Holland v Brazil: tactical preview
Dealing with Kaka may be difficult for Holland
These two have been widely dismissed as being the most negative, defensive teams their respective countries have ever produced – and yet this is still considered a glamour tie.
Does that say more about the illustrious histories of both sides or the level of competition amongst other sides in this tournament?Either way, in pure entertainment terms for the neutral, it might not be an all-time classic, but in tactical terms it should be more fascinating than ever.
The basic interest stems from the fact the two sides have arrived at similar formations in completely different manners. Holland’s shape is a fairly standard European 4-2-3-1, but Brazil’s is more of a slant on their traditional 4-2-2-2.
Therefore, this should be more exciting than a traditional 4-2-3-1 v 4-2-3-1 match-up. That can often create static games, for the simple reason that each side’s central playmaker is being picked up by two opposition holding midfielders, whilst wingers and full-backs cancel each other out. Here, the positioning of Brazil’s two wide players creates a more interesting situation, and it will be interesting to see how Bert van Marwijk responds.
Robinho plays from a left-sided position, but has drifted around the pitch more at this tournament than he has done previously in this system. In theory it will be a simple contest between him and Gregory van der Wiel, but after his movement into deep areas was so effective against Chile, expect to see him moving central into the space generally filled by Kaka, to try and give Holland problems in that zone.
In the final third, Brazil like to work that left-hand side, which might be problematic for Holland, because their right-sided defensive midfielder, Mark van Bommel, plays higher up the pitch than Nigel de Jong. Considering Brazil’s tendency to play on the counter-attack through Robinho and Kaka, leaving either man free is not advisable. If van Bommel moves forward and leaves Kaka to de Jong, then that will open up Holland’s left-hand side for an attack from Dani Alves.
Probable starting line-ups
That is another area of concern for Holland, because Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s lack of pace could be severely exploited by Alves, who looks set to continue on the right because of Elano’s injury and Ramires’ suspension. So far, van Bronckhorst has countered the threat of pace by getting very tight to opposing right-wingers, and not allowing them to turn – which has worked rather well. But because Alves will often retreat to a position alongside the two holding midfielders, this approach won’t be possible. van Bronckhorst will need help – with de Jong otherwise occupied, this might force Dirk Kuyt into a very defensive role.
Another problem Holland might encounter is Brazil’s pressing high up the pitch. Holland’s opponents have generally dropped off and sat deep in their own half – Denmark the most notable example, and Japan did the same. This has allowed de Jong and van Bommel plenty of time on the ball, something they won’t get in this game. Perhaps, though, this will force de Jong to move the ball more quickly, which might help their attacking players.
Holland’s defence (as a four) has looked slightly dodgy, but their defence (as a team) has been excellent. It will be interesting to see how van Marwijk plays this game with his front players – should they press Brazil’s central midfielders, or let them have the ball in deep positions and get men behind the ball? The second approach seems more likely, so we might be in for a reasonably low-tempo game if Brazil dominate possession.
Wesley Sneijder may find himself confronted with two Brazilian holding players, so Holland’s biggest threats may be Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie. Robben finds himself up against Michel Bastos, not a natural left-back, but one that has done well so far when tested. Bastos, as ever, must look to show him down the line – but that’s not always a solution – give him too much space down the line, and Robben will take it and punish you that way. He might find coming inside slightly more difficult considering the presence of Brazil’s two holding midfielders – Josue or Felipe Melo will be charged with doubling up against him, and Robben can’t expect too many overlaps from van der Wiel, pegged back by Robinho.
The key player for Holland is van Persie. 27 next month, the time has arrived for him to show his true quality on the international stage. So far, he hasn’t looked completely up to speed following his long injury lay-off, but this game will be about his positioning and movement as much as his touch on the ball. Lucio likes physical confrontation, and so van Persie is better off playing a false nine role, rather than remaining pressed up against the centre-backs.
All of this largely ignores Dunga’s tactics; but it’s difficult to see what, how or why he will change his usual system, tactics or personnel. The unavailability of Ramires and Elano secures Dani Alves’ place, whilst a late fitness test will decide whether Melo or Josue starts alongside Gilberto Silva.
Expect few surprises from Brazil – the focus here is on van Marwijk.
Holland v Brazil: tactical preview
It is a fascinating tie between two teams that play good possession football. I think Sneijder is also key here. If he plays the way he does at Inter with quick releases to Robben or RVP without too much holding of the ball, Holland has a chance.
