Ever wondered why Brazil's national team just doesn’t click like their club stars? This video dives into Raphinha’s instincts, team chemistry, and why the real fix isn’t what everyone’s complaining about. If you love soccer breakdowns and want to see hot takes that’ll change how you watch the game, this is for you! Subscribe for more and tell us in the comments what part blew your mind! #soccer #football #Brazil #analysis #sports
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0:00 - Questioning Brazil's National Team Issues
0:33 - Raphinha's Club Form vs National Struggles
2:51 - Instincts, Chemistry, and Missed Opportunities
4:14 - Player Chemistry Explained by Marcelo
6:59 - Analyzing Raphinha's Play with Video Highlights
7:40 - Midfield Gaps: Formation vs Player Instincts
10:23 - Lineup Adjustments and the Full-back Solution
We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@futebolmaximo
0:00 - Questioning Brazil's National Team Issues
0:33 - Raphinha's Club Form vs National Struggles
2:51 - Instincts, Chemistry, and Missed Opportunities
4:14 - Player Chemistry Explained by Marcelo
6:59 - Analyzing Raphinha's Play with Video Highlights
7:40 - Midfield Gaps: Formation vs Player Instincts
10:23 - Lineup Adjustments and the Full-back Solution
We're now available on Spotify! Listen now https://open.spotify.com/show/
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SportsTranscript
00:00Watching the national team's game with your own eyes, you can see that huge hole in the middle of the
00:04pitch.
00:05No matter what happens, it's always there.
00:07And that makes us question whether Ancelotti was really all that we were imagining.
00:11We want to see the player perform just like he does for his club.
00:14We want to see a decent formation without massive open space in the middle.
00:18We want to see a number 10 who actually plays ball in the true Brazilian sense of the word, so
00:23we can hope for a title.
00:23Yeah, but what would you call me if I showed you in this video that the solution for Brazil is
00:28far away from all these complaints and the problem isn't anything everyone is focusing on.
00:33Rafinha, who at Barcelona is one of the best players on the planet, look how bizarre this is.
00:387 goal contributions in the Spanish league, 7 games, 12 goals and 3 assists, 15, 15 goal contributions in 7
00:44games.
00:45And in the Champions League, he played a game and already scored 2 goals.
00:48Seriously, when we see him on the Brazilian national team making that kind of decision, he doesn't seem like the
00:53same guy?
00:53Then I got to thinking, but could it be?
00:55Let me check something out.
00:56So check this out, look at this.
00:57Think of it as having two types of forwards.
00:59You see, let's put a backline against that team there.
01:01There's the type of forward who breaks through, attacks the space behind the backline and prefers a ball into space.
01:06And when he does that, he influences the behavior of a backline.
01:08And it opens up space between the lines for whoever wants to work the ball there.
01:11And there's the type of forward who instead of opening up that space between the lines, he's the one who
01:15will occupy the space between the lines.
01:17They link up with others to hold up the ball with his back to goal to play as a target
01:20man.
01:20And he draws the backline's attention right there.
01:23Then another player attacks the space behind the line and scores.
01:25You see, Rafinha put up these insane numbers here at Barcelona.
01:28Check it out.
01:29Hat-trick, hat-trick, goal.
01:31This right here is a body double.
01:33Goal, two goals.
01:34With this exact behavior, attacking the space behind the backline and receiving the ball into space.
01:39That's his instinct, the way he plays best, and he's scoring goal after goal.
01:44And pay attention to this part.
01:45His teammates have already realized that he does this very often, and it's the way he likes to play the
01:50most.
01:50On the Brazilian national team, he acts on that exact same instinct.
01:53Check it out.
01:54Here, he notices Vinicius Jr. out wide, and he doesn't ask for the ball.
01:58He stretches out his arm, that's communication, to pass it to Vini.
02:01With the ball going to Vini Jr., he already knows exactly that he wants to make it 2-on-1
02:05against the defender there.
02:07So when the ball passes in front of him, going to Vini Jr., he already knows the exact path he's
02:11going to run.
02:11He already knows that the defender is going to close down the space on Vini.
02:15And he makes this diagonal run here to receive it ahead and finish with his good foot.
