Brazil manager Tite is excited by the rise of the young players who surged to stardom in European soccer last season and will be available for the national team in November when his side bid to win a record-extending sixth World Cup at the finals in Qatar.
The new generation of talent includes Real Madrid Champions League standouts Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo, Barcelona marquee signing Raphinha, Tottenham Hotspur’s new striker Richarlison, Newcastle United’s all-purpose midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, Ajax Amsterdam’s electrifying winger Antony and Atletico Madrid’s relentless forward Matheus Cunha among others.
All these players are 25 or under and already part of the world’s elite, which Tite believes will ease the pressure on Paris St-Germain forward Neymar, 30, who has carried the load as the Brazilian superstar of his generation for his entire career.
“We have other players who are also decisive and vital. That’s good for Neymar, the national team, and the coach. It’s good for us as a team,” Tite told Reuters in an interview, revealing that his key player was excited about his new teammates.
“The other day Neymar looked at me and said: ‘Coach, these kids that are coming, it’s just nuts … what a good headache to have trying to put them all on the field.”
“When you have other players with great technical potential you share the load and the attention of our rivals that now will have to choose where they focus their defensive assignments.”
Tite said he expected to use Neymar in a more central role that will allow him to unleash Brazil’s young players up front and adopt a “hybrid system”.
With squads up to 26 players and five substitutes allowed at the World Cup in Qatar working in his favour, Tite wants to make sure his team have fresh legs and are more unpredictable.
“Neymar has developed into a more creative role, a point guard, a builder, and a finisher, but a little further back. Bow and arrow, creator and finisher,” Tite explained.
2018 World Cup heartbreak
After his side were knocked out of the 2018 World Cup by Belgium in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in the quarter-finals, Tite will be the first manager to coach Brazil in two consecutive tournaments since Tele Santana in 1982 and 1986.
The 61-year-old is confident that he is a better coach now than in Russia four years ago and the experience of having lived in a World Cup will free him and his staff of many distractions.
“Performance is key. It’s fundamental and we have it. But the hardest aspect of a World Cup is the mental part. The mental demand of a World Cup is absurd, extraordinary,” Tite said.
He said the pressure will be the same as in Russia but sees the new generation of players coming through coping very well with the responsibility of wearing Brazil’s colours.
Brazil’s opponents during the group stage of the tournament are Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon.
