Tim Vickery's India V Brazil Post Match Thoughts

0:00Hello my friends, welcome to a little brief Richie Beno style fire side chat about India Nile Brazil for the first ever meeting at senior level between these two teams. Not entirely sure who the happiest side is going to be after that one, maybe just that fourth goal with the last kick of the game. Brazil not really threatening in the last half hour, but that maybe that fourth goal. Perhaps just tips the balance a little bit. But anyway it was interesting enough in Calcutta and one thing it wasn't was just a kind of lightweight festive affair. You know we're watching here in Brazil, we're watching the images that are coming from India and they keep going to the benches. So they keep showing like the Indian reserves, the Indian substitutes there and you can see the tension on their faces, especially during the first half. It's like please, please, please don't let us get humiliated and they're not humiliated.

1:02They're not getting humiliated. They're holding on all right nearly to the half hour without conceding a goal and they're not looking bad at all. And then you're seeing Ancelotti on a Brazil bench and you see him chewing away with a dose of tension because this is a game where Brazil are really on a hiding to nothing. The expectation is a thrashing. And if you thrash them, you've lived up to expectations if you don't, you're disappointing. And I was watching a game on Sport TV channel that I do some stuff with and the commentator there right from the start, you're saying, yeah, the expectation is a thrashing and it's the word gollyada thrashing that gets used all the way through the transmission and they spend a lot of time giving their team a lot of hammer for not achieving this thrashing and by the end the discussion, well, what can you call a thrashing?

2:03Ended up as four, that will count for some, but no, they were looking for five or six and maybe even seven. And giving their team considerable hammer and saying that this hasn't been a very successful experiment. It's difficult, you know, we're in that yellow shirt. Anyway, they set up for the game in the kind of system that they ended. The second test against Australia where they won four, two with Andrew Santos as a holding midfielder in a four, three, three. It's devon, wide, right, vines, wide left, pedral through the middle, three midfielders, three Santos holding Danilo of of Botafogo, Gabriel Bontempo, the youngster of Santos. And it wasn't working for them. India were defending doggedly and defending narrow, which meant that Brazil were getting a ball to Vinicius, but he wasn't in one of his happiest days. And without the collective fizz, without the ball being passed around at speed, they were

3:08entirely dependent on flashes of individual brilliance. And it came from his stevele in the end, near the halfway mark with India without suffering too much, yet the ball to his stevele. The marker allows him a little bit too much space to cut inside onto his stronger left foot and always with him just the power that he managed to get those whipped finishes. And he beat the goalkeeper who may have done better. And then just before half time, it's, it's devon again, breaking in, little slip pass now for the center forward, Pedro, one on one with a goalkeeper and a shot that kind of goes through the goalkeeper. Now the India coach, Kaleel Jamal, three changes at half time and it's very clear who is blaming for the fact that he's tied a 2-0 down. He takes off his two defending down the left side, the left back and the left side of midfielder. He's clearly thinking that they could have got a better grip on his stevele and he swaps

4:11the goalkeeper who big but not live enough to deal with these shots. In the end, the game does become a kind of substitutes parade. Indeed, the only player who wasn't substituted was Brazil's goalkeeper, Brazil's young goalkeeper, another debut on goalkeeper, Pedro Mordisco, everyone else gets substituted. So obviously the game degenerates towards the end into a substitutes parade. Ranchalotti's changes at half time were more interesting because he changed the shape of the midfield triangle. You know, instead of having one holder and two going forward, he swaps the shape of the triangle so he's got Douglas Luis and Andrew Santos holding. And then it's Bruno, Bruno Gamanai who comes on at the base of the pyramid and he brings on Gabriel Magallange as well. And it's kind of like changes there, almost like shouting, you know, I want a clean sheet in this one. Can we have a clean sheet in this one?