Dirk Kuyt will i fear play his defensive winger role ala Liverpool. I would put him on the left to counter Maicon’s Marauding threats. Robben if he’s in his Bayern mode will murder Bastos.
Ultimately Lucio and Maicon know Sneider’s style of play and with Brazil’s superior defence and attacking players who are on form, Brazil will win this one possibly 1 or 2 nil. Especially if Brazil scores first, you see them getting a 2nd due to their devastating counter-attacks.
Cheers ZM. This is the best footballing site that i have ever come across and it’s a blessing that i found it right before the WC. Cheers!
The other matchups that could decide the game: Kuyt v Maicon and Fabiano v Mathijsen and Heitinga, both of whom have allowed key chances right through the middle throughout the tournament. I think the former might be a wash, but the latter should worry every Holland fan. How do you see those playing out?
This might go to extra time. Portugal looked fine against Brazil, for the most part, looking to suffocate them, and even North Korea held out for over a half. And lets remember that the former frustrated the Brazilians so thoroughly that on one counterattack, Juan intentionally handled, a red-card offense, even though he got off with just a yellow. Also, this team conceded against both Ivory Coast and North Korea, and, a year ago even went down 2-0 against a USA side not known for its firepower.
The more I think about this, the more I see someone like Van Bommel or Gilberto, if given a chance, scoring from like 20 yards out to end it…
Intentionally handling is a yellow card offense unless it’s denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
And that’s exactly what he did.
He should have gone but like the John Terry rugby tackle for Chelsea on the half way line was assuming a ref wouldn’t have the courage to send someone off for an offence so far away from goal.
Awesome preview, as always. Brazil’s been the most consistent team and we all know what to expect from them – the Dutch are the variable. Robben and RVP are key, as you pointed out; especially RVP. He cannot be left out, Ronaldo-vs-Spain-in-the-second-half style, alone in the attack, because he’s waisted as a bean-pole target man. I know this is pure speculative talk, but I wonder if he’s completely on the same page with Sneijder. In the set up above, RVP should have gotten more then one goal from the killer passes Sneijder has become famous for this year. If he’s engaged from the get go, running on the left channel towards Lucio, the right half in front of the penalty box will be completely open for Robben to do his thing. Without it, Robben will have three guys within 10 yards around him in no time. Kuyt is a horse, really appreciate his work – Maicon will have his hands full with him all day. Anyway, excited about this match cause I think Ger-Arg will be a 4-3 type of shoot-out. This will be a 1-0 game wherein one mistake may be enough.
I like your point about Van Persie’s movement along an inside left channel; I would go even further and encourage Van Persie to drift out towards the left (Holland’s) wing thereby giving Maicon second-thoughts about bombing forward so much. Even when Maicon has already advanced towards midfield, Gilberto often slots into the back line centrally with Lucio moving out to cover the flank in question; let Kuyt track Maicon and RVP drift across the frontline to where Lucio is – now, with Gilberto deeper towards his own goal the space will be opened up for Sneijder to advance straight down the middle, trying mid-distance shots or else drawing out one of Gilberto/Juan so as to leave an inward-advancing Robben in a 1-v-1 situation with the remaining defender.
RVP could also move out towards the right-wing so as to create a 2-v-1 with Robben against Michel.
And, as ZM already suggested, he should drop off closer to the two defensive mids – any movement so long as he is not parked centrally vs. the centre backs
Agreed with the earlier posters that the key for the Dutch will be to sit back and remain patient, keeping De Jong and Van Bommel as a shield in front of the back four, the latter got caught upfield against Slovakia too many times, something that would almost certainly hand the game to the Brazilians.
It also seems almost certain that Kuyt will play fairly deep in order to help shield Van Bronckhorst against Maicon/Alves. I suspect for most of the game the Dutch will have only RvP, Robben and Sneijder up top and while it’s tempting to disagree and say that Robben will be the key player, I think ZM is right in the sense that it will be RvP’s movement that decides whether the Dutch win or lose the game. If he can make runs to draw the central defense into bad positions, that will make more space for Robben to take shots/cut the ball back to an oncoming Sneijder.
I can’t look past Brazil. They don’t play flair football under Dunga but they’re simply too strong for Holland.
I’ve been quite disappointed with Holland so far. Some will claim that they’re just going through the motions until the big games come but there were times when their four previous opponents caused them trouble in the final third and they were lucky that the attacker either chose the wrong option or snatched at the shot.
