What we learned from Brazil 2014...

Thomas Muller is part of the false number nine brigade

Well it is all over. Some of us will have to cede control of the remote control again but we'll always have Brazil 2014. Alex Johnson tells us what we've learned from the tournament.

After just over a month of fantastic football action, the World Cup 2014 is now over and will live long in the memories of fans.

A total of 64 matches were played between 32 competing countries in 12 cities across Brazil and it was Mario Gotze's fantastic volley that secured Germany a fourth World Cup title in Rio.

And what a fantastic competition it was, with a joint-high number of goals scored (171) and breath-taking action across the board as the greatest football show on earth lived up to its hype. It will go down as one of the best World Cups in memory, so what did we learn from Brazil 2014?

Brazil aren't glamorous anymore

The 2014 Brazil team was certainly not a vintage. In previous World Cups the globe cooed at the beautiful game as played by a Brazil team full of skillful and dazzling pioneers of football. However, things were different this time around. Luiz Felipe Scolari's Brazil looked sterile and devoid of attacking flair, and in the quarter-final against Colombia they just proceeded to try and kick their opponents off the pitch. This Brazil was miles away from previous World Cup teams that had lit up tournaments. Bar Neymar, before his injury, the other attacking options for Brazil failed to step up and were largely anonymous. Hulk showed flashes, but only flashes, of what he is capable of, Oscar tended to go missing, and the less said about Fred and Jo the better.

The 7-1 humiliation to Germany will forever be remembered by Brazil fans. It seemed like from the moment Neymar got injured, Brazil gave up any hope. Even they seemed to know that without their star man Brazil stood no chance of winning the tournament. In his absence Brazil had zero flair going forward and it beggars belief that, given the nation's history of producing top strikers, there are not better options than Fred and Jo.

No 9s are a dying breed

More often in World Cups it has been the classic number nines that have taken the headlines and got the goals. But not at Brazil 2014 as number 10s ran the show. It has been the likes of James Rodriguez, Thomas Muller, Neymar and Lionel Messi who shone at this World Cup and none of these are number 9s. Modern day football is placing more and more importance on this role, rather than having a centre-forward as the focal point of the team. Where would the hosts have been without the goals of Neymar, or Argentina without Messi? Even the eventual winners Germany opted to take one striker, the evergreen Miroslav Klose, in favour of a wealth of attacking midfielders and wingers. The stars of Brazil 2014 have undoubtedly been the forward players but not the dying breed of the traditional centre-forward.

Don't write anyone off

There were some really surprising performances at Brazil 2014. Before a ball was kicked who would have given the minnows of Costa Rica a chance of topping a group that included three previous World Cup winners in Italy, Uruguay and England? But they performed fantastically to make it into the knockout stages and it took a penalty shootout to see them exit at the hands of the eventual third-place finishers, Holland.

Elsewhere there were great performances from the likes of Algeria, Chile and Colombia to rip up the form book and push some of the fancied nations all the way. None of these teams simply turned up and parked the bus against much bigger footballing nations. They didn't sit back but went for their opponents and really should be credited with contributing to a fantastic tournament. You should have guessed it was going to be a World Cup of surprises from the moment Holland thrashed the defending champions Spain 5-1 in their opening game.

Attack, attack, attack

Most of Brazil 2014 was epitomised by positive attacking football. The group stages were awash with goals and entertainment from the off as managers looked to take the game to their opponents. In particular the less favoured South American teams of Chile and Colombia won hordes of admirers with their slick attacking play and goal-getting mentality. It is true to say that there were some stinkers but more often than not they tended to be end-to-end and open. This meant a glut of goals and outstanding performances that has led many to claim Brazil 2014 has been the best World Cup ever. Even the duller games had fans on the edge of their seats as there was tension in extra-time and during penalty shoot-outs.

When it comes to footballing style, Brazil 2014 also seemed to signal the official death of tika-taka. Spain came into the tournament as the defending World Cup holders and European champions, but they were torn apart by Holland and Chile and dumped out within the first week of the tournament. Tika-tika doesn't seem to fit in with the modern game and opponents have found out how to play against, and beat, Spain. If Spain want to get back to the top of the tree they need to dump this philosophy and move forward with the times.

Coaches change games

Brazil 2014 was epitomised by managers making tactical plans and executing them perfectly. Louis van Gaal possibly showcased this more than anything as he switched tactics mid-game and even pulled off a penalty shoot-out masterstroke by swapping goalkeepers and watching Tim Krul win them the quarter-final. It was managers who were willing to take those risks, such as Van Gaal, Jorge Luis Pinto at Costa Rica and Chile's Jorge Sampaoli, who reaped the rewards. While old school managers like Fabio Capello and Cesare Prandelli stuck rigidly to one game plan and ultimately went home early.

Boots are out of control

Brazil 2014 proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that no professional footballer would be caught dead in plain, boring black football boots anymore. Coloured boots are now the norm and the more colourful the better it seems. The World Cup even managed to showcase the next step forward, with a number of players wearing Puma's evoPower boots with one in pink and the other in blue. You have to wonder if this new trend is just getting too much.

Everyone loves the referee's spray

Possibly the best thing to be introduced at Brazil 2014 was the referee's vanishing spray. It has received worldwide welcome and needs to definitely be introduced in all competitions as soon as possible. It is such a simple system to eradicate a constant problem. Its successful use in the World Cup proved it worked, as walls were seen not to encroach on the 10-yard gap. The sooner this technology is seen in the Premier League, Champions League and across the top European Leagues the better.