Would have been fair to cancel this match after the police action in the stands. More reason cancel this one than the last one when ANVISA bureaucrats wanted to puff their chests and make a scene.

Felt to me like Argentina didn’t care but could have turned it up if they wanted to. Instead they got a goal on a corner and that was all they needed. Did some typical CONMEBOL shit housing to add to the frustration but that was nothing out of the ordinary.

Brazil is all out attack and Martinelli has his first goal for Brazil 3 minutes in, on a play with him and Vini combining.

And at the halfway point there were pundits saying the league was wrapped up already…

5 rounds to go and the first and 4th placed teams meet this weekend, before the final stretch after the return from the international break.

Bragantino’s match in hand is against Flamengo, and Botafogo’s is against Fortaleza if I’m not mistaken. Fortaleza are no pushover, despite being all the way down in 11th, they can climb up to 8th with their matches in hand.

The fight for the top 4 Libertadores spots is going to be mad, and none of those top 4 or even 6 teams are guaranteed to hold on to that coveted spot while also believing they can win the whole thing.

The change in logistics for the November window suggests that the coaching staff has been frustrated by this and the travel logistics so far.

That’s not surprising, considering the tiny number of sessions had so far. However, changing to Granja Comary will reduce downtime, but it won’t drastically increase productive time because their just isn’t much time to begin with of course. Still, it’s a sign they want to give themselves more time.

Ancelotti’s teams are more relational than the average current team and more so that 2022 Tite.

A lot of Brazilians look at Ancelotti’s willingness to give up the ball and Diniz’s obsession with building from the back and conclude that the two are miles apart.

From what I’ve seen of actual analysts, their perspective is more focused on how the coaches allow their players to move and relate to each other (or to space). In that sense Diniz and Ancelotti are not the complete opposites some people think they are.

They have a new coach.

People have short memories. They had plenty of qualifiers with similar starts before.

Taking a step back and comparing to other cycles, there are always periods during which Brazil dominate possession but fail to break through against minnows.

With Tite the biggest differences were that this phase didn’t happen until later (instead, he started out on a big winning streak), and that the defense felt so secure.

Of course, that doesn’t make it any better. Tying at home is always a disappointment. It’s just not unprecedented.