Mano Menezes came into the Brazil job on a wave of expectation, with the Brazilian public having lost patience with Dunga’s ‘negative’ counter-attacking style following a World Cup exit to Holland in 2010. Less than two years down the line and it is a different story, with a dismal Copa America and uninspiring friendly performances quickly ending the goodwill towards the former-Corinthians boss.
There has been no clear game-plan for Brazil over the eighteen month period and no indication of a line of development that will lead the nation to glory in the 2014 competition. Indeed, for much of Menezes’ reign, the solitary bright-spark has been the performances of Neymar.
On 28th February in Switzerland, Brazil will take on Bosnia & Herzegovina in their only friendly ahead of the completion of the European football season and the squad was announced today to intense scrutiny from all quarters. The immediate reaction though does not indicate a manager who has the faith and trust of a nation behind him.
In the build-up to the announcement, there was one player in particular whose name was on everybody’s lips, that being Real Madrid superstar Kaká. Recalled to the Brazil squad in November, only to pick up an injury before the game and miss out on his recall; there was a belief that this friendly would finally see the return of Kaká to the shirt of the Seleção for the first time since the World Cup in South Africa.
However, as has come to be expected with Mano Menezes’ squad selections, it was not to be. Instead, there was a recall for Flamengo veteran Ronaldinho despite indifferent form for his club side and some revealing comments from Menezes following the player’s outing against Ghana in September, when he admitted the star struggled with the pace of international football.
But, it is a trend throughout the squad that there appears to have been little credence given to form when deciding which players to select. Manchester United fans will no doubt point to the impressive form of full-back Rafael da Silva against some of England’s strongest sides in recent weeks, but there is no place for the full-back, with only one natural right-back included in the squad. Instead, there is room for the selection of three left-backs, with little obvious reasoning. Marcelo is an obvious pick, yet the selection of Alex Sandro in particular bears little relation to form, with the full-back desperately struggling in Portugal since his arrival last summer.
Another player who will feel desperately hard done-by is Bayern Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo, who alongside the likes of Shakhtar’s Willian is a casualty from Brazil’s last all-European based squad selection. The Bayern midfielder, despite some decent performances has been excluded from the squad altogether once more, with Mano Menezes ‘favourite’ Elias of Sporting Lisbon returning to the set-up, only serving to back-up those who are determined to prove bias to former-Corinthians players.
There is no place for in-form Maicon of Inter Milan, nor for Robinho who has now been excluded since the Copa America disappointment. Yet, with one eye on the Olympics later this year, it is perhaps an even bigger surprise that there is no place for Oscar, who has started this campaign in inspired form for Internacional. With limited exposure to Senior level international football, this would have served as fantastic preperation for the Olympics, even if just in an observational role. Yet, with the return of Ronaldinho there is no room for Oscar in the party.
The debates will rage on until long after the friendly with Bosnia has been played, but with the Brazilian public expectant of a convincing win, anything less will just place more emphasis on Mano Menezes’ next squad selection, as observers tear apart the team’s deficiencies one-by-one.
