it to great effect against opponents weak and strong. The advantage of such an attack from deep is obvious. The defense prepares for and mostly expects an attack to begin within ten yards or so from the 18 yard box. They’re mostly proven right, but Liverpool’s use of that long ball strips that same opposition of what solidity or coordination they had. It relies on some luck and on players who favor a direct, pacey game like Suarez and Sturridge, but it’s effective when it comes off right.
Brazil often ignore that style of play until late in the game. Neymar is as or more capable of those kinds of runs as Suarez and Sturridge, as is Shakhtar Donetsk’s Douglas Costa. That those two players have featured together for less than a third of the total minutes available over the first two games suggests that Dunga doesn’t find much value in that kind of system. If he hopes to overcome Venezuela’s even more formidable defense Sunday to secure a crucial result, he might have to make an exception.