It does seem like too much is put on Sneijder and Robben. Van Bommel is a worker and his work rate is commendable but the rest of the team looks clueless. The biggest problem is the defence and the striker. For me, Van Persie is one of the most overrated players in the world. His inability (or his fear) of shooting on his right foot often leads to missed half chances. He’s quite easy to shrug off the ball and always looks like he thinks he’s better than the rest of the team (the recent spat with Van Marwijk being another example of his arrogance). But it really is a case of Van Persie or Van Persie. The only other option is Huntelaar and he couldn’t hit a barn door from 2 yards out.
Gio has a good head on him but at 35 is clearly lacking in the pace department. As he’s down Maicon’s wing, I can see him having a horrible night. The pace of both Fabiano and Robinho will trouble the other 3 defenders and it’ll literally be a case of “How long can we ride our luck?” for the Dutch.
That disappoints me because I’m a big Oranje fan. I just feel that they either haven’t produced enough quality defenders over the past half-decade or Van Marwijk chose a team without depth. Having said that, the 4-2-3-1 will mean that Holland are never overran in midfield or defence and should keep the result to a respectable 1-0 loss.
Van Persie is afraid to shoot with his right foot? Really? He’s about 50-50 when it comes to shooting with his off-foot. Eduardo-that’s a striker who doesn’t like shooting with his off-foot. I really don’t why people have been slagging Van Persie in this tournament, since all he’s done was create the handball goal against Denmark (winning goal), provide the assist against Japan (winning goal), and scored the winning goal against Cameroon. He certainly was off against Slovakia, but he’s not receiving balls from Sneijder. Sneijder is good, but he’s not a playmaker (look at ZM’s passing stats from the CL). He’s the Dutch answer to Steven Gerrard-a nominal midfielder who rushes into the box, scoring off of crosses and lay-offs.
Dirk Kuyt has been very good for the Dutch, probably the best on the team.
I think RVP has been incredibly underutilized. His movement in the final third has been quite good IMO, but he has not been getting the ball from Sneijder or VDV, who have been guilty of holding the ball for too long and for ending attacks prematurely with selfish long-range shots. The link-up play in the final third from the Dutch is not what many fans hoped it would be, and to my eyes that is because the egotists in the band of 3 are holding the ball for too long. RvP is right to be upset, because barring a moment of brilliance from Robben they’ve got no chance of scoring against Brazil the way they’ve been playing.
Spot on. Was going back through the highlights and their best goal is the one set up by a sweet one-two between RVP and VDV against Cameroon, which RVP scored WITH HIS RIGHT FOOT.
Anyway, why aren’t those passes coming from Sneijder? What’s his deal? For nine months he’s been supplying Eto’o and Milito with these babies and now…what’s up?
what’s not very well know is that sneijder and rvp don’t like each other at all – and whilst they made their ‘peace’ prior to the tournament, I think it shows in sneijder not doing many passes to rvp instead choosing to go to robben. I hope this doesn’t explode for them.
Also rvp is better at scoring with movement on the ball e.g. the cameroon goal – (which btw he scored with his right foot between the keepers legs!) most of his goals at arsenel are in a moving position, rather then as a forward up front. he also created the chance for robben, by moving off the ball and drawing attention away from the robben by the defence.
I hope he hits his stride, when he does, it is beautiful to watch.
Van Persie has an “inability (or fear)” of shooting with his right foot? Are you having a laugh?
Brazil are obvious favourites for this game, and while I don’t think that Holland will be too adventurous, I still believe that Brazil are facing their first attacking threat of the tournament. Portugal showed that they have no intentions of attacking anyone and North Korea were very stubborn and an unknown quantity at the time. Chile and Ivory Coast while bright and energetic, were ultimately very naive and proved relatively simple for Brazil to deal with.
If Robben, Sneijder and Van Persie cannot make a dent in this Brazilian defence, then I am struggling to see who possibly can. I think Holland will ask some serious questions tomorrow, but I also see Brazil having too much for the Dutch to handle. Can’t wait!
Brazil is slow to take control of the game (as seen against the USA last year and Chile this year). If Holland can get a goal early…
Against Chile the score was 2-0 before the 35min mark…
That’s true, but how tall were Chile’s makeshift defenders?
Holland are a tall, robust side from the volantes back towards the goal.
Chile played like a Dutch team from the mid-90s but without the incisive power of the Dutch in the final third.
