Team Focus: Revised Spain Approach Fails to Reap the Rewards

On Wednesday evening, Spain’s bid to retain their World Cup crown came to a premature end, not with a bang, but a whimper. The defending champions crashed out of the tournament following their 2-0 defeat to Chile, this coming off the back of their 5-1 thumping from the Netherlands last week. Vicente Del Bosque cast a forlorn figure on the touchline as the final whistle blew, confirming their group stage exit.

In 1950, thousands packed into the Maracanã to witness Brazil’s World Cup final defeat to Uruguay, but the centerpiece for the 2014 edition was filled with joy rather than sadness this time round. Chileans outnumbered their Spanish counterparts in the stands and the energy and excitement of the fans rubbed off on the players as Chile landed a knockout blow to Spain.

As expected, Del Bosque’s side dominated possession (63% to 37%), but were pressed at every opportunity by Jorge Sampaoli’s team. Even when the World Champions forged an effort on target, they were denied by Claudio Bravo. The Chile goalkeeper was the highest rated player (8.45) in the encounter and accordingly awarded the WhoScored man of the match accolade.

It was a far cry from opposite number Iker Casillas, who was the lowest rated player (4.93) of the 28 used. The Real Madrid goalkeeper was a shadow of his former self, both against Chile and Holland, and his lack of first-team action for Los Blancos proved telling. ‘Sans Iker’ was at fault for Diego Godín’s opener against rivals Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final in Lisbon last month and many felt he should not have been Spain’s number one  for the World Cup in the first place.

The doubters, to an extent, have a point. Casillas has committed the most errors that have resulted in an opposition goal (2) at the competition and some believe David De Gea, had he not been injured, or Pepe Reina should have been starting rather than their Madrid counterpart. This contributed to Spain’s lack of defensive solidity and saw them concede 7 goals in 180 minutes of action, more than they shipped at Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 combined (6).

Offensively they performed well below their usual high standards, scoring just 1 goal - from the spot - in 2 games, despite netting 11 times at Euro 2012, 6 of which came in the group stages. Del Bosque deployed a, sometimes criticised, ‘false 9’ system in Poland and Ukraine, with new Chelsea signing Cesc Fàbregas utilised as the striker. The midfielder though has played for just 12 minutes at the World Cup, his only appearance coming late on in the 5-1 loss to Netherlands, with Del Bosque opting for Diego Costa as the lone frontman in a 4-2-3-1, rather than the more fluid 4-3-3.

Spain battled with the Brazilian Football Confederation for his registration and after the season he enjoyed, many tipped Costa to light up the World Cup. Every time the 25-year-old touched the ball during his time on the pitch, he was greeted to a chorus of boos and though he thrives off the ‘pantomime villain’ tag, Costa simply failed to live up to expectations.

His goalscoring exploits at club level had many hoping he could replicate this for the national team, but Costa's only real input was to win the penalty off Stefan de Vrij in their 5-1 defeat last week. Of the 5 shots Costa had, none were on target and though the Atlético striker bagged 27 league goals last season, he is yet to find the back of the net in Brazil.

Costa’s poor performances are highlighted in his average WhoScored rating at the World Cup (6.17), a major drop when compared to La Liga (7.39) and the Champions League (7.59). Much of the blame though should not fall onto the shoulders of the Lagarto-born Spain international.

Having passed their way to success at Euro 2012, Del Bosque felt a change in system was a necessity. Spain looked to win the Confederations Cup last summer in similar fashion, only to come unstuck against hosts Brazil in the final, falling to a 3-0 loss. Rather than play the ball around looking for that moment to strike, the approach this time was to utilise the physical ability of Costa.

More often than not, the midfield would put the ball to the channels for the powerful attacker to chase onto, harass defenders and hold up play until reinforcements arrived, much like any striker in the system would do. With the likes of David Silva and Andrés Iniesta in support, the plan of attack should have worked, in theory.

As a result though, Spain have averaged less possession at the 2014 World Cup (63.3%) than they did at Euro 2012 (71.2%) and seeing less of the ball allowed the opposition to create goalscoring chances of their own. Furthermore, with Costa expected to run the channels, it was little shock to see their overall pass success drop to 85.2% at the World Cup from 89.8% at Euro 2012.

Punting the ball into open space for the striker to run onto would often see the pass in question cut out by a defender, but credit is due to the way both the Netherlands and Chile pressed Spain in their respective victories. The midfield was shut out expertly and with Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso nullified, Spain’s fluidity dropped significantly, while the excess pressure heaped on the duo meant they conceded possession far too easily.

That isn’t to say ‘Tika-Taka’ is dead though. A number of teams have drawn on the influence of Spain as a result of the unparalleled success they enjoyed on the international stage between 2008 and 2012. Teams have adopted the approach and tweaked this style of play in order to get the better of Spain, while Del Bosque tinkered his system to counteract their opposition.

Unfortunately for them, this failed to reap the expected rewards in Brazil as Spain became the first giant to fall at the first hurdle at the 2014 World Cup.

Why do you think Spain crashed out at the group stage of the World Cup? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below