Let me start by saying that Brazil played really well. Fred was superb. Neymar was special. David Luiz was mature. Alves and Marcello were leaders. Julio Caesar was a wall. I take nothing away from their win, but this match should have been way closer and probably a Spanish win because they are the more polished side. Spain's coach put out a starting 11 that gave Brazil a big chance and they took advantage of it and exploited Spain at every turn.
I took some heat on Twitter today because I stepped up and pretty much call Del Bosque's lineup unacceptable and flat wrong. I don't feel like Del Bosque can pick out the best 11 anymore. I have felt this since Euro 2012 where he used David Silva and Alonso in the starting lineup too much. Both are great players, but there was no reason to have either of them in when you have the Barca central three and a need for more pure attacking options. Spain struggled to score goals and ended up in PKs with Portugal.
Yet, Spain prevailed and rolled in the Final. I wrote after that final win to a friend that sometimes you just win, but you have to make sure you don't confuse right from wrong just because you got a result. You have to look at the bigger picture and be critical of where you could have done better. A draw against Italy to open Euro 2013 should have woken Spain up to the importance of attacking options, but it didn't.
In reality Spain is Barcelona-lite. Some people may not like that, but when you utilize the style and so many of the players from Barcelona it is what it is. It also doesn't hurt that it has worked. The results have been astonishing, but at times Del Bosque tries to ram square pegs in round holes.
Many have lauded Del Bosque with praise for what he has done and he deserves it. He's a great coach in the golden era of Spanish football. Still I think that he's gotten into a bad place with many of the players on his Spanish side. The problem in Spain is like the reverse problem of Argentina. Argentina is loaded with strikers, but lack great midfielders. Spain is loaded with midfielders, but few fresh striking options. Del Bosque has a hard time not starting Xavi, Busquets and Inesta together. Maybe Xavi is not the same player he was three years ago, but when you start him with those two Spain gets a huge advantage because they have a midfield that players together all year. Oh yeah and they are perhaps the great midfield trio of all time. See the 2010-11 Barca stats to back that up.
This is a huge edge for Spain, but it comes at the price of not being able to use Fabregas, Silva, Mata, and Cozolla just to name a few. Del Bosque has chosen to play a 4-4-2 or use Inesta as a forward to get Xabi Alonso on the pitch. Why? Because he's a legendary player and he has too. Del Bosque has become a man that refuses to accept that he cannot play certain players even if he doesn't need him and they weaken his offensive options.
In Euro 2012 he insisted on starting Alonso and Silva around the Barca midfielders. Spain struggled to score goals when he did this. To me it was a huge mistake, but as I stated earlier he survived it. This year I thought he had it figured out. In match one he started Soldado (a player he didn't even pick over an injured Lorente in 2012) and Cesc with Pedro. Cesc is not a true forward, but he has been in good scoring form towards the end of the season. He scored far more goals than David Silva the last two seasons. Soldado is a brazen attacker and this lineup works because it basically allows Soldado to be tip of the spear striker while the others work to get him into great positions.
Spain spanked Uruguay pretty good. Then they played Thaiti who for all intents were a walk over. The result was a rest for their key players. Against Nigeria he went back to this lineup and Spain dominated again, but Soldado squandered some easy chances. Also note that Valdes started in net and was solid. This will be important later. Torres came on and got on the end of a great cross. I knew right there that Del Bosque was going to go away from the lineup that worked and favor Torres.
He has a love affair with Torres who has lacked confidence since returning from injury 3 years ago. He was a once great player who lost his shadow and it is what it is. Del Bosque even picking him for the side was a surprise to many, but now it seemed he would go forward with him as starter in the knock out stage. His starting lineup for the next match made my skin crawl. For some reason he went back to David Silva upfront with Torres. I guess because there link up play was so good over the years?!?! I understand that Cesc had picked up a knock and probably was not well, but that's why you pick David Villa. That fresh guy who scored bags of goals in the past for you, remember him?
Del Bosque killed the trust of his team when he did this. If David Villa had any self confidence it was gone. Fernando Torres and David Silva, who's not a true forward, were picked over him. The net result was Italy taking them to Pks and zero goals. That's right zero goals. When Spain needed a goal in this match he went to Jesus Navas a true forward, but why not give Navas the start then? I think it's because Del Bosque was hoping Torres and Silva would spring his offense to life and Navas isn't as big of a name player. Apparently no one shared Silva's goal total with him and he doesn't watch Chelsea play...ever!
Many people praised Italy for taking Spain to PKs and shutting them down. I give them the credit they deserve, but who did they stop? Torres with no confidence in big games, Pedro who had a low goal total this year and David Silva who has 5 goals in all comps for Man City all season. The commentators tend to really lose touch with the quality of the forwards Spain started. It wasn't Messi and Ronaldo fronting for Spain in either of the last two match by a wide margin. Italy took advantage of team that was not as dangerous upfront just in the midfield. So they attacked up higher and more aggressively in the midfield where Spain are dangerous.
