Brazil is experiencing a crisis following Diniz’s bad start and needs to reinvent itself without Neymar – 10/18/2023 – Sports

Fernando Diniz debuted in the Brazilian team with a rout over Bolivia and much praise. That diminished in the meager triumph over Peru and disappeared in the draw at home with Venezuela. The next game, a terrible performance in defeat to Uruguay, was even worse.

Step by step, the 49-year-old from São Paulo descended in just over a month to his lowest point on the national team. And he lost the one he treated as his great name, despite the questions he raised about football in recent seasons.

Neymar, 31, suffered a serious injury to his left knee. Once the suspected rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus is confirmed, the attacker will be out for up to 12 months and will force the coach to review his planning.

Presented in August as commander of the five-time world champion team, Diniz arrived saying that the player would still write “the most beautiful chapter in his history”. Just now, last Monday (16), he rebutted those who saw the right time to leave the decadent star aside. “No coach in the world would give up on Neymar,” he replied.

The next day, the athlete injured his knee. And, although this wasn’t the boss’s original plan, the role of protagonist is open. Vinicius Junior, 23, Real Madrid’s key player, emerges as the main candidate, but the boy from São Gonçalo has not yet shown himself capable of repeating in yellow-green what he usually does in white.

“I was very bad in the match,” he said, after the setback in Montevideo. “My cycle in the national team has not yet been what I hope. I have a lot of room to improve to play at my best, like I do at Real. Of course, the pressure is great.”

Vinicius was not the only one with a poor performance at the Centenario stadium, where Brazil lost an unbeaten run of 37 World Cup qualifying games. Disorganized, the team only managed its first shot – out of a total of two – in the second half.

The players admitted the difficulty in assimilating the coach’s ideas, who has a very particular style, based on the profusion of options for short passes. It doesn’t matter, for example, that the ball is on the left wing: the right winger must approach and present himself as an option.

It has worked at Fluminense, Copa Libertadores finalist, but it took time. Diniz arrived at the club in May 2022 and so far has this year’s Campeonato Carioca as his only major title in football.

Interim in the selection, while the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) awaits the arrival of the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, the professional continues working at Fluminense. And he hopes that the national team players quickly understand the concepts applied in the tricolor association.

“It’s different”, summarized striker Richarlison. “He works here and at Fluminense. There, he has a lot of time to work. Here, we have little. So, until he gets the rhythm, the feel, his style of play, I think it will take a while.”

Time, indeed, is scarce. Diniz doesn’t even have 20 training sessions in the national team. But, as he has demonstrated throughout his career, he is not willing to adopt more pragmatic strategies and promote a gradual transaction for his style. The interim status, after all, reinforces, not mitigates, his impetus as a sniper.

“Work happens over time. No work in my life happened in a linear way,” he declared. “Obviously, the national team has this thing about lack of time. We need to watch our opponents and improve. I’m confident that we’ll play better football in the next squad.”

The next call will be for clashes considered tough. Brazil will visit Colombia, in Barranquilla, on November 16th. Five days later, they will face Argentina, current world champion and leader of the Qualifiers with 100% success, in Rio de Janeiro. Shortly before that, on November 4, also at Maracanã, Diniz will lead Fluminense against Argentines Boca Juniors in the Libertadores final.

In a period of two weeks, the coach will be able to leave his name indelibly in the history of the Laranjeiras club, rebuild the team and reignite the debate about the need to hire Ancelotti. The results, of course, could also be different.