5:14And well, India who had their little moments, I mean, the two upfront Ryan Williams who started on the right and then moved in center later on has some ability. And then the center forward, Marvin Singh, Marvin Singh, always gave them the chance, the thrust of opportunity getting behind the defensive line stretching the gate did well, I think, in difficult circumstances. Vinnie has come off and on has come somewhere, Alina, now somewhere Alina was with a classic come a dread, Flamengo bought him back to Brazilian football and he's a kind of wide midfielder. He's not straight, he's a kind of hybrid player, he's not a winger, although he can work, he works the flank. He's got a hybrid and he gets the third goal for Brazil, which it's just a present from India, the center back, the five ludicrously gives the ball away, nice plant pass there

6:16from Douglas Luis and Lino right footed in from the left curling it into the, into the far corner. So Brazil haven't done very much for that third goal, it's well taken by Lino, but it really is a present and the ball isn't fizzing around as you'd hope that they would especially into the second half as space opens up. Now with the changes keep coming and Brazil actually end the game without any wingers at all, which is bizarre to think of because you got Lino, as I said, he's a kind of hybrid and when a step on goes off, on comes an out midfielder, but then it'll be on to do that side. So then it is, it's like a 4-4-2 with Balloon and Gimana, it's a second strike and behind Andrew, who's come on to do center forward. I can't imagine they're going to use that too often. You know, Brazil playing without a winger with all the wingers that they've got, but something that Ancelotti wanted to have a look at this time.

7:16But India then come closest to a goal and it would have been nice. Would have been nice. I know Ancelotti really, really wanted a clean sheet. His reign started off with plenty of clean sheets, but I haven't been too many recently. They've been giving goals away. But Ancams Jaya Kuhnye, the Forest Center back, who did pretty well against Australia last time out, but this time when his team are like camp forward and he's defending an open space, really looked a little bit shaky and it's his mistake. Ryan Williams is away and it's the left back there of Brazil, Mara Junior, who clears the ball pretty much off the line. He's just a yard or so in front of the line, but the shot beat the keeper was goal bound. So that was a shame, I think. It would have been nice to see India get their goal and the stadium would have absolutely erupted with that one. And then it's kind of peatering out. In fact, Brazil didn't have a shot on target from the goal, 57th minute, until stoppage

8:21time at the end of the 90, where the keeper makes a save from the right back vandison. And then another goal from San Marlino, who cuts in and plants. Where does this leave everything? Where does this leave Brazil? Well, I'm not sure how much we've learnt. You would have thought the clear evidence of the first two games against Australia is that the two-man midfield and four up front is not going to fly, but Angelotti's refusing to give it up, he's saying, yeah, we will use that again. Well, you would have thought that the three-man midfield is certainly against the stronger opponents. If not, you just wonder that they're going to get played all around. In terms of lots of new players who've come in, well, the experience is great. Not too many of them have really planted a flag and said, you know, it's going to be hard to shift me. San Marlino did very well, second half, scoring those two well-taken goals, but at full strength,

9:23how does he get in? Well, what is he going to get in ahead of Vinny? That would seem to be unlikely. Although, well, maybe he can play as well as Vinny. Maybe he does the flank. Vinny moves inside. Well, certainly, Lino, I think, has done little things that would bring him into consideration. We might learn more next month in the FIFA dates. Brazil have got two games. The second one of them, Singapore. No, I don't think we're going to learn too much about that. The first one, Japan, I'm already intrigued by because that's a good little duel. You will remember the World Cup game. The knockout, first round knockout game. Japan went ahead. Brazil coming back and winning it with the last kick of the game there was Gabriel Martinelli's goal. They met a year ago as well in Japan. Brazil picked a second string defense and Brazil went to Nileup first half.

10:28And Japan, you know, one of those golden phases that Japan have when they just seem to flick a switch and fire forward, bang, bang, bang, they won three two. So the Brazil, Japan rivalry, even in just in this recent reign of Carlo Ancelotti is shaping up to be a very interesting one. And the next chapter is going to be written in November and will be all across that when time comes to watch that one. In the meantime, well, Brazil undefeated two wins. The first game against Australia, a draw where they salvage themselves with a goal with the last action of the game. I am heading in to avoid defeat against Australia. Still Ancelotti getting lots of stick from the local media. And that means that the stakes in that Japan game, even though it's a friendly, the stakes are parled on high. I can hardly wait. And we'll see you there for that one.

11:29See you next time. Cheers.