This Dutch team will play more cautiously… in fact, if you consider just how defensively Kuyt will play, his role will mirror that of Dani Alves and ergo both sides will mirror each other, if only structurally (allowing for considerable differences in personnel)
True, but for the first twenty minutes Chile had greater than 50% of the possession. Like all of their other games they weren’t able to make it count. Holland could could punish them. Though it could be like the return leg of the Barca/Arsenal match: Arsenal get an early lead which wakes the superior team who then punishes them.
Well, it turns out that I had that one ass-backwards. I’m looking forward to the write-up. It seemed Brazil had a good plan in the beginning and then just didn’t follow up. For once the Dutch are the ones have the “killer” instinct.
ZM,
your paragraph….
“…Another problem Holland might encounter is Brazil’s pressing high up the pitch. Holland’s opponents have generally dropped off and sat deep in their own half – Denmark the most notable example, and Japan did the same. This has allowed de Jong and van Bommel plenty of time on the ball, something they won’t get in this game. Perhaps, though, this will force de Jong to move the ball more quickly, which might help their attacking players…”
Does this not equally apply to Brazil with Melo and Gilberto?
Brazil only started practising how to press high during the pre-tournament warm-up; the first game where they put it into practice was vs. Chile (admittedly, they did so very well).
Dutch teams have been pressing for decades now. They will be able to do so from memory.
But I think that this will all come to nothing since it is unlikely that Dunga will push his defence so high towards the midfield – I think he knows that Holland are a different proposition to Chile who never really looked like hurting Brazil through the centre.
Wouldn’t the best way to kill off Brazil’s pressing be having CBs or defensive mids locate diagonal balls towards Robben and RVP?
I am sorry people, I still cannot fathom that a team with Gilberto as a key holding mid is the most serious contender for the Cup. Someone in the Dutch team has to be able to exploit him. I know Bastos is supposedly the weakest link, but Gilberto has to be right up there as well. ARRrrghh, I just can’t get that picture of lame-ass second rate players running circles around him in ‘08…
“Dutch teams have been pressing for decades now. They will be able to do so from memory.”
That would have been true if Holland has the same manager and players for decades.
You will understand what I mean by taking as a given that this has been a basic premise of Dutch football for decades now. Whereas in Brazil, it is a relatively new concept (almost unheard of in its domestic football). Tim Vickery has said that the increasing physicality of football after the 1970s lead European sides like the Dutch and other sides like Brazil to set upon diverging paths in terms of how to address these increasing athletic demands; the Dutch spread the defensive burden throughout their team including to their wingers, strikers and offensive midfielders operating through pressing. Brazil’s method on the other hand was to make their central midfeilders increasingly destructive players so as to give cover to their offensive full-backs but also to excuse their forwards and creative players from a defensive shift; a kind of apartheid football if you will forgive the gross exageration.
Why do you think it will be Josue and not Ramires that plays? I though Ramires did a great job in the last game pushing up from deep positions
I think he’ll be under the weather tomorrow – a case of the yellowcarditis…
This would be a tactical battle although Brasil looks stronger than all other teams, probably except for Argentina. The Holland 2010 under van Marwijk are a good side but are not as good as the Holland 1998 under Hiddink, which were very unlucky not to reach the final. Holland 2010 would rely on individual brilliance of Roben and Sneijder but their weakness is with their sidebacks, which will be exploited by the attacking fullbacks of Brasil. This is a facinating duel and sad to see either team (more likely to be Holland) go home at the QF.
@ArsenalArsenalArsenal, Ramires received his second yellow last match. He’s out for the QF.
Seems to me that ZM has got it right in that van Marwijk’s approach will decide this. If he chooses to persist with his favoured set-up, he’s relying on defensive heroics and a one-off ‘long-ranger’ to snatch a result. Should he choose however to adjust the focus from a ‘how to nullify Brazil’ to a ‘how to exploit Brazil’, then things might get interesting. In particular, it appears that the left side of the Brazil set-up with an ‘unnatural’ left-back, a 2nd choice DM, a defensively suspect Kaka and a gone-missing Robinho would offer the Sneijder, Robben, van Persie triumvirate the space and opportunity with Van Bommel pushing up into the quadrant to provide the support. If Kuyt, drifting in from his wing, creates the potential for runs into the inside left channel, the strong right-side of Lucio, Maicon and Alves will hold in place, and the imbalance of skill and pace on Holland’s right/Brazil’s left will be retained. With the odd goal likely to decide this one, I know where I’d go looking if I were the Dutch – Robinho’s back-yard.
Mr Robinho’s neighborhood has been vacant the whole tournament…
Kaka is woefully out of form. Apart from a single assisst i dont remember him doing much in all of Brazil’s outing. He really needs to pull up his socks if Brazil want to attack from the left flank.
