How Brazil would line-up in a 3-4-1-2

Tite’s right hand Cléyton Xavier said the initial idea is to utilize Coutinho wide, just like he plays at Liverpool rather than as central midfielder. If Neymar was to be utilized there as well, it could turn-out to be a direct competition which would eliminate one of the two from the starting lineup (I know who most people would pick). In order to prevent this situation from occurring, I was thinking about a system that fits them both – keeping in mind that Coutinho does not offer enough regularity during 90 minutes to play as deep CM in a 4-1-4-1.
So I imagined something like that: Coutinho behind either one of Gabigol and Gabriel Jesus, plus Neymar in a 4-3-1-2 system. But then I was like, Brazil has a lot of quality on the wing so it would be a waste to automatically decide to bench the likes of Willian and Douglas Costa.

So I thought, why not try a 3-4-1-2 system? It’s a famous tactical approach which is common in Italy and already proved its success on several occasions.

Here is a little example of what we could see:

PS:

* It is more about the idea of the system than about who starts. I don’t really mind whether it is Alisson or Diego Alves, Rodrigo Caio or Geromel, Costa or Willian, Marcelo or Alex Sandro or Willian-Costa together, Gabigol or Gabriel Jesus etc.

* I am not a fan of Rodrigo Caio as defender at top level, but in a system of 3-center backs, he has the potential to excel as the advanced one between them or even, and to operate in the Bonucci role due to his good ability in distributing the ball (but so could Silva).

* Willian can also work as wing back, but I chose Costa because he is more explosive. The fullback will likely drop deeper than a genuine winger usually does, so to advance from a deep position towards the oppositions’ penalty box – the more explosive you are, the faster you get your way there. Bruno Peres is also another “explosive” option, if I may say.

* I did not include Casemiro or any destructor because I assumed that the back-line should be protected enough with 3 center backs as well as 2 energetic wing backs who should drop deep when dispossessed (just like Candreva and de Sciglio brilliantly did at the Euros) in order to retain balance. I chose Renato as he is probably the Brazilian CM with the best deep-lying playmaking skills. Allan was included because of his ability to operate as dynamic box-to-box CM and run with the ball into advanced positions. When you have a lot of center backs, you would rather have 2 volantes who do not want to sit deep all game long. I’d imagine Allan playing the Kléberson role of 2002. No one could ever forget his assist to Ronaldo’s second goal which decided the final against Germany, surely? It’s one of the most symbolic moments of Brazil NT’s recent history – the Rivaldo dummy made it even more eye-catching.