Coach believes young players will ease pressure on star striker Neymar during Qatar World Cup
\n RIO DE JANEIRO
\nBrazil manager Tite is excited by the rise of the young players who surged to stardom in European soccer last season and will be available for the national team in November when his side bid to win a record-extending sixth World Cup at the finals in Qatar.
\nThe new generation of talent includes Real Madrid Champions League standouts Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo, Barcelona marquee signing Raphinha, Tottenham Hotspur\u2019s new striker Richarlison, Newcastle United\u2019s all-purpose midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, Ajax Amsterdam\u2019s electrifying winger Antony and Atletico Madrid\u2019s relentless forward Matheus Cunha among others.
\nAll these players are 25 or under and already part of the world\u2019s elite, which Tite believes will ease the pressure on Paris St-Germain forward Neymar, 30, who has carried the load as the Brazilian superstar of his generation for his entire career.
\n\u201cI do have this feeling that the arrival of these young players is going to be good for Neymar on and off the pitch,\u201d Tite told Reuters in an interview, revealing that his key player was excited about his new teammates.
\n\u201cThe other day Neymar looked at me and said: \u2018Coach, these kids that are coming, it\u2019s just nuts … what a good headache to have trying to put them all on the field.\u2019 He laughed.
\n\u201cWhen you have other players with great technical potential you share the load and the attention of our rivals that now will have to choose where they focus their defensive assignments.\u201d
\nTite said he expected to use Neymar in a more central role that will allow him to unleash Brazil\u2019s young players up front and adopt a \u201chybrid system\u201d.
\nWith squads up to 26 players and five substitutes allowed at the World Cup in Qatar working in his favour, Tite wants to make sure his team have fresh legs and are more unpredictable.
\n\u201cNeymar has developed into a more creative role, a point guard, a builder and a finisher, but a litter further back. Bow and arrow, creator and finisher,\u201d Tite explained.
\n\u201cSoccer is fast and relentless nowadays and we\u2019ll face many rivals that will close deep with a five-man defensive front. Neymar was often double-teamed. Now if you do that you will open up space for other players that can be as decisive and important to our team. We are in a good place right now.\u201d
\nBetter coach
\nAfter his side were knocked out of the 2018 World Cup by Belgium in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in the quarter-finals, Tite will be the first manager to coach Brazil in two consecutive tournaments since Tele Santana in 1982 and 1986.
\nThe 61-year-old is confident that he is a better coach now than in Russia four years ago and the experience of having lived a World Cup will free him and his staff of many distractions.
\n\u201cPerformance is key. It\u2019s fundamental and we have it. But the hardest aspect of a World Cup is the mental part. The mental demand of a World Cup is absurd, extraordinary,\u201d Tite said.
\nHe added that the pressure will be the same as in Qatar but sees the new generation of players coming through coping very well with the responsibility of wearing Brazil\u2019s colours. \u201cAn experience is essentially practical. You need to live the theory to really understand it. We carry a little of Brazil\u2019s legacy,\u201d Tite said.
\n\u201cThose kids have been working for years in Brazil\u2019s under-20s. They won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, have a very competitive mindset and their heads in the right place.
\n\u201cTheir visibility in the elite is very high so they see the weight of the responsibility of playing with Brazil in a natural way. The pressure exists, but they are better prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Coach believes young players will ease pressure on star striker Neymar during Qatar World Cup RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil manager Tite is excited by the rise of the young players who surged to stardom in European soccer last season and will be available for the national team in November when his side bid to win […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-273605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n