02:19But here, he doesn't get the ball.
02:21Vinicius Jr. tries another play and messes up badly.
02:23And just look at how outraged he gets there, look.
02:26Raising his arm and not understanding why, because he was already thinking about this play right from the start of
02:31the attack.
02:31He executed it.
02:32He followed the exact same instinct that's making him score so many goals at Barcelona,
02:36and this time, different teammates who aren't 100% in sync with this new system,
02:40a new coach, a new team, new competitors, and all that.
02:43He didn't receive an obvious pass.
02:45Which, let's be honest, in this specific case, it wasn't even a matter of chemistry.
02:49But, let's move on with the video.
02:51You'll understand me soon enough.
02:52He spends the entire game doing the exact same thing he does at Barcelona.
02:55This time, the ball went straight to the goalkeeper.
02:57And this example right here definitely has more to do with chemistry.
03:00Take a look.
03:01Bruno Guimaraes shot this ball wide here.
03:02But if you look closely, before Bruno Guimaraes shoots, when he receives it,
03:06look at Rafinha right here in the heart of the box, making that same run.
03:08Even though there's very little space, look, the exact same run.
03:11He's attacking the space behind that last line.
03:14See?
03:14And he's clever too.
03:15Why?
03:16He's right in front of those guys.
03:18Then he moves into the blind spot and stays hidden.
03:21And the lizard guy, even though he's not in the blind spot,
03:23he already has a positional advantage.
03:25Because he's anticipating he's ahead.
03:26But with this exchange of passes here, that's on the team, man.
03:29Esteban at Chelsea.
03:30Indrik isn't playing.
03:31Bruno Guimaraes on another team.
03:32Rafinha on another team.
03:33And then when the guy sees it, he boots it.
03:35If he already knew Rafinha's tendencies, Bruno Guimaraes would look here and already think,
03:39man, I'm not going to shoot.
03:40I'm going to put in a cross kind of with some spin to see if Rafinha can throw himself at
03:45the ball
03:45and slide in.
03:45And then his peripheral vision sees someone in yellow running past here.
03:49And he'd say, look, Esteban is running past here, man.
03:51Even better.
03:52Great.
03:52I'm going to pass it to him so he can take it to the end line.
03:54Imagine this whole play right here with this short passing combination.
03:57Going to the end line with Esteban.
03:59Esteban driving it into the six-yard box and Rafinha just tapping it into the back of the
04:03net completely effortless.
04:04We'd be saying that, man, finally a nice passing combination and Brazil scored a goal.
04:09And what a golazo.
04:10This is a story like, man, the players' instincts, they're being used and they still need to
04:20understand each other's instincts, adapt to each other's style of play, spending very
04:24little time together at the start of the cycle, with each going to a different corner of the
04:27world to play ball.
04:28And before long, they come back and meet up again.
04:30Remember Marcelo, the left back.
04:33He went on that podcast, Gordinho's podcast.
04:36You know, Gordinho, chubby guy who teaches how to play soccer, teaches how to shoot, plays
04:38damn well.
04:38So Marcelo went on his podcast to talk about something and he brought up the chemistry
04:42topic, how that whole thing works.
04:43The podcast belongs to Gordinho, but along with that other guy, another guy who plays
04:46damn well.
04:47My impression is that they're two pickup players who are insanely good, you know?
04:50Then Marcelo went on there and talked about what chemistry really means.
04:52Check this out, bro.
04:53Vini is super fast and I played with Vini.
04:55So I say, Vini, take two steps for me.
04:58If you take a third one, you can't get back.
05:00You have to come to my feet.
05:02If you just take two, I think there's still time for you to go back.
05:05So go on.
05:06When he says going back, he means putting in the work, giving it gas.
05:09Like this.
05:10Are you going to fake it?
05:11Come over here and make a dummy run so you can go deep and I play the ball forward.
05:15Don't take three steps.
05:16Got it?
05:16And vice versa.
05:17If you go out there to receive it into space, just take two.
05:20If you take three, keep going.
05:21Even if I take a while, you keep going.
05:36Man, I remember an interview where Xavi was talking about Busquets.
