Dunga and New-Look Brazil Side Ready for Centenary Copa America
Kicking off what looks like an impossibly packed international summer of football is the 2016 Copa America. The centenary edition comes right on the heels of last year's tournament and a first title for an exciting Chile side that subsequently turned their manager, Jorge Sampaoli, into a man in demand.
One man apparently not in demand, at least not in the Brazilian press, is national boss Dunga. Following last year’s apathetic exit—for the second continental competition in a row—at the hands of Paraguay, whatever credit he had in the bank following the announcement of his second spell as head of the Selecao ship was extinguished with a frustrated whimper.
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Take a glance at the Brazilian newspapers, however, and you would be hard-pressed to know that the seven-time continental champions were about to embark on an international tournament.
With the Campeonato Brasileiro, the Brazilian national league championship, in its infancy after just four rounds, relatively little print space or air time has been given to the centenary edition of the Copa America, which is being held in the United States for the first time.
Regardless, the pressure promises to be as intense as ever on the Brazil coach and his playing staff.
Discounting Confederations Cup crowns, merely a dress rehearsal for the following year's World Cup, Brazil are without a major trophy since 2007—when they last won the Copa America—and the Olympic Games are just around the corner, a shade over two months away.
In truth, it is that tournament that remains at the forefront of Brazilian minds, as evidenced by the absence of Neymar, who will return later in the summer for the Olympics.
Despite being considered an amateur football tournament (it is under-23, with the right to three overage players), it is a title Brazil have never claimed, and something the five-time world champions appear increasingly obsessed with, especially since their humbling at the Mineirao during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in that ill-fated semi-final against Germany.
Nevertheless, Dunga and his cohorts will be expected to challenge, although the 1994 World Cup-winning captain has been dealt an enormous blow with the absence of Bayern Munich starlet Douglas Costa due to injury.
Brazil’s path to the knockout rounds should be relatively straightforward. They open their account on Saturday against Ecuador before taking on Haiti and closing the group against Peru.
Last Sunday, Brazil played a warm-up friendly against Panama, and in addition to the comfortable 2-0 scoreline and keeping in mind the limitations of their opponents, the performance was encouraging.
Despite castigation in the Brazilian press, Dunga has been confirmed as the man to lead Brazil into the 2016 Olympics, as reported by website Metro 1 (link in Portuguese), and since taking over from Luiz Felipe Scolari following the World Cup debacle, the coach has shown himself to be a harbinger of change.
When he first took the reins for his second stint in charge, Dunga began with a striker-less formation, a loose 4-2-4 which combined the brilliance of Neymar and the industrial-like efforts of Diego Tardelli as its focal point.
He has since reverted to experimenting with a spearhead, albeit the 36-year-old Santos forward Ricardo Oliveira was never likely to be a long-term solution to the Fred-shaped hole not so much removed but bitten off, chewed up and spit out by the baying Brazilian public after the World Cup.
Against Panama on Sunday, there was a switch of formation mid-game that gave viewers some idea as to how Dunga is considering lining up in the U.S. this summer.
Brazil started the game in a 4-1-4-1 shape, using Jonas as a target man and the ever-reliable Luiz Gustavo sitting in front of the back four. The former has been in excellent form for Benfica this season and continued his streak, opening the scoring before Brazil’s opponents had been given a chance to settle.
In the second half, Dunga introduced the man, perhaps unhelpfully, widely tipped as the “new Neymar” (link in Portuguese); Gabriel, of Santos, as the coach switched to a more conventional 4-4-2, replacing Luiz Gustavo in holding midfield with another offensive weapon.
Once again, his decision-making was rewarded with a goal, as the teenager showed with ice-cool aplomb his penchant for precise finishing. Given Brazil's lethargy in breaking down teams at last year's tournament in Chile, and notably Roberto Firmino's struggles to attempt to adapt to a central role 12 months ago, reverting to a two-pronged attack may well pay dividends this time around.
It was encouraging to see Dunga bold enough to experiment with such little time before the tournament. Alternatively, perhaps it shows what this Copa America really is to the coach: a glorified warm-up exercise in itself, prior to the main event on home soil in August.
Even if that proves to be the case, heading into Brazil's opener on Saturday against Ecuador, Dunga has some exciting options to play with, even without the vast attacking threat offered by Neymar and Costa.
Gabriel is a supremely technically gifted footballer, and this Copa America could be the perfect platform for him to display his talents to an audience beyond his home continent. The pair who would appear to be his rivals to lead a new-look attack, Jonas and Hulk, do not possess his mobility and raw pace; in addition, Hulk was guilty of missing a gilt-edged opportunity in the second half.
Add to the equation Philippe Coutinho, deployed on the left and given the freedom to cut in and drift, and Brazil have the potential to damage from a variety of angles. Little by little, slowly but surely, Dunga is continuing to find a balance to his Brazil side, even though it may not be to everyone's liking, or sometimes even understanding.
The most glaring example comes in central defence, where the majority, this scribbler included, continue to be unable to fathom the exclusion of former captain Thiago Silva.
The defensive pairing of Miranda and Gil looked assured against a limited Panama offering, and surely, at the very least, the presence of the Paris Saint-Germain stopper in the ranks would be reassuring to a young and inexperienced group of players, particularly club teammate Marquinhos.
But if you can learn anything from observing Dunga's stern demeanour from the touchline or in press conferences, it is that he is not one to be swayed by popular opinion.
A pairing of Miranda and Gil, shielded by Luiz Gustavo, gives licence to full-backs Dani Alves and Douglas Santos licence to roam, as well as offering a creative outlet for first-choice midfield pairing Elias and Renato Augusto, who were so effective for Corinthians last season during their near-unstoppable march towards the 2015 Brazilian league title.
Brazil go into this tournament without their biggest names and perhaps without giving it their fullest attention.
With the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro looming on the horizon in football terms, it would be understandable if some players were weary at the prospect of playing two tournaments in one summer.
Surely not Dunga, though. It may not be the biggest tournament of the summer in Brazilian eyes, but the boss, not high up on many people's Christmas card list in this corner of the world, will be determined not to give his critics another stick with which to beat him.
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