Kaka is leading the tournament in assists.
Maybe. But the point is that he is hardly looking like the player that we know. The Kaka we know was a destroyer. This one is looking like the shadow of his former self. I hope we can see the Kaka of old once again.
Just to correct you Kaka has 3 assists and Messi has 4. So Messi is leading the tournament in assists.
I guess different sources record assists differently, the one I consulted did not have Messi at 4, it had Kaka and Muller at 3.
As long as Kaka is providing those assists, he’s doing his job. He needn’t score goals since Fabiano, Robinho and Elano are already doing his dirty work.
You are missing the point completely. Its not about scoring goals or creating assissts. Its the overall value that one provides to the team. Vy similar logic, anyone in his place could have provided assists and could have even scored. The thing is, player’s of Kaka’s quality give more hopes to their fans compared to an average Joe.
I think people are being harsh on Kaka. The way I see it, even at his absolute peak, he was never really a dominant force on a game, not like Zidane, Rui Costa, Nedved. He was a smashing player, but tended to just provide three or four great shots/passes/moments per game, and I think he’s doing fairly similar here. I think his decline has been overstated.
@ZM below.
Well i dont think average players end up as FIFA world player of the year and win Ballon d’Or. Though we cant compare him to Zidane, he still was a great player until the last season. This season injuries have taken a toll on him. Stature wise, he is Brazil’s best player this world cup. Everyone is free to disagree
I speak as a layman and not as a physio nor medical doctor, but Kaka’s problem is a deteriorating pubis (the cartilage between the bones in his pelvis is worn out, leading to friction) which is greatly hindering some of the distinctive movements of his play. For example, his proclivity for receiving the ball from behind and then launching himself in a sprint whilst still facing sideways (his head curved towards the direction whence the play arrived at him)- this leads to greater contact between the two bones in question.
Also, his penchant for taking ferocious mid-to-long distance shots with his instep (which most players only use for passing or for gliding the ball into the net) this involves a huge amount of traction and a great deal of pain for Kaka.
Mylons: Juan intentionally handled a pass that CR9 was well placed to run onto and towards Julio Cesar in goal….
Since Robben wont do much of back tracking and will be shifting in the center frequently it’s time for Bastos and Robinho to exploit the space left by him and really target the defender Van der Wiel. Van Bommel has a tremendous job to perform here as he has to move in and out of the right midfield + defence to provide cover to Van der Wiel against Robinho + Bastos.
Worth noting also that Brazil pressing higher up the pitch may well give Sneijder more chance to launch counter attacks from the deep lying play-maker role. I expect to see a very Mourinteresque counter-attacking display by the Dutch.
That’s a very good point.
If RvP really the key player for Holland, then i expect Holland to be beaten thoroughly, because as a Dutchman i have no faith in this overrated player. I’ll be happy if i’m proven wrong this afternoon but i really doubt it.
He lacks pace, he’s clumsy physically (dribbling with those two long strands of spaghetti is near-impossible against quality defending), his first touch is not all that great and he needs space, which as a center forward he won’t get all that much. He’s better off on the flanks.
Indeed, the partnership between him and Sneyder is not great either. For those that didn’t know: Sneyder and Van Persie can’t stand each other. This can be traced back to at least 2008.
To be honest, i wouldn’t put it past these two to deliberately ignore each other if they have other options.
There’s been a lot of public bust-ups between the pair. Rumour has it that even Robben can’t stand Van Persie.
The one reason why I can’t stand Van Persie is because people refer to him as “Arsenal’s saviour” on a regular basis. Then when he gets injured (as he so often does), Arsenal fans claim that the title would have been theirs if Van Persie had been fit. The only reason he’s viewed as a key player for Holland is because they don’t have any other strikers to rely on. I can see why Van Persie plays regularly for Holland when you consider that Huntelaar is a poor excuse for a striker but this talk of him being a “big game player” by the media is ridiculous.
His arrogance means he’s someone that you don’t mind seeing fail.
Holland weren’t beaten thoroughly, but then again, RvP was nowhere near a key player. He was disappointing once again, although slightly better than against Slovakia.
They key to stopping Robben is by withdrawing a CM to cover the space in front of the left centre-half. This way any cut-in’s are blocked. Therefore I suspect either Melo/Josue to be more withdrawn than typically for Brazil so far.
