The selection at the crossroads – 09/07/2023 – PVC

Fernando Diniz debuts as the national team’s 35th coach. For the first time, a new period begins in the North of the country, in Belém, the charismatic capital of Pará, which has not received writing for twelve years.

Coaches’ debuts used to take place at Maracanã. In the last twenty years, Parreira started in China, Dunga in Oslo, Mano Menezes in New York, Felipão in London, Tite in Quito.

Symbolic Diniz debuts in Belém, a week after the release of “A Amazônia na Encruzilhada”, a profound book by Míriam Leitão about the frontier of our generation, between respecting the environment or seeing humanity run the risk of disappearing along with everything that destroyed.

Brazilian football is on the same fine line between reinvigorating itself or disappearing from the elite. It tries to breathe again in what was once called the lungs of the world and with ideas capable of surprising and delighting players who play in Europe.

Fernando Diniz was studied by columnist Rory Smith, in The New York Times, and called apositional style (non-positional style). He wrote that the Fluminense coach gave this name to his system, which is not exactly true, but enough to make a major press outlet delve into the theory of a Brazilian coach.

Only Zagallo, for the 1970 World Cup, and Telê Santana, for the magic of 1982, were able to arouse such curiosity. Brazil’s coaches went or are going abroad for their ability to teach technique, not tactics. That’s why the first wave of investments from the Middle East hired Rubens Minelli, in addition to the two mentioned above.

Fernando Diniz could become the antithesis of Pep Guardiola. Not like José Mourinho, defense x attack, nor Jurgen Klopp, gegenpressing (counterpressing) x pressure-possession of the ball.

Guardiola is positional and Diniz is not.

Even if they can adopt stances contrary to their beliefs, as Fluminense did against Olimpia, at Maracanã, a line of five attackers in defined quadrants, to space the Paraguayan defense.

No one is sure if Fernando Diniz will reach this level of refinement, of being studied in Europe, as he was in the United States: “I don’t know how he plays”, confessed journalist Jonathan Wilson, in a personal conversation this week.

Wilson is a columnist for The Guardian, in London, author of “The Inverted Pyramid”, a history of football based on tactical systems. Jonathan has already said that Brazil was a hub of knowledge and attack strategies until the 1970s.

Diniz is neither better nor worse. Is different. Avoid the current and the common. That’s what Brazil did, when it was a reference.

The players here still are.

The Brazilian game is not.

It is important to think about the reasons. Of the 2002 generation, only Rogério Ceni became a coach, Ricardinho and Belletti tried. Among the Argentines who were at that World Cup under the command of Marcelo Bielsa, they became important coaches: Mauricio Pocchettino, Diego Simeone, Marcelo Gallardo, Hernán Crespo and Matías Almeyda.

Among those who also worked with Bielsa were Lionel Scaloni and his assistant Pablo Aimar, world champions in Qatar. It’s as if the Argentine generation liked the game and the Brazilian generation liked playing.

Fernando Diniz prioritizes understanding, more than action.

He is studious and intuitive.

The team’s biggest risk, in this new period that begins in Pará, is learning to breathe air so new and clean that they won’t want to drink Italian grapes in a year’s time.

No, having water from the Amazon.

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