There was also the matter of Iker. He had looked ok in his first two matches, but in PKs he looked lost. He only came close to stopping one and he was slow to get close to that one. I would never criticize a goalie in PKs because they so favor the shooter, but he was noticeably bad. I thought he had no legs or confidence.
After the Italy debacle I thought Del Bosque would go back to what had worked in his two group matches that mattered. If no Cesc then it's time to go with the super fresh legged David Villa who is Spain's all time leading goal scorer who did not see the pitch against Italy and was fresh. My line up was easy.
Goalie
Valdes
Iker looked bad against Italy and in a game where Brazil are sure to press up high Valdes will be better to start because HE IS USED TO PLAYING THE BALL TO BARCELONA PLAYERS OUT OF THE BACK.
Arebeloa Pique Ramos Alba
Xavi, Inesta, Busquets
Cesc(Villa if hurt) Soldado Pedro
Soldado would be fresh legs again with either Cesc or Villa who would have fresh legs and both of those players with Pedro are USED TO PLAYING IN THE BARCA SYSTEM AND KNOW HOW TO PLAY OFF THE MIDFIELDERS BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE ON THE BENCH.
(Sorry for the caps, but I'm trying to drive home some points here)
Navas could come on and if necessary Mata or Cozolla.
So what happened. He started Torres. That was bad, really bad. Torres was barely picked for the competition and off a goal against Nigeria and no goals against Italy he gets the start in the final against Brazil? On what basis? He wasn't even relevant in Euro 2012. I could write a novel about how bad this decision was, but I will leave you with what I think is the best point. Brazil was probably elated seeing Torres over Soldada and knew they could play a little more aggressive for it and attack the midfield and backline with more pressure.
Then he started Juan Mata. This one actually upset me more. Mata had no business being out there and did nothing to deserve it. Del Bosque might have been using this line of thinking. Cesc would have been in if he wasn't hurt and he is an attacking midfielder. Silva had failed the prior match to fill that role, so he decided to opt for another attacking mid in Mata who was more of a threat to score than Silva, but one problem. MATA IS NOT USED TO PLAYING IN THE BARCA SYSTEM AND WAS OFTEN TIMES IN THIS MATCH CAUGHT OUT OF POSITION OR MADE THE WRONG PASS. Villa was the right choice here hands down. He had the experience and would draw defenders because of his range and HE WAS USED TO PLAYING IN THE BARCELONA SYSTEM WITH THE MIDFIELDERS AND PEDRO.
So what happened. Brazil came out and pressed the ball all over the pitch. They decided to play aggressive and pressed Spain making it hard to play out of the back. They forced Iker to play long balls. A strategy that worked against Barcelona a lot this year and decreased the potency of their attack at times by forcing Valdes to lob it down the pitch and made Barca work for possession. They grabbed an early goal when Iker fell asleep staring at the ball one foot in front of him. The bottom line is he's the best keeper in the world, but he's not 100% fit and his confidence is down. Del Bosque ignored all the warning signs and it cost him a goal. Also this whole possession should have been stopped before Hulk crossed it. He turned it over, but Juan Mata gave the ball right back to him. Watch how Mata behaves during this sequence. He looks like a guy who is out of place and unsure of what he is supposed to be doing.
Spain were playing frantic the rest of the first half never able to settle the ball. They were very aggressive with their tackles. If Spain has a beef it would be the referee allowed Brazil to get away with too much, pulling zero yellow cards on Brazil. Brazil earned at least 2 first half cards for their tactics and this did have a big effect on the game. It's like in NBA basketball when officials don't call fouls on players when they drive to the basket. They get beat up enough times without a call and start settling for jump shots. Spain reacted to the no calls in two ways. They got loose with their passing thinking they suddenly had to do too much with the ball and second they mentally started feeling hard done. You could see it in their body language.
Another factor that played a roll was the condition of the pitch. It looked heavy and clumpy. If you have ever read anything I have written in the past you will know that most teams allow their pitch to be this way against Barcelona because it slows the passing game down and decreases passing accuracy. It was a non factor for Brazil because they played long balls in the air. I would expect this type of pitch in a European match, but not in a FIFA event. The pitch at the most glorious stadium in the world was in that bad of shape? I think not. It was done on purpose. More home cooking.
Credit David Luiz for his huge save on the Pedro shot, but does it surprise you that Pedro missed yet another huge chance in a big game? He did it all year for Barcelona. Still a great defensive play and it changed the game because that was for sure going in and it would have put a massive amount of pressure on Brazil.