05:39That when Busquets passed to his right foot, just a tiny bit away from his body like that,
05:43he already knew he could control it turning to the right.
05:46If it was to the left, he already knew he could control it.
05:48He wouldn't even look back.
05:49The ball came in such a way that he thought, man, Busquets already sees it.
05:53Cool.
05:53I'm already turning this way.
05:54And if by chance it came in the middle, right here, between his legs like that, the pass,
05:58Xavi already knew to control it carefully because someone was close.
06:01Or even better, just pass it right back with one touch.
06:03That's the kind of chemistry where players, you know, they chat, they talk to each other
06:07and they start understanding one another.
06:09So it's not that Rafinha isn't playing like himself on the national team.
06:12Rafinha is relying on the exact same instincts he uses at Barcelona.
06:16It's just that his teammates are different and their ability to read his movements,
06:21his little quirks, the things he likes to do best on the pitch, that's a whole different story.
06:25Either they'll get an even better understanding of Rafinha playing in that position
06:28and Rafinha will also understand the guys better.
06:30So I get it when people look at his performance in stats.
06:33Sure, Rafinha, he's different.
06:35He's a whole different player.
06:36Bro, he's not a different player.
06:37What's different is the environment, the teammates who still need to click with each other.
06:41That's why the thing repeated the most by everyone, by the players, by the coaches,
06:45in interviews and press conferences is start of a new cycle and team chemistry.
06:49Give us time to work, please.
06:51As a fan, honestly, what I really want is to see great soccer being played.
06:54I couldn't care less.
06:55But if I start pretending to be completely irrational, I know the reasons damn well.
07:00You doubt it?
07:00Man, if you want to stay on top of how Rafinha performs,
07:03you can come right here to our website on this tab to watch videos, go to Brazilians,
07:07and there's like a Netflix catalog of several Brazilian players.
07:10Look at that.
07:11Here's Rafinha's page with several videos, everything related to him.
07:14And you can even follow the highlights of the games he played in.
07:17Hit play on this highlights video and you'll spot this pattern right away.
07:21He's constantly breaking through, running in behind, and his teammates are backing him up,
07:25feeding passes into space, setting him up so he can put up the numbers he's been getting.
07:29Our website and app go way beyond just a fantasy game for having fun.
07:33You can watch the videos we publish on Football Maximo completely ad-free if you watch them on the site,
07:38and you'll also be supporting our growth.
07:40Okay?
07:40It's in the pinned comment and the description.
07:42And the other issue is the 4-2-4, which leaves this massive hole in midfield,
07:46making the team crazy spaced out.
07:47I get these criticisms of the 4-2-4, and I definitely see this huge gap left in the middle
07:51of the pitch.
07:52What I think differs is the root of why this hole opens up.
07:56To me, the root isn't the formation itself.
07:58To me, the root is the player's behavior.
08:00The 4-2-4 wouldn't really matter if the behavior were different.
08:04This has to do with what I just said about Rafinha's instinct to break through.
08:07All the players who play right there in the central channel up front have that same instinct.
08:11Check this out.
08:11Running, pushing forward, and a gigantic hole.
08:14An immense distance between the midfield and them.
08:16None of the three have the instinct to hold up a bit, drop deep, and play with their back to
08:21goal.
08:21They're almost always doing the opposite.
08:23We take this frame right here, properly analyze how the behaviors were,
08:26how it was, like, what Brazil was doing the entire match.
08:29Look at this.
08:29Danilo right here in midfield.
08:31He was dropping back to move into the space where Douglas Santos was,
08:33and that pushed Douglas Santos forward, which pushed Vini Jr. into the central channel.
08:38Then Brazil would set up to play out from the back by making this movement here,
08:42while these three up front were constantly driven by that attacking instinct.
08:45Always attacking the space behind the back line.
08:49In that example, if Hendrik and Vini Jr. decide to stay back a bit more, the effect would be the
08:54same.
08:54A slightly more crowded midfield, but at the same time it wouldn't be such great work from the coaching staff,
08:59because it would be constantly forcing these guys to make moves that aren't their natural instinct.
09:03They just don't feel as comfortable doing that.
