How Brazil will line up under Carlo Ancelotti

Stuart Telford

• 5 Jul 2023 21:39 BST
• 4 min read

Carlo Ancelotti will become the new Brazil manager in 2024. How will the Selecao line up with the Italian at the helm?

Ancelotti has been given a stay of execution at Real Madrid after surrendering the La Liga and Champions League titles to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively last season, but the 2023/24 campaign looks likely to be his last.

Brazil's football governing body, the CBF, has announced that the 64-year-old will take charge after the expiration of his Los Blancos contract, with Fluminense boss Fernando Diniz taking charge of the senior men's national team in the interim.

READ: Carlo Ancelotti to LEAVE Real Madrid

Ancelotti has three current Brazil internationals at Real Madrid in Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Eder Militao. Will they all get into his Selecao squad?

Ancelotti's Brazil in 2024?

Ancelotti conquered world football last year using a 4-3-3, and it is likely he would employ the same system with Brazil - and he certainly has the players to populate it.

Neymar may be one of the world's best players, but the Paris Saint-Germain star's injury record is patchy at best and he is currently on the sidelines having undergone ankle surgery in February. Fit, he likely plays, but in his absence, Ancelotti with trust his Real proteges Vinicius and Rodrygo.

Richarlison will be given the task of leading the line. A wide attacking player who only scored three goals with Tottenham Hotspur last season, he is a different animal with Brazil, for whom he has scored 20 goals in 43 caps, and Madrid reportedly considered him as a successor for the Al-Ittihad-bound Karim Benzema.

READ: Real Madrid eye shock move for Tottenham flop upon Ancelotti request

Further back, Ancelotti likes a dynamic three-man midfield. At Real, the Toni Kroos - Casemiro - Luka Modric triumvirate is gradually getting phased out for its Eduardo Camavinga - Aurelien Tchouameni - Jude Bellingham equivalent, and if dropping Casemiro for the nascent Andrey Santos seems controversial, consider Ancelotti agreed to his sale to Manchester United last summer.

At the back, Thiago Silva has publicly backed Ancelotti becoming Brazil boss, and the experience of Benzema, Modric and Co, under him at Real suggests that for the Italian, if a player is good enough he is young enough. But Silva will be nearing his 40th birthday once Ancelotti takes charge.

Militao is a ready-made replacement at centre-back, while Vanderson, of Monaco - for now - is on the rise, allowing Militao to partner Marquinhos centrally. Behind them, Alisson might continue to get the nod in goal over Ederson even if the latter won a continental treble with Manchester City last term. As evidenced with Thibaut Courtois, Ancelotti is happy to judge a goalkeeper on his shot-stopping first, and on that front, the Liverpool man has the edge.