Instead poor defending lead to a Neymar shot, which Iker didn't seem to have the legs to get too. I think at that point Spain were all done. They had let a sure goal get away and they had no one that could bring them to life offensively on the pitch. Once Del Bosque opened with the same front three I felt the game was up.
The third goal was a sin. First Spain came out in the second half and got outworked. How does that happen? Aren't you supposed to come out fired up and all energy? Didn't Del Bosque give them a big time pep talk? Didn't he remind them that who they were?
Two minutes into the second half I wasn't feeling like he gave a speech at all. Brazil won a ball back they shouldn't have, completed passes they shouldn't have, and put one by Iker that they shouldn't have. If Iker allowed soft goals like this so frequently in the past Barcelona would have a few more Liga titles to talk about. Again though I'll defend him because it's not his ability or age, but just the lack of playing time he was granted after his recovery. Being thrust into this type of match was a mistake and his manager needed to step up and realize that. He needed to stop trying to prove a point about Iker. Iker could do that at Real Madrid next season on his own.
Navas came on for Mata, but why? What did Mata do wrong? Oh I know. He was ineffective with the ball. Caused the first goal to happen, bungled a few key sequences, and provided little threat to Brazil's back line. Probably because he's an attacking midfielder and HE'S NOT USED TO PLAYING IN THE BARCELONA SYSTEM AND HAS RARELY BEEN USED IN THIS TYPE OF SPOT. That could have something to do with it, but I don't know for sure.
Navas gave Spain some life and caused the penalty shot. AND THEN THE DUMBEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN HAPPENED WHEN RAMOS RAN UP AND TOOK THE PENALTY WITHOUT DISCUSSION. (Ok I've seen dumber things, but at the time this seemed pretty dumb.) How in the world does Ramos take that penalty of Xavi? Remember the huge penalty that Ramos, a defender, missed against Bayern two years ago? It was the reason that he shook his finger and pointed at his back when he scored against Italy because everyone thought he would miss and he knew it. (Jackass) There seemed to be no discussion about this and with this missed penalty the match was over, this time for sure. Can you second guess this decision, absolutely! DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB. I digress.
The Pique red was the icing on the worst officiated match I've seen in a while. A for sure yellow, but it was not a red. In context he should have given Spain a break here because he had cut Brazil so much slack. It didn't matter since the game was out of reach after the missed PK, but the officiating should not be forgotten about. How Brazil got no yellows was shameful and it allowed them to get away with murder in the first half. In the second they slowed down with the game in hand.
David Villa was brought on, but this was too little too late. It mirrored the second leg of the Copa semi for Barca against Madrid where Barca fell 3 behind and brought on Villa too late. Poor David Villa. It's like everyone quit on him this year. I think maybe a year too soon.
Now many people will point out that I probably was very Barca biased in this piece, but that's what Spain has become. Barca-lite and I don't blame Del Bosque for that. If I could play Barcelona, even without Messi, against International sides I would be a favorite every time. The team comes in prepared to play together and it doesn't hurt that they have been the best team in the world over the past five years bar none. That's why I say it is what it is.
The issue I have with Del Bosque is he seems to make decision based on one of two things.
1. I have to play certain players because they are big names and it will come at the expense of the lesser names. Soldado, Lorente, and Navas are not as big of names as Mata, Silva, and Torres. I think he believes that he can't take criticism when he plays those guys because that's what any other coach would do. The problem I have with this line of thinking is that it's a team game. Play the team that gives you the best chance.
2. I have to play other players because I don't want to look like I'm just taking advantage of the Barcelona team and that I'm actually improving on them. The problem I have with there is no team that plays quite like Barcelona so when you insert key pieces into the team, and that style, they struggle to adjust and can actually get neutralized by their own side. Just like Juan Mata today. He was out of his element and Torres over the last few years.
In either case I think a little bit of both is true. Del Bosque's ego wants to believe that more of Spain's success is what he has done rather than being a byproduct of the Barcelona era where so many players are playing for one side and playing a style that has changed world football. He has done a lot, but just as in the case with Bayern and Germany the players train all year together for the most part. The best international sides will always be the ones where the core of the team play together year round. It's such a massive advantage. Just ask Mexico and Uruguay. Two teams loaded with stars who have both suddenly begun to struggle in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup (Although I think they both get in). Why, because their players are scattered throughout the globe. Brazil suffered with this same problem, but overcame it due to playing together a lot in the last two months and getting the home cooking I pointed out in an earlier post.
I tweeted earlier that Del Bosque needs to step aside. I was half joking, but I think he does in a way. Not for a new coach, but from the coach he has become. He needs to realize that in order to raise the Cup in Brazil next season he needs to play the best available players at each position and be less concerned with how many Barcelona players he starts and who's feelings he hurts. To be the greatest team of all time you have to hold yourself to the lofty standards. The Confed Cup is a small prize and they lost it last time too. I can see past this, but I hope lessons have been learned.
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