ESPN FC’s Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens react to Croatia defeating Brazil at the World Cup. Then they discuss what went wrong for Brazil, Croatia’s defence and the penalties.
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40 Comments
Antony was better than raphina to be fair. Vini doesn’t get tired that easily so he should’ve been on all the way until pens
Tite made several mistakes and tactical errors for Qatar
1. Firmino should have picked for that number 10 role or Coutinho if he was not injured
2. Neymar is not suited for that relayer between the midfield and attack in that 4-2-4 formation
3. That 4-2-4 proved to be a misbalance because the midfield is thin with 2 players. Bruno G or Fred should play in that midfield instead of an extra man in attack
4. Marquinhos is a liability in high stakes match in that ET in the QF Militao should pair with Thiago Silva in CB positions
5. Substituting your best attackers in a QF against Croatia and the wrong choices to finish your spots of subs available
Too many games are fixed in this world cup
Let this not distract you from the fact that Lovren is in fact one of the greats
Firmino.
The exclusion of Firmino was and is and will continue to be one of the factors why Brazil lost.
In the absence of Firmino the forwards of Brazil had only their wingers from which to expect to be fed the ball in the box.
Had Firmino been there he could have provided that all important link between the forwards and the midfielders in the role of a false nine that he does so well for Liverpool. He could even score a few himself. Just give the ball to Firmino and he will score is not an empty boast as his statistics testify to his vitality.
So, Brazil must develop a player like Firmino to be the all important link to enlarge their attacking potentials from all areas of the field.
When you have only the wingers to put the ball into the opponent's box then your opponents soon manage to force your wingers wide, wide and wider off until they cannot execute that inch perfect passes so crucial for a striker to latch on to.
Raphina is an awesome player with skill and speed but he can be handled quite effectively in the Premier League and every team has done it's homework by the time they came out to face you on the pitches.
How can a team took 21 shots on goal with 11 on target and lost? And the other team only took one shot on goal despite their possession and won? We should still have sudden death in extra time!!! We have lost the entertainment and flair of the beautiful game of football when Brazil lost…so disappointing..
The coach mess up🇯🇲😠💯🇧🇷
As a Brazilian…
Brazil played better than Croatia. As it did against Belgium 4 years ago for most of the game. But in both cases there was what we Brazilians call a "blackout": 5 or 10 minutes of loss of focus that led to a series of tactical mistakes that proved to be fatal.
IMO, it really is on Tite. He had the best Brazilian team since 2006 but he didn't keep up with changes in modern football.
I could name several of his mistakes here: being predictable; never having tested alternative formations, such as playing with 3 defenders; letting Modrić play with such freedom; calling up players that have never been tested; among others. Don't even get me started on the results: He managed to lose a Copa America to Argentina playing at home (only Brazilian coach to do so); managed to make Brazil lose the first game ever against Africans in the WC; and worst of all, abandoned his players after the penalty shootout when they needed his support the most.
Like so many Brazilians, it saddens me that there's no Brazilian alternative to Tite: even though he failed miserably, he's still the best Brazilian coach. Which goes to show how behind Brazilian coaches have been. So the best option is getting a foreign coach.
Jules… Lucas Vasquez….
Vini should never begin subbed
Neymar doesn't play defense
The coach is the one to be blame he is the cause of my team defeat 😞😭
Brazil's manager was clueless.
He had better players on the bench like Guimaress and Fabinho than he had in his starting line ups.
Brazil was lucky Croatia doesn't have a world class striker, otherwise Croatia would have won in 90 min
Tite, an egoic coward
I love Brazil but this defeat comes to two reasons arrogant n discipline
great analysis
I think he took Richarlison off a little too early, apart from that, I cannot fault him
ITS THE FIRMINHO CURSE.!!!!!!!🤮🤮🤮🤮 THE MOST HUMBLE THE ON FORM # 9. THE EXPERIENCE ..AND WOULD HELP IN TIME OF NEEDS….
Give the Brazil goal keeper nr 9 and then all Brazilian players can attack
Is that a Seattle Sounders shirt I see
Why he had only 2 midfielders on the pitch after the first half. I thought it was obvious that fabhino or Fred will come in for one of the front three. That's should have given the control of the game to them.
I definitely agree with the panels. After Neymar GOAL, Brazilian should have to defend totally.
Brazil need a foreign coach,not these quarter finalist dumb coaches from Brazil,for goodness sake Brazil have paraded the top 2 teams going to the world cup since 2006 except for the 2014 squad that was obviously not very strong,yet cannot qualify to teach a final,it is totally unacceptable.
Give pep guardiola or Mourinho these Brazilian teams and you a certain of at least a gold medal and maybe 2 silver medals
Brazil struggled throughout the tournament, except for the South Korea game,did not score any goal in the first half .
They had no business not beating Croatia in 90 minutes,they were not playing France or Argentina or even England.
Vini sub makes sence, stop defending him. He was terrible all world cup, for Madrid he is overrated and statpads in that farmers league. Most overrated player ever, thx god he will never be a world cup champion
Committing so many players forward and conceding on a counter-attack with so little time left in the game was madness.
I'm sorry, but Anthony wreaked havoc on the Croatian left defense. Rafinha didn't do anything. They gobbled him up.
Why did you employee the fat guy?
Tite is an average coach IMO. You have a two man midfield against a three man midfield of Croatia? Oooo we are mighty Brazil , that mindset costed them. Load the midfield with another player like Bruno G and change the 4-2-3-1 formation to 4-3-3 in the second half once the midfield battle was lost in the first half. Fred should not be in this team period. Let me tell you , Brazil would have lost the semifinal to Argentina as well because Scaloni is much more shrewd manager than Tite.
I don't know if this is important but there is a huge pressure on the Brazilian team to win every game they play, and its not only in the World Cup. There is pressure from the population, fans, media, sponsors. I knew Brazil would loose on penaltis, they simply don't have the mental state to deal with that pressure, no matter how much they practice.
Forza Italia 🇮🇹⚽⭐⭐⭐⭐⚽
This team should have atleast played the finals ..bt coach's mismanagement denied them from it !!
I resent the three seconds it takes me to realise gab marcotti is about to come on screen.
Antony created chances for Brazil. Gab and Juls are unfair to criticize his ability.
Gab says "Tite will go down as one of Brazil 's greats". Anyone agrees?. Not me certainly…..
i agree with everything except the Antony she was a problem for them raphinia aint do nothing
Every WC same old 3-4 countries favorites. Among them always Brazil. Because: a) its WC past; b) big football country with many talents c)because it's Brazil. In modern-day football they won – nothing, since real Ronaldo. In the same time Croatia won 3 medals. Nowadays pundits and so called pundits should really focus on the teams – NOWADAYS, like last few months, and their players, chemistry among them, their coach and his tactics and the most important thing – how they breathe and play together vs great teams. You can be a very big country with lot of football stars in your team, with amazing football past – but thats not a road to the top. And it doesnt mean you gonna always be a favorite on the paper. Pundits should start thinking a bit outside of the box!
تمام شد آن زمان که یک تیم با دلقک بازی و لودگی های بیمزه به نام رقص قهرمان میشد.
Brazil forgot to bring the 2014 ref