A decent man out of his depth?

 

Dorival Junior is under pressure following the heavy defeat by Argentina

the 1990s trend of splitting the middle of the park into a pair of midfielders who only defend and a duo who mostly attack. It was at this point Brazilian play lost much of its former fluency, instead investing in rapid breaks down the flanks.

It is in this context that the problems of Lucas Paqueta are so significant.

The West Ham midfielder was on the verge of becoming a big-money Manchester City signing when scandal struck, and his career - now threatened - has not recovered.

The evidence of Dorival's first games in charge - a year ago away to England and Spain - was Paqueta had become the most important player in the team, the man capable of filling space in midfield, dictating the rhythm of the game and unleashing the pace of the likes of Vinicius Jr.

Can Neymar still do it?

The absence of Paqueta almost certainly led to Dorival building his hopes for these international dates around the return of Neymar - which, predictably, turned out to be ludicrously premature.

After so long out injured, it was only to be expected that Neymar would run into muscular problems, and he will need much more time on the field to ease his way back to a level where he can tip the balance.

At 33, he is an unknown quantity. But there is a gaping hole in the team for the type of deep-lying playmaker role he could fill.

Romantics might recall 2002, when Ronaldo looked all washed up only to make a triumphant return from injury and carry a Brazil side that almost failed to qualify all the way to World Cup title number five.

They are still waiting for number six.

If they can do it next year then, in the wake of Tuesday's humiliation, it will be a candidate for one of football's great comebacks.