¡SPAIN ADVANCES TO THE SEMIFINALS!
Congratulations to Paraguay. It did not make it easy for Spain. The best one on the Paraguayan squad, the coach Gerardo Martino, who surprised everyone. He definitely surprised the Spanish spy and myself. Paraguay did not play the way the spy working for Spain had anticipated. It did not play "just like Chile, but 15 yards backed-up". It played 20 yards pushing forward, pressing even the Spanish goalie. Paraguay did not wait for Spain sitting on its own half of the field either, as I had anticipated. The Spanish coach seemed also surprised and caught off-guard, completely paralized, unable to react for some very long 55 minutes.
Spain lost the midfield from the get go. Paraguay had numerical superiority and blocked all the passing lines for the Spanish midfielders. Thus Paraguay pressing and defensive strategy had more devastating effects than the Chilean and Portuguese defenses. The game was too thick and heavy. Paraguay would frequently steal the ball and look for its strikers, very mobile and dangerous. Spain could not get a fluid ball circulation and, therefore, could not reach the Paraguayan strike zone. Even worse than that, the Spaniards were forced to make big physical efforts not to lose the ball. Paraguay was better and Spain was getting discouraged and tired.
Once again in this World Cup, the Spanish team badly needed one extra midfielder. It was an absolute practical necessity. Spain creative channels were cut, outnumbered by Paraguay. Just as they were outnumbered by Switzerland, Chile and Portugal. The team was way too long, there was too much distance between the last defender and the most forward striker, and therefore there was too much empty space in the middle of the field. Furthermore, Iniesta was not participating in the game, away from the midfield. He was sent by the coach to get lost in the wing where he is the least dangerous, the right wing.
In the worst game played by Spain so far, after a half time without a single Spanish shot, when the team was in worst shape... Del Bosque finally made the right substitutions. Fabregas came in at last for Torres, and later Pedro for Alonso. And yes, Iniesta was moved to the left wing and Pedro was sent to the right wing. Defensively, Spain was not affected negatively one bit. Offensively, it was very possitively improved. Scoring chances started to happen, and then a penalty, and then a goal.
I cannot repeat it enough in this blog. The number of midfielders is the key, not their names. A midfield of five players should have been the initial line-up. It was not, all right. But then the substitutions should have happened when this need was apparent, after the first 20 minutes at the latest. It finally happened in the second half, and it changed the game in favor of Spain. Congratulations, Del Bosque. Better late than never.
A very strong Germany awaits. Hopefully the Spanish coach will have learnt from his mistakes and also from his successful decissions. Hopefully we will finally see the passing game at its fullest against Germany. Even if Spain has to lose against this great and young Germany, we all hope that it will do it with some style. Precisely the style that it lacked today for most of the game. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Xavi Hernandez. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Xavi Hernandez. Mostrar todas las entradas
sábado, 3 de julio de 2010
viernes, 2 de julio de 2010
Portugal 0 - Spain 1, 2nd round
If vertigo can be deceiving, the tension of live broadcasting and the sweetness of victory even more so. Indeed, I just watched the game again, this time recorded, and it did not look quite the same game that I had seen live. Portugal was much less close to score than I felt during the live broadcast, and Spain did overall a much better job than I thought, both defensively and offensively.
It was probably the most serious game Spain has played so far in this World Cup. Intesity and focus were higher than ever before, and every players was involved. For example, in the 9th minute of the game Villa sprinted all the way down to the Spanish left corner trying to block a cross from Costa. Really remarkable effort for a pure striker! Both the offensive and defensive efforts were all along generous and collective. The quality of the opponent required such a vigilant attitude. In fact, two out the three most dangerous scoring chances for Portugal came precisely when some Spanish player lost intensity or concentration.
The biggest news, however, came on the strategy front. For the first time in this World Cup, Xavi Hernandez was in charge of beginning most plays. After so much debate about him playing out of place, about his incompatibility with Xabi Alonso, and so on, as you have read in this blog, the coach finally paid some attention to us critics a put Xavi Hernandez in charge. Whenever Hernandez would go back to pick up the ball, Alonso would go forward and occupy the space that Hernandez left free. At last! This simple move significantly improved Spain's ball circulation. As soon as Alonso would stop moving forward for a while, Spain's fluidity would clog and the team would stop having scoring chances.
