3 changes Tite made to bring Brazil back to its best

Brazil solidified its spot atop the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings with a 4-1 thumping of Uruguay last week, and with a seven-point gap to hold and an upcoming match against Paraguay in Sao Paulo, the Selecao have a chance at securing an early berth in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

New manager Tite has overseen a resurgent Brazil team, one that was left reeling after its semi-final humiliation at the 2014 World Cup and struggled to find its feet under previous boss Dunga.

How has Tite managed this turnaround? Here are three changes he's implemented with the five-time World Cup champion.

Personnel

Dunga's unconventional player selections saw aged talents like Diego Tardelli or Ricardo Oliveira afforded opportunities ahead of younger, World Cup cycle-ready players, and while he did curb some of Brazil's Neymar dependency, consistency came in the form of Miranda, Filipe Luis, Elias and Luis Gustavo.

Dunga changed his mind about a few players - Dani Alves replacing Danilo, Alisson displacing Jefferson and Renato Augusto earning a midfield role - and Tite seems to agree with those choices, starting all three in his own lineups. He knows Augusto well enough, having managed him at Corinthians when Dunga first came sniffing around. With a World Cup to prepare for, Augusto is a lock.

Tite dumped Elias and Gustavo in favour of Paulinho, currently in China. He, Augusto, and lynchpin Casemiro now form Brazil's midfield trio. Tite also placed his faith in Marquinhos ahead of David Luiz at centre-back, took another chance on Marcelo, and uses Philippe Coutinho as a winger.

As for Neymar? He still starts, of course.

Formation

Dunga's defensive tactics were criticised routinely but he was half-right in that Brazil needs to embrace defensive football in order to survive against the world's toughest threats.

Under Dunga, Brazil still played a variation of 4-2-3-1 but slowly transitioned to a 4-1-4-1. With Tite at the helm, the Selecao now line up in a flatter 4-3-3 with three conventional midfielders instead of an attacking No. 10 in midfield, though Tite has used the 4-1-4-1 formation, too.

Pele and others who may be fond of the days of yesteryear may lament the absence of Ginga - individual flair - in the team, but Germany taught Brazil a fatal lesson in the perils of exposing itself in dangerous positions. While Dunga may have hoped a small spark of fire could do the job, Tite has done well to mix both tactical rigidity with free-flowing football. It is, in truth, the formula Brazil has been seeking since 2006.

As such, Tite's Brazil outshoots Dunga's, outscores Dunga's, and concedes fewer goals than Dunga's, on average. The Selecao are in hot form and look to have exorcised the demons of 2014, perhaps with the bitter pill of Dunga's disciplinary approach, and are now ready to flex their footballing muscles.

Fighting spirit

Tite is not like Dunga, in the sense that he is not a tactical mind, nor does he profess himself to follow in the school of Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho. He's not particularly fond of either, in fact, likening himself more to Carlo Ancelotti, a man who is revered for his ability to handle star-studded dressing rooms, and who believes that success is found in the team, and not the individual.

So, while Dunga played chess on the football field, Tite focuses more on the team's spirit, its confidence, and its togetherness. He's also got a bit of a chip on his shoulder, having been skipped over for the Brazil management job in 2014 despite his domestic success with Corinthians, and subsequently refused the Brazilian football federation multiple times before finally relenting in 2016.

It's easy to fall into the mindset that one manager is better than the last, as present hope taints viewpoints and hindsight exposes a predecessor's worst, but Dunga's influence remains ever-present in this Brazil team. There's nothing wrong with that, at all.

Tite's role is to motivate and bring what the fiery Dunga could not; emotional stability in leadership, and a few new tactical ideas, too.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)