Brazil’s play against Costa Rica was concentrated on the wings. Lucas Lima looked average but in fact he was isolated. He doesn’t lack technical quality but what he lacked in the game were 2 things, plus of course, adaptation to a new team:
1. His movement, notice how Kaká was more mobile and called for the ball several times. If your teammates are not smart enough to find you where you are, you should change your position and be vocal so they can locate you easier. At Santos, Lucas doesn’t need to do it, but at international stage it’s always harder as you don’t have the chance to train with the players every day, you have to be very smart and exceptional to understand your teammates quickly. And that’s exactly why I still believe that Lucas Lima would be more useful for Brazil in a deep lying role, in Fernandinho’s place for example. He won’t provide the same revenue defensively, but that’s an aspect we have to sacrifice to improve the team’s collective, so for me it’s a risk worth taking, unless in 2% of the matches against sides like Argentina and Germany. In this case it’d be understandable to play in a more preservative way. But what about the majority of the games, the other 98%? It’s not wrong to have a plan A, but a plan B ready for exceptional situations.
2. Being a big name. Kaká doesn’t need to yell too much for the ball to get to him. He’s an idol for most, while they look at Lucas Lima as a nobody. The players want to pass the ball to Kaká because he inspires them confidence. It’s like when we were young at school or in the neighbourhood, there’s always a player who everyone directly passes the ball to, even if he’s not in an ideal position and even if others are located in a better area. They just look to him as a leader, a footballer at a high level. Of course, it’s impossible to blame Lucas for his lack of reputation, or for not being looked at as a reference by his teammates. But at the same time, we must acknowledge that a “10” in a 4-2-3-1 who does not receive the ball very often clearly means there’s something wrong in the team’s setup, as the “10” is usually the MOST important player in the team, because he is responsible for linking midfield to attack, to create danger. How can Lucas do that if he only has 1 striker in front of him (ideally a trequartista likes 2 in a 4-3-1-2), and 2 wingers (Costa/Willian) who are more often wide than central. They don’t cut in enough, and when Costa does, he was selfish and did not pass the ball. The “10” must be the reference of the team to succeed, not the player who gets least touches to the ball.
Watching the way Kaká transformed Brazil’s midfield against Costa Rica by his intelligence makes me regret even more that Ganso flopped. Brazil misses this type of “10” who makes you feel that he can lead the midfield and provide creativity, who can make the whole team’s game improve collectively. And when the collective improves, the individual prevails. And that is exactly why I think that Kaká is Brazil NT’s best player, since Ronaldo.
On the occasion I will open a cliche and name the best 3 Brazil NT players, post World Cup 2006:
Kaká, followed by Robinho and Neymar without order.
Until now, it’s been 5 years. So, how many years will Brazil have to wait furthermore until we can find a proper replacement to Kaká? Oscar and Coutinho are players at a very high level, but I hope that you were able to understand a little bit from this article, that the “10” role in Brazil is very special, and requires players with very specific roles. I don’t think that the EPL duo have the characteristics to prevail in it. As a matter of fact, I think that in Brazil’s current tactical scheme, Coutinho’s ideal position would be Neymar’s role, and not the Kaká role. You see, technical ability is part of the basics for a Brazilian “10”, but what is even more important, something that many seem to ignore, and seem to think that if a player has high technical ability, he automatically has this characteristic, is DECISION MAKING. Being individually gifted does not mean you will succeed in being a top “10”. You have to be smart enough, unselfish enough, to prioritize creating over shooting and going solo. Kaká himself, described Ronaldo as the best player ever. When he was asked why, he said that many players have high technical ability, but the best one is the one who has the capacity to take the best decision in the quickest time. And that’s exactly what makes Kaká prevail over all other Brazilian midfielders since 2006, and possibly [unfortunately] for some more years to come. Seriously, watching all these players not seeing their free teammates, or perhaps pretending to not see them, and go solo all on their own, and then seeing Kaká with barely 25 minutes to play, being so unselfish and actually creating instead of acting like an immature kid who prioritizes himself over the team, made me really regret the fact that he’s 33, nearly 34. Not many understand how much Brazil misses him. He may be old, but like I said, he’s still the same brain, while decision making for a “10” can be even more important than technical ability at times, if you don’t know how to use it.
You’ve probably read the name “Kaká” over 69 times in this article. Yes, that’s how high I rate him.
Brazil Stats 