On the down side, Spain keeps having big problems when attacking static defenses. Of all the scoring chances during the game Spain enjoyed, only three, including the goal, were kicks inside the box. Among all possible remedies for this problem, I hold in this blog again and again that the best one, the most consistent with the overall Spanish strategy, is to include a 5th miedfielder. The coach, however, seems to think differently. He brought in Fernando Llorente. David Villa scored for Spain just two minutes after Llorente was brought in, and the Spanish press celebrated the goal as a success of both Llorente and Del Bosque. I say, in contrast, that correlation does not imply causation.
Llorente played facing his own goalie, and the team lacked as much verticality as before. Now, after scoring, Spain is just deadly. But this is the case whether or not Llorente is on the field. There is no team like Spain in its ability to play monkey-in-the-middle while looking for a crack in its opponent's defensive wall. I argue that this would be easier, and the ball loses less frequent, if the coach would added another miedfielder. And the assists to Llorente or whoever happens to play as a striker would increase exponentially. Del Bosque does not seem to agree.
Spain advances to the round of 8 psychologically stronger and having played in some phases during the game the most vibrant, skilfull, and beautiful to watch football played in this World Cup so far. Del Bosque has corrected two fundamental mistakes: Xavi Hernandez is back in command, and the strategy is again based on the passing game and ball possession. It still lacks some ability to break through the opponent's defense and get inside the box, and to secure ball possession a little longer. In my view, both things go together, and would be brought about by a fifth miedfielder. However, I have to feel happy that Del Bosque at least listened about Xavi Hernandez and the wings. Now the Spanish style starts resembling what it used to be. No one doubts that it can get even better, i.e., more dominant and more dangerous. Against the rivals to come it may be truly necessary.
It was probably the most serious game Spain has played so far in this World Cup. Intesity and focus were higher than ever before, and every players was involved. For example, in the 9th minute of the game Villa sprinted all the way down to the Spanish left corner trying to block a cross from Costa. Really remarkable effort for a pure striker! Both the offensive and defensive efforts were all along generous and collective. The quality of the opponent required such a vigilant attitude. In fact, two out the three most dangerous scoring chances for Portugal came precisely when some Spanish player lost intensity or concentration.
The biggest news, however, came on the strategy front. For the first time in this World Cup, Xavi Hernandez was in charge of beginning most plays. After so much debate about him playing out of place, about his incompatibility with Xabi Alonso, and so on, as you have read in this blog, the coach finally paid some attention to us critics a put Xavi Hernandez in charge. Whenever Hernandez would go back to pick up the ball, Alonso would go forward and occupy the space that Hernandez left free. At last! This simple move significantly improved Spain's ball circulation. As soon as Alonso would stop moving forward for a while, Spain's fluidity would clog and the team would stop having scoring chances.
On the down side, Spain keeps having big problems when attacking static defenses. Of all the scoring chances during the game Spain enjoyed, only three, including the goal, were kicks inside the box. Among all possible remedies for this problem, I hold in this blog again and again that the best one, the most consistent with the overall Spanish strategy, is to include a 5th miedfielder. The coach, however, seems to think differently. He brought in Fernando Llorente. David Villa scored for Spain just two minutes after Llorente was brought in, and the Spanish press celebrated the goal as a success of both Llorente and Del Bosque. I say, in contrast, that correlation does not imply causation.
Llorente played facing his own goalie, and the team lacked as much verticality as before. Now, after scoring, Spain is just deadly. But this is the case whether or not Llorente is on the field. There is no team like Spain in its ability to play monkey-in-the-middle while looking for a crack in its opponent's defensive wall. I argue that this would be easier, and the ball loses less frequent, if the coach would added another miedfielder. And the assists to Llorente or whoever happens to play as a striker would increase exponentially. Del Bosque does not seem to agree.
Spain advances to the round of 8 psychologically stronger and having played in some phases during the game the most vibrant, skilfull, and beautiful to watch football played in this World Cup so far. Del Bosque has corrected two fundamental mistakes: Xavi Hernandez is back in command, and the strategy is again based on the passing game and ball possession. It still lacks some ability to break through the opponent's defense and get inside the box, and to secure ball possession a little longer. In my view, both things go together, and would be brought about by a fifth miedfielder. However, I have to feel happy that Del Bosque at least listened about Xavi Hernandez and the wings. Now the Spanish style starts resembling what it used to be. No one doubts that it can get even better, i.e., more dominant and more dangerous. Against the rivals to come it may be truly necessary.
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