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Coaching Brazil is a bit like sitting in a coconut shy.
When the team plays well the credit goes to the individual talent of the players.
When the team plays badly the coach needs to prepare himself for a barrage.
So the pressure has been building on Dunga, who, with no previous coaching experience, took charge in the wake of last year's World Cup.
The Brazilian press corps are not too keen on him. He can be truculent and impatient. He is not overflowing with charisma. Most of all, his team were looking laboured and unimpressive.
A new level of anti-Dunga hostility was reached last week at the Copa America.
Tired of his droning sermons on the concept of efficiency, the Brazilian press were ready to go ballistic when he appeared to include an extra defensive midfielder for the hard fought and controversial 1-0 win over Ecuador that put them through to the last eight.
But as it turns out it looks as if the change Dunga made has kick-started his reign.
A big casualty of this Copa America has been the 'two and two' midfield - the 4-4-2 system with the midfield quartet divided into two holding players in the centre, and two creative players thrown wider.
Colombia's attempt to play the system ended in tears against Paraguay. Chile abandoned it after 45 minutes. Ecuador, who traditionally use the system, lost all their games. Hosts Venezuela, who also use it, fell in the quarter-finals without, as their coach confessed, ever finding their best form.
And then there is Brazil. The 'two and two' formation has been the basic Brazilian template for a while now and was cemented when, with Dunga and Mauro Silva anchoring the midfield, they ended their 24-year wait and won the 1994 World Cup.
The system carries risks. If the two holding midfielders are not good passers of the ball - and sadly this has been a problem for Brazil in recent years - then it can be hard to get the moves flowing.
And, as Colombia found out against Paraguay, if the two creative midfielders make little defensive contribution the team can be very exposed on the counter attack.
Brazil, then, have tended to play a 'mixed' midfielder down one flank, someone like Elano who can funnel back as well as push forward.
Josue to the left and Mineiro to the right could be found popping up in the opponent's penalty area
So when Elano was dropped for Josue, it seemed like a defensive move.
In fact, it was a reshaping of the midfield that gave Brazil more attacking options.
The 'two and two' made way for Dunga's diamond. Gilberto Silva holds. Mineiro and Josue might be classed as essentially defensive midfielders, but both of them have great engines.
In the 6-1 quarter-final slaughter of Chile both Josue to the left and Mineiro to the right could be found popping up in the opponent's penalty area.
And then there is Julio Baptista at the head of the diamond. After coming through the ranks in Brazil as an all-round midfielder he knows how to drop back and fill space when the opposition have the ball.
In possession it was noticeable even against Ecuador that his presence resulted in Brazil enjoying more collective play in the final third of the field.
Striker Vagner Love was not the lost, isolated figure he had been in the first two matches.
The flashes of promise showed against the Ecuadorians were gloriously confirmed against Chile, especially in those quick first-half goals that effectively ended the game as a contest.
"I thought that if we closed down the flanks then we would have more chances of hanging on and then breaking out in the second half," said Chile coach Nelson Acosta.
Against the 'two and two' midfield it might have worked.
Brazil's two holding midfielders would have stayed put and the full-backs would have charged forward into Acosta's trap.
But the diamond gave Brazil something different - more options, more fluidity, more chances to make their individual talent count.
The tests to come this week will be much stiffer. In the semi-finals Uruguay will not be so cowardly or defend as badly as Chile did on Saturday night.
And the new formation does leave Gilberto Silva, who had some awkward moments when Chile finally plucked up the courage to introduce playmaker Valdivia, more exposed.
But Dunga the novice coach has already shown a touch of flair and strengthened his position.
Ten years ago his predecessor Mario Zagallo was also under pressure.
When his side won the 1997 Copa America he responded by yelling 'you'll have to put up with me' to the Brazilian press. Dunga might be thinking on similar lines if this last week of the Copa America goes according to plan.
When the team plays well the credit goes to the individual talent of the players.
When the team plays badly the coach needs to prepare himself for a barrage.
So the pressure has been building on Dunga, who, with no previous coaching experience, took charge in the wake of last year's World Cup.
The Brazilian press corps are not too keen on him. He can be truculent and impatient. He is not overflowing with charisma. Most of all, his team were looking laboured and unimpressive.
A new level of anti-Dunga hostility was reached last week at the Copa America.
Tired of his droning sermons on the concept of efficiency, the Brazilian press were ready to go ballistic when he appeared to include an extra defensive midfielder for the hard fought and controversial 1-0 win over Ecuador that put them through to the last eight.
But as it turns out it looks as if the change Dunga made has kick-started his reign.
A big casualty of this Copa America has been the 'two and two' midfield - the 4-4-2 system with the midfield quartet divided into two holding players in the centre, and two creative players thrown wider.
Colombia's attempt to play the system ended in tears against Paraguay. Chile abandoned it after 45 minutes. Ecuador, who traditionally use the system, lost all their games. Hosts Venezuela, who also use it, fell in the quarter-finals without, as their coach confessed, ever finding their best form.
And then there is Brazil. The 'two and two' formation has been the basic Brazilian template for a while now and was cemented when, with Dunga and Mauro Silva anchoring the midfield, they ended their 24-year wait and won the 1994 World Cup.
The system carries risks. If the two holding midfielders are not good passers of the ball - and sadly this has been a problem for Brazil in recent years - then it can be hard to get the moves flowing.
And, as Colombia found out against Paraguay, if the two creative midfielders make little defensive contribution the team can be very exposed on the counter attack.
Brazil, then, have tended to play a 'mixed' midfielder down one flank, someone like Elano who can funnel back as well as push forward.
Josue to the left and Mineiro to the right could be found popping up in the opponent's penalty area
So when Elano was dropped for Josue, it seemed like a defensive move.
In fact, it was a reshaping of the midfield that gave Brazil more attacking options.
The 'two and two' made way for Dunga's diamond. Gilberto Silva holds. Mineiro and Josue might be classed as essentially defensive midfielders, but both of them have great engines.
In the 6-1 quarter-final slaughter of Chile both Josue to the left and Mineiro to the right could be found popping up in the opponent's penalty area.
And then there is Julio Baptista at the head of the diamond. After coming through the ranks in Brazil as an all-round midfielder he knows how to drop back and fill space when the opposition have the ball.
In possession it was noticeable even against Ecuador that his presence resulted in Brazil enjoying more collective play in the final third of the field.
Striker Vagner Love was not the lost, isolated figure he had been in the first two matches.
The flashes of promise showed against the Ecuadorians were gloriously confirmed against Chile, especially in those quick first-half goals that effectively ended the game as a contest.
"I thought that if we closed down the flanks then we would have more chances of hanging on and then breaking out in the second half," said Chile coach Nelson Acosta.
Against the 'two and two' midfield it might have worked.
Brazil's two holding midfielders would have stayed put and the full-backs would have charged forward into Acosta's trap.
But the diamond gave Brazil something different - more options, more fluidity, more chances to make their individual talent count.
The tests to come this week will be much stiffer. In the semi-finals Uruguay will not be so cowardly or defend as badly as Chile did on Saturday night.
And the new formation does leave Gilberto Silva, who had some awkward moments when Chile finally plucked up the courage to introduce playmaker Valdivia, more exposed.
But Dunga the novice coach has already shown a touch of flair and strengthened his position.
Ten years ago his predecessor Mario Zagallo was also under pressure.
When his side won the 1997 Copa America he responded by yelling 'you'll have to put up with me' to the Brazilian press. Dunga might be thinking on similar lines if this last week of the Copa America goes according to plan.
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