In general, Brazilian football historically has a very goal oriented and offensive style, yet mostly mostly based in an "on the break/counter attacking style" to take advantage of their insane athletism combine with excellent technique.
Yet, this never prevented that once the advantage was won, they could easily hold the ball with their most technical sides and phenoms or geniuses in the mid. All of that combine with excellent reading and application of tactical fouls when the other team it's attacking or trying to play in the break. Those rivals usually have lesser athletism and less rythim, so the tactical fouls contributed to made them even slower. With such combination (style) they'll literally could hammer most opposition. The best exception to this style, was the WC82, that was avery midfield oriented with lots of passing in the build up (the whole 80's period around the globe was midfield oriented and one of the most prolific on marvellous 10's)
The more pragmatic teams, came after the lack of success, and knee jerk reactions to it. Similar to what happens in any major Traditional Powerhouse when not winning, no matter if some sides played fantastic offensive football or got far but no cigar: "offensive/more freestyle football does not win titles" raise its ugly head...so you leave behind the Tele Santanas, the Zagallos and you call the Parrerias and Dungas of the world, because they bring "results". The truth it's that sometimes they brought results, but it's like playing an amnesia game where people forget that before them a lot less pragmatic, more flair sides, also brought them. This cicles tend to end when results do not come and there is not an 82 side to at least enjoy their game even if loosing, people start crying that Brazil it's not more Brazil, that they do not play futebol and that they have to come back to the roots, the issue here it's that it's easier to destroy than to build so not few times it's harder to get back to the path of your best style and more representative one.
Anyway, on any period Brazil still is Brazil, the 94 side was rock solid, was not the samba of 82, but with such beasts in Romario, Bebeto, etc and that hard rock mid had that freaking marvellous Midfielder called Mauro Silva, one of the best and more forgotten defensive/organizative midefielders ever.
So in their best periods, those pragmatic sides had phenomenal players involved. The worse of those more pragmatic sides are those like the Dunga Copa 2007 that actually have a fantastic Copa win but at the same time it's playing with fire because it gives too much power to an over the top pragmatic idea that at the end of the day Brazil it's still paying today. You don't rennounce in such manner to your tradition, you end paying it years later with the players you develope, with a bigger effort require in the future to come back to the roots.
It's not uncommon in the world these type cicles, similar type of situations occured in other Traditional Football Nations. Nowadays Brazil it's playing the "non style", they are in a transitional period that we'll witness what version of Brazil would come out of this.
PD: on every period, any valid version of any of those styles, the "original one", "the passing flair one" or the more "pragmatic ones", all of them were TEAMS, not just names on a list, every Nation from time to time faces a period that are just names on a list, no matter how great those names might be.
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