Coach Rogerio Micale is desperate to add a more contemporary, expansive approach to the Selecao but can he really play four strikers in Rio?

The backbone of Brazil’s Olympic team was formed over the past fortnight at the Granja Comary training complex. Coach Rogerio Micale is all but settled on his preferred lineup and tested two different tactical setups during the squad’s stay in Teresopolis and the team have looked comfortable deployed in both a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3.

Micale has settled on the defensive end of his team, establishing a somewhat settled back-four of Zeca, Marquinhos, Rodrigo Caio and Douglas Santos. And the attacking has taken shape too, spearheaded by Neymar and the Gabriels, Jesus and Barbosa.

But Micale could yet go one step further in attack and implement a radical 4-2-4, the same formation with which the Selecao won their first world title in 1958. Some sixty years ago in Sweden, however, that setup included one key variation, with Mario Zagallo perhaps the most important player in the team.

While operating principally as a left-sided attacker, his willingness to persistently drop back into the midfield and bridge a 4-3-3 gave Brazil a balance the original formation lacked, increasing the defensive solidity a team loses by utilising four out-and-out attackers.


As the team goes in search of Brazil’s long-awaited first Olympic gold medal, it’s hard to imagine fielding four strikers; it would however provide an extra option, particularly against sides who show little attacking ambition in favour of simply stifling the hosts.

With that in mind, such an expansive line-up seems a pragmatic alternative rather than an irresponsible one. Micale has impressed players and media alike this since taking charge of the group and it’s this sort of lateral thinking that is already earning him a reputation as one of Brazil’s more forward-thinking coaches.

The coach has maintained a rhetoric focused around finding balance since his appointment – repeatedly stressing the importance of establishing a more holistic approach to the ‘broken’ Brazil teams we have seen in recent years that included a clear separation of attacking and defensive duties.

He has told the media he wants his side “to attack and defend with all eleven players".

Moreover, his training sessions have placed an emphasis on pressing as a collective, suggesting he is intent on restricting the time and space the opposition will have in possession.


For Micale, every attack starts from defence, and the attackers must set the tone or all defensive player. At Barcelona Brazil captain Neymar has certainly improved in that area, developing the defensive side of his game at a club whose remarkable period of success has been built, largely, on a high-pressing system.

No Barca attacker bettered his 28 tackles in the Spanish first division last season. At August’s Olympics he will be tasked with repeating those numbers from the left, while Gabriel ‘Gabigol’ Barbosa will be asked to add that to his game on the right side of the attack.

And so a four-man attack could well add some defensive solidity to the team, and key to implementing the shape will be the attributes of Gabriel Jesus and prospective fourth-attack Luan of Gremio.


Heat map: Gabriel Jesus' movement in attack for Palmeiras Always on the move:



Luan's willingness to drop back and help defend out wide

The Brazilian first division’s current top scorer with 10 goals in just 14 matches, Gabriel Jesus has flourished operating from a central role for Palmeiras, forming the focal point of the league-leaders’ attack.


He has also shown a tendency to work back, making 24 interceptions so far this season. Luan, meanwhile, has recovered possession for his side on 87 occasions. Alongside Neymar, the trio look primed to lead a high-pressing 4-2-4 variant if required.

The heat maps above show exactly how the workrate of Gabriel Jesus and Luan would facilitate the system. And with both able to operate in the false no.9 position, we could well see a dynamic and interchanging attack with no fixed positions. Moreover, Luan could well drop out of the attack on occasion, much like Zagallo, in order to transform the side intermitently into a more defensive 4-2-3-1.


Micale has named his side for Saturday’s friendly with Japan, confirmed his expected 4-3-3. But his week at Granja Comary leaves the Selecao Olimpica primed to deal with the variations in system they will undoubtedly come up against at the Olympics.