09:06The coach has to figure out a way to make the players' instincts compatible without them even having to think
09:11about it, you know?
09:11Out of that attacking quartet, the one whose instinct is to drift between the lines, to stay more in the
09:15central channel, is Estevon.
09:17Man, he's the guy who has the ability to drop back here, sometimes play with his back to goal, link
09:21up really well, play the short pass, shield the ball.
09:24He has the skill.
09:25It's just that Estevon isn't going to do that.
09:27Leaving the right flank completely isolated, with nobody there.
09:31For Estevon to properly move into the central channel without throwing the team off balance,
09:35something else would have had to happen systematically, right from the start of the play.
09:39For example, Danilo stays here in midfield, Douglas Santos stays back here building up from the back,
09:43so the difference is right there at the play's origin.
09:45They'll keep these two guys in the middle, and when Estevon comes over here to the central channel,
09:49the most intuitive solution is a right back, very, very aggressive, energetic,
09:54who relentlessly pushes forward and has the stamina to run up and down the entire pitch.
09:59That way it demands a little less movement that goes against the guy's instincts,
10:02like Vini Jr. swaps with Rafinha, sometimes Vini's on the wing, sometimes it's Rafinha on the wing,
10:06sometimes Endrik makes a deep run, sometimes Endrik drops to receive it with his back to goal
10:10and lay it off first time to someone.
10:12There will be specific moments demanding that a guy, every now and then,
10:16do something a little different from what he prefers most.
10:18But as a rule, most of the time, most of the team will be playing on instincts they already like
10:22to follow.
10:23There are other solutions besides this one to manage to pack the midfield more,
10:27but I'm really attached to this one because Brazil has already played very well this way.
10:32I can't admit the horn right now when we're kind of pissed off at the national team
10:35to try and calm down and remember a match where Brazil actually played well.
10:39I know it's hard, but man, take a breath, count to 10,
10:43and remember that in the last match before the World Cup began against Egypt,
10:47there was a very clear feeling of relief that we finally managed to find a way to play.
10:52With Estevon injured, the one playing this role here, starting out wide on the wing
10:57and then drifting inside, was Lucas Paquetá.
11:00And I remember a press conference where Ancelotti even chuckled and answered the reporters,
11:05no, guys, I know Paquetá isn't a winger, okay?
11:08Rest assured, and the aggressive four-back with stamina,
11:11who has the stamina to keep going up and down for 100,000 minutes as many times as needed,
11:16was Wesley.
11:17Of course, Estevon's injury was deeply felt by the system,
11:20but we managed to find another gear.
11:22It clicked, and the whole thing was going to keep working.
11:25Wesley's injury in this match where Brazil was doing well against Egypt
11:29crushed the Brazilian team, crushed it.
11:31There's no one who comes even close to playing the exact role Wesley plays
11:35with the quality he has, with the vigor he has, with the speed he has,
11:38both attacking and defending.
11:40Nobody.
11:41So much so that when he got hurt,
11:42the guys who got the biggest butterflies in their stomachs about being called up
11:45were Vitinho and PH, and neither of them got picked.
11:48Ancelotti preferred to call up a defensive midfielder,
11:52put a right back, staying deep, and switch the attacking scheme
11:54so Douglas Santos, over on the left, would start pushing forward more.
11:58That full-back who attacks the byline so aggressively,
12:01do you know what he's known as around the world?
12:03A Brazilian full-back.
12:05So as much as the idea of our number 10, which we know only Brazil has,
12:09warms our hearts and makes us really happy,
12:11as unbelievable as it sounds,
12:13this pretty face right here is actually the solution
12:16for the Brazilian national team to play up to its potential again.
12:20Ancelotti continues his search for the full-back,
12:22the Brazilian full-back,
12:23calling up Mateusinho instead of Vitinho and PH,
12:26who were apparently ahead in the pecking order.
12:28And as long as Wesley keeps getting injured
12:30and can't play for the Brazilian national team,
12:32we'll keep clamoring for a number 10 in midfield.
12:34Look at how crazy football is.
12:36You see?
12:36At least in my head.
12:37Let's see.
12:37Let's see.
12:37Let's see.
12:37Let's see.
12:37Let's see.