Former Real Madrid left-back Roberto Carlos believes Brazil are not the same as they used to be.
According to the legendary left-back, O Selecao do not show the same joyous football as they used to back in his day. Carlos played in four World Cups himself, under a variety of managers and styles. Their 1994 World Cup victory was far from a free-flowing Brazilian team, but over the course of the early 2000s Brazil were associated with attractive football.
Speaking to The Telegraph in an interview carried by Diario AS, Carlos explained that part of Brazilian football had gone.
“Brazil has lost its essence, the beautiful game [jogo bonito].”
“We attacked as a team, but we also defended much better than now. We were very confident in our positional play.”
Beyond just confidence and system, it is fair to argue that his Brazil side was considerably more talented than the current edition. Although Brazil have a number of attackers that are at the peak of European football, perhaps only Neymar Junior can compare to the likes of Ronaldinho and Ronaldo Nazario. In his position, Alex Sandro, Alex Telles and Danilo are some way off Carlos and Cafu.
Brazil have been engaged in a battle between two schools for some time though. The free-flowing style that is embodied by the likes of Ronaldinho and Carlos has often been responded to by the likes of Dunga, who favoured a much more conservative approach as both a player and a coach.
