How the new Brazil is taking shape and why Cunha is key

This is a new Brazil and I think we need to be different to our teams of the past. By that I don't mean we are sending people back, defending deep and not scoring, but this is the first World Cup where we don't have our full-backs really offensive and flying forward; you know, the way we usually see from Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Maicon, Marcelo or Dani Alves - the list goes on! Instead, with Douglas Santos and Roger Ibanez or Danilo, they are more conservative with their runs, but that is another reason Vini can stay higher up the pitch and be fresher when we attack. The back four looks really solid and the right balance is now there in midfield too. In the first game against Morocco, Casemiro was left very exposed on his own in the middle. He was criticised a lot by people afterwards but it was not his fault - it has never been his game to try to be everywhere making tackles and presses, and it definitely is not now he is 34. Since then, however, we have moved from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-3-3. So, if Bruno Guimaraes goes forward the way we want him to, Casemiro still has Lucas Paqueta alongside him. It means we have controlled that situation better against Haiti and Scotland and it will be especially important against Japan, who are a much more fluid and dangerous attacking side than both of those teams. …