Netherlands have a real problem on their left if Maicon or Alves get one-on-one with Van Bronkhurst. He is painfully slow, so I suspect Holland will be playing a pretty deep defensive line. This also limits the penetration of Kaka’s famous bursting runs.
This puts the onus on De Jong and Van Bommel to get the ball to the dangermen – Sneijder, Robben and Van Persie. They will be outnumbered but have that individual genius to punish.
If the deep line of Holland draws Brazil forward, then there is space for the attacking minded Dutch to get in behind. The work-rate of Kuyt will be essential, as will the through balls from Sneijder, and the direct running of RVP and Robben.
It’s all a really finely balanced game that’s coming down to – can Holland sufficiently cover up their weaknesses and use it as an advantage by playing on the counter? Can Brazil crack a deep, deep Holland who can devastate on the break?
If Brazil score for me, the likely origin will be Holland’s left.
Buh-bye Brazil!!
Great pressing by Holland. The Man again- Dirk Kuyt.
Holland should have finished at least two more of the counterattacks where the lead man was 1v1 running at Cesar.
Kuyt indeed.
Everyone here knows that I’m a RvP fanboy, but today he was only ok (terrible free kicks, decent link up play and pressure). Someone needs to tell him that he’s only good at taking free kicks when he’s looking to decapitate someone on the wall and then the keeper. At least two lucky people got souvenirs.
Robben and Sneijder were excellent.
RvP is also looks like he’s getting desperate to score, and probably more selfish than usual. At least today most of those turned into corners rather than turnovers, but it’s a liability.
And there is no excuse for a free kick 20 feet over the goal, not when you have Robben and Sneijder. In my opinion, they should take every free kick as a pair, giving both right/left foot as well as a quick short start option. RvP should always be in the box.
Well, to write Kaka off on basis of this tournament… A lot off players seem to suffer this WC. Where are the big stars?
This tournament is plagued by fatigued players, defensive and negative tactics and slow matches.
Let’s hope the other matches are better.
If Sneijder was man of the match for his 2nd half performance, Dutch goalkeeper Stekelenburg was certainly their man of the match in the 1st half, and almost single-handedly kept them in the game and allowed the comeback to happen http://dodgyatbest.blogspot.com/2010/07/netherlands-2-1-brasil-massive.html
I’m not saying he was an average player
He was the best player in the world at one point. I’m just saying, people expect him to be dominating games, dictating the play. He never really did that when he was at his best at Milan. Pirlo did it, Seedorf did it, Rui Costa did it when he was playing – Kaka was there to provide the fancy finishing touches and assists. People are acting like he’s not at his best because not everything is going through him, but I don’t get what he’s doing wrong.
People also forget that he joined Madrid where he had to form new understandings and then he’s struggled with that recurring injury. It’s tough when you’re used to being Milan’s creative player and then suddenly joining a team where Ronaldo, Van Der Vaart and Higuain all have creative abilities too.
Kaka is still a world class player but he hasn’t had the best 24 months in football. Even at Milan things started unravelling and Ancelotti looked like a man that didn’t want to be there.
The one thing he needs to do is make sure he doesn’t look his physical conditioning. We saw how Ronaldinho started to gain weight and lost that burst of pace he once had. If Kaka can keep in shape, then he should be flying again.
Have to disagree here. IMO he basically carried the team, especially in the 06/07 CL winning season. I haven’t watched enough Brazil in the WC up until now, so i won’t comment on his current level, but the fact someone mentioned earlier about the decline in Kaka’s explosiveness is spot on.
Barring one of the 3 best saves of the tournament thusfar by Stekelenburg in the 1st half, Kaka scores the 2nd goal and puts game out of reach before halftime, and is hailed as the hero- “Kaka’s back!!!” etc. It shows just how fine a line there is between hero and a forgotten play; literally the length of Stekelenburg’s fingertips. Many keepers in the world do not save that shot, and Kaka is the hero.
In reply to ZM (don’t know why it printed my comment here and not below his comment):
What I think people are really missing are his driving runs with a ball from the middle of the pitch to the box finished by either scoring a goal or kindly letting his mate kick the ball to an empty goal.
Exactly!!!
Of course; obviously Kaka hasn’t forgotten how to play football, nor has his skill or vision deteriorated.
It’s just that a substantial part of his game, his explosivity, has been greatly compromised. And though he is a great passer of the ball, Kaka was never a classical playmaker to begin with; compare to Ronaldinho Gaucho, who despite his atrocious physical neglect still possesses the vision and range of passing that were his prime qualities.
Kaka will still be a very good player; but he will have declined from what he was.