I remember it quite well actually; I was talking to my friend Alejandro (a Madrid native and former team mate of mine) in the aftermath of Spain’s loss in the 2013 Confederations Cup final against hosts Brazil. He was, in a word, irate at what he just bore witness to – his beloved Spain completely played off the pitch. In less than 50 minutes, a brace from Fred and a third from Neymar had concluded proceedings at the Maracana. Brazil had just stunned the reigning World Champions in a ruthless counter attacking display – but was it all so avoidable?
Neymar and co ruthlessly put Tiki-Taka to the sword. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
I will go back to Alejandro again, this time in citing his countless moments of frustration with head coach Vicente del Bosque. How can a Spanish native be so frustrated with a former Real Madrid player and manager (I forgot to mention that Alejandro is obsessed with RM) who successfully built on the platform of Spain’s win in Euro 2008 to then guide them to victory in South Africa in World Cup 2010 and then further success in Euro 2012 – one word, and the word he loves to use the most in our conversations; stubborn.
Truly anyone who was not completely blinded by their unquestionable faith in La Furia Roja would have seen the writing on the wall that had been transcribed a mere three days before the Brazil debacle – the semi-final match against Italy. And if you can remember back that far and remember accurate enough, you will recall that the Brazilian approach in the final was a carbon-copy of the Italian approach; congest the midfield, out work Spain, put them constantly under pressure on the ball and then look to quickly counter and hit them on the break. If you even then look at the numbers of both matches, they were alarmingly similar – this was the warning shot across the Spanish bow. Now let us go back to that favorite word of Alejandro’s, you know, stubborn. For all his knowledge and experience in the game, one of the things I love about this guy is that he is very simple but direct in his opinion. To say that Del Bosque is stubborn is mildly putting it lightly, and I prefer to go with calling the man a pragmatist.
In being a pragmatist, Del Bosque is of the opinion that “if it aint broke, don’t fix it”, and surely up till the World Cup test run during that summer, “Tiki-Taka” was by no means broken. Granted, it was always far more successful against smaller teams, but it was at that point in time very effective in gaining positive results. So why was it exposed to such great extent in the course of 72 hours? Because it came up against two teams that were not afraid to pressure Spain when they had possession, force mistakes, be physical and then create chances on the break – up until that point more or less, the traditional deployment against Spain was to sit back, defend, give them space and try to make them forcefully create chances, but in the end Spain would always find a way. This new deployment was far more effective and had Italy been able to finish the chances they created with the same ruthlessness that Brazil had, Spain would not have even made the final.
Ironically enough, this past domestic season, we have seen possession teams in the same mold of Spain fail when it mattered most for them. Arsenal was ousted from Champions League early yet again and failed to hold on to the top spot of the EPL by way of abysmal performances against their title rivals, Bayern now use a possession game under Pep which was in stark contrast to the system under Juup Heynckes and were ruthlessly bounced from Europe by Real Madrid and Barcelona failed to win La Liga on the last day against a hard working and cohesive Atletico Madrid unit. The key in all these prime examples, is simply that when a possession game runs into sides that will out work you, out muscle you and have the pace in key areas to hit you on the break when you are so committed in their half of the field with possession, you are in for a tough day at the office.
As we return to the pragmatic nature of Del Bosque, what is even more important to take note of, is that he is not just a pragmatist with his tactical decisions, but with his squad selections as well and especially with his preferred starting XI – this is the second problem that needs to be addressed and with the utmost haste. Spain have for the longest time relied on strikers that were not good enough (with the exception of David Villa) and the ever present and comforting site of Xavi Hernandez in the midfield – this certainly must change. Xavi is certainly a player in rapid decline, and you really only need to look at the numbers he has posted for Barcelona this past season to realize that he is far from the threatening and influential presence he once was.
Spain must break away from their reliance on Xavi. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
To play Xavi is to surrender to the notion that you must only play a possession game, when in reality, all that Spain need to do is maintain the ability to switch gears and transition from a possession game to a quick and penetrative style of football at a moments notice. I touched on this in our series “What if we were Coach?” when we looked at Spain – if you’ll notice, Xavi was not in my starting XI. Rather, the combination of Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso were the starting midfield pair; both have excellent spacial and tactical awareness but they offer provide a balance between possession and quick outlet countering, as one plays for Barca and the other for RM.
In regards to the striker situation for Spain, the emergence of Diego Costa as a world class forward now allows Spain to sit Fernando Torres on the bench where he belongs and the ability to avoid having to use the aging legs of David Villa – Alvaro Negredo was not mentioned here because, while he probably will make the final 23, his nose dive to being fourth choice at Manchester City means he is not a viable option. The key to Costa however, as he only has one cap for the national team currently, is the addition of Koke into the Spanish XI. Their understanding and chemistry at club level for Atletico Madrid was vital to their title winning season. Beyond that, Koke is an excellent playmaker, with fantastic vision and ability on the ball that would then afford Andres Iniesta the ability to rampage down the left flank where he is far more effective these days.
In the grand scheme of things, Spain are still an incredibly gifted and dangerous team. There is no question that the Netherlands will have to be faultless if they are to beat the Spanish, likewise for Chile as well. But briefly and in conclusion, let me go back to a conversation that Young and I had the other day as we discussed all matters pertaining to football. Young stated the following;
“Have you ever wondered what it takes to win a World Cup? Sometimes I think that to get out of the group you have to attack, but to actually in the World Cup, you have to defend.”
A simple statement but profound none the less. It is true, that often the most impressive teams during the group stage are the ones that score their way into the knockout stages – but often times, these teams will fall short in the end, and it is usually to a team that defends and works harder then they do, not a team that attacks better than them.
There is no need for Spain to magically turn into a defensive oriented team once they reach the next round, but that statement does lend to the notion that, in order for Spain to repeat as World Cup champions this summer, something which has not been accomplished since the ’58 and ’62 Brazil teams, Spain must have the ability to switch their style and tactical set up to one that is necessary in the negotiation of the latter stages of the tournament. If they do not find that ability, in the end it will be Del Bosque that will be their undoing, and in a footballing world where tactical flexibility means everything, there is no room for pragmatism.