Switzerland 1 - Spain 0

Congrats to the Swiss. Now, let's see what we can make of this from Spain's perspective.

The Spanish media all seem to think a little too little, a little too fast. The dominant reaction in the Spanish media is that this was just an accident and the product of real bad luck. To elaborate on this the usual excuses are added: the Swiss goal was off-side (true, by the way); it also was incredibly fortunate; Switzerland should have played with 10 most of the game had the referee shown a red card to the Swiss player who being the last defender fouled Iniesta preventing him from scoring; at least one very clear penalty was not called against Switzerland; Spain shot 24 times, Switzerland only 8; Spain had overwhelming ball possession, around 73%...

All that might be true, and yet, it does not explain enough. Why did Spain only shoot 6 times on target? Why did it only have a small number of very clear scoring opportunities? Why didn't Spain sweep Switzerland away?

The few Spanish journalists who have some analysis capacity blame it, to my surprise, on the fact that Spain's fowards are not in prime condition. Villa is exhausted, literally burnt out, and Torres cannot play a full game yet, and when he plays his lack of competitive rithm becomes apparent.

When they stop focusing on individual names and they analyze the strategy, again to my surprise some very smart Spanish journalists wish Del Bosque would have brought in Llorente from the bench in order to head some of the dozens of crosses that were sent into the box by Navas and Ramos just to be bounced out by the Swiss defenders.

To me most of this is nonsense. I think that the factors that explain why Spain lost today are these instead:

(1) A problem of design: I cannot say it enough times in this blog. Spain ought to play only one destructive midfielder, either Xabi Alonso or Busquets. Pick your poison. In the Euro 2008 it was only Marcos Senna who played in that position-oh boy, do we miss him! Today Spain played with two players doing Senna's job (this is Alfredo Relaño's observation). This is how Del Bosque likes it. It has been the case since he got the job. However, against a team with 9 players defending behind the ball, like Switzerland plays, and most teams in this world cup sadly play like Switzerland, Spain does not need two defensive midfielders. Del Bosque is too conservative, too scared. Alonso and Busquets tend to occupy the same position, and thus they interfere with and bother each other. Besides, Spain misses this extra guy running between lines who would have the ability to break through, give the final pass or score himself. In three words, Spain misses Fábregas, or Mata, or someone playing as an extra creative midfielder and/or false forward. The passing game is much less fluid without this extra skillful guy. The magic of the passing game is very much in the number of midfielders on the pitch. Del Bosque does not seem to get that crucial lesson from Aragonés.

(2) A big mistake in the Plan B For situations like today´s after Switzerland scored, Del Bosque has been rehearsing in the previous friendly games with wings and a strong and tall forward, Llorente. I have written about this in my previous posts. Today it seemed that Llorente was going to play when Iniesta got injured and his position had to be filled in instead. Anyway, the initial plan remained, and Navas and Ramos crossed the ball dozens of times looking for Torres and Villa, paired with Swiss defenders big like mountains. I think that this is a huge mistake. Spain abandons then the impredictable passing game, where players interchange their positions, midfielders become forwards, forwards become wings and so on, for a much more classic, and also much more predictable and easy to defend lay-out. Spain wasted precious time, and precious plays, playing a game that any defending team would dream of.

(3) A problem of attitude: Spain played a little too relaxed until Switzerland scored, and then it played too anxious. It lacked a bit of the goal-cannibal instinct that has had in the past. Del Bosque repeatedly said before the game that Spain had to be patient, and the players interpreted that they could just pass the ball to each other endlessly without having the goal in their minds from the get go. Not that they were too cocky, but rather that they were too patient, as if they were sedated, without their usual and necessary adrenaline. Jorge Sámano's analysis at El Pais runs along these lines. I think that he is right. Well, only partially right. There are also other factors that he forgets.

(4) The psychological work is not right Today Silva, Villa, and Torres, and at times also Alonso, were too anxious, too speedy, lacking the necessary mental pause when it came to shooting and also when it came to giving the last pass. This is unusual in them, and it is not a good sign at all. Del Bosque has not done his job right in this respect. Their current state of anxiety explains better their underperformance than their lack of physical shape. Hopefully they will calm down after passing to the next round... if they pass.

Luis Aragonés' analysis after the game was probably more explicit than good politics would advice. Here is his view: "The Spanish players did not have enough speed when it came to occupying empty spaces in order to participate in the passing game. I would have played with only one destructive midfielder. Spain knew that Switzerland would give up on attacking, thus it should have played the first fifteen minutes with incredible intensity, trying to score fast. Instead, they were too convinced that they would win easily this game. This is partially the Spanish and international press fault. Too many compliments made the Spaniards not to play at 110% of their capabilities." I cannot be more in agreement with him, as usual. After all, he put together this playing style for this team, and someone else is messing with his toy.

¿Any reasons for optimism? Well, Spain played a good first half. As I said, it lacked ambition, but the passing game was pretty good. It was good enough to create a good number of scoring opportunities against a Swiss team that was physically still at its best. That is the way to go. I do think that replacing Xabi Alonso or Busquets by Fábregas would improve the performance even more, particularly when it comes to creating scorig opportunities. It would turn Spain's passing game into superb and incredibly dangerous as opposed to what we had today-just good and threatening. The probabilities that Del Bosque would do such a replacement are slim. Nevertheless, even with Alonso and Busquets together in the field Spain can still play really well and have enough opportunities to score. Hopefully in the next games some of those scoring opportunities will come true before Spain's rivals score first and lock-up their bunker's door. Then we may witness some Spainsh scoring galores. Or else, we may witness how a terrific team capable of the most-attractive-to-watch football in the tournament goes home ahead of time.