Brazil won yesterday against Ecuador, but didn't inspire much confidence on the public, because the were higher expectations over Brazilian squad. During the first half, Brazil totally dominated the field, while Ecuador adopted a defensive stance. However, from the second half till the end of the match, Ecuador balanced the gameplay and put some pressure over Brazil, especially on the final moments of the game.
The problem was that Ecuador had a hard time shooting in the direction of the rival's goal. Defensively speaking the team is quite decent, with the exception of the goalkeeper, but Ecuador's attack is terrible.
Anyway, if Brazil had a strong team, they would have managed to score at least one more goal. I don't know if the problem are the players lacking skills, or if it's just that there isn't chemistry between them.
I tend to see Brazil's recent problems lie in their manager inexperience in handling star players, we can see that almost every line of Brazil has talented players. A narrow win over Ecuador was enough to secure 3 points, although fans hope they can score more goals and show their dominance. The most important thing is that Brazil can qualify and play in the 2026 World Cup, after previously playing badly and losing many points. Dorival Junior seems to be fielding his best squad, but his managerial strategy has not been fully proven to be able to encourage players to develop better.
Next Brazil will face Paraguay, on paper Brazil is still the favorite team, although the match has the potential to be troublesome for both teams. If Brazil manages to secure 3 more points, and Colombia loses against Argentina, then Brazil will move up to third place in the standings. Overall Brazil is not on the right track, they need to find a better manager to be able to become a dominant force in the next World Cup, I see Dorival Junior is not so respected in the dressing room.