Spain 0-0 Portugal: Portugal upset Spain’s rhythm but fail to record a shot on target

The starting line-ups
Spain defeated Portugal on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Vicente del Bosque surprisingly named Alvaro Negredo as his lone striker, meaning Cesc Fabregas dropped to the bench. The rest of the side was as expected.
Paulo Bento was forced to change his striker, with Helder Postiga injured. As already announced, Hugo Almeida replaced him.
A difficult game to summarise – Portugal pressed well in midfield, broke up Spain’s passing and restricted the number of opportunities del Bosque’s side had. However, they lacked a goal threat of their own, and then Spain were the better side in extra time.
Pressing
The most interesting feature of the game was Portugal’s bravery in midfield. Unlike many other sides, and unlike themselves against Germany, Portugal competed in the midfield zone, three versus three. Generally, Miguel Veloso picked up Xavi Hernandez, who had one of his quieter games. Further up, Raul Meireles was on Sergio Busquets, and Joao Moutinho on Xabi Alonso. These three were happy to switch around, however.
At some points Spain threatened to play the ball past the pressure, but on the whole they looked unsettled, nervous and uncomfortable being forced into hurried passes. That was a surprise – these are amongst the most technically capable midfielders around – but they were simply unaccustomed to this pressure, more used to first halves spent knocking the ball from side to side, picking their moment to increase the tempo.
Spain didn’t press particularly heavily – they stood off and kept a more solid shape than usual, sometimes looking like 4-4-1-1 with the wide players deeper than Xavi. Del Bosque was possibly concerned that Spain had two days less to prepare for the game, and wanted to conserve his side’s level of fitness.
High line
Of course, in combination with midfield pressing, Portugal had to play a reasonably high defensive line to make sure there wasn’t a huge gap between midfield and attack, which David Silva and Andres Iniesta would have enjoyed working in. They did this well – again, they were simply brave with their positioning, with Pepe generally getting himself in a covering position, as the centre-back with more pace.
A couple of times Spain tried long balls over the top for Negredo. This can be looked at in two ways – on one hand, it was a demonstration that Portugal’s pressing in midfield was forcing Spain to play a type of football they’re not used to. On the other, one could say Spain were adapting to the situation and looking to exploit the space they were presented with – which was in behind the defence, not in front of it. Either interpretation makes sense, but as Spain struggled to create chances with this approach, the former seems more appropriate.
Negredo
Part of Spain’s problem was Negredo, who was barely involved in the game. Much of that was not his fault – the players behind weren’t getting time on the ball to provide him with good service.
However, his role in the side was unclear, and it wasn’t certain what del Bosque wanted him to do. Negredo’s an interesting player, an all-rounder. Whereas Fernando Llorente is obviously Spain’s most physical striker, Fernando Torres is/was their quickest, and Fabregas is the man geared to clever link-up play, Negredo is a jack of all trades.
As David Cartlidge writes here, “Negredo is comfortable playing in many different ways; he can drift into the channels and hold off opponents until support arrives, play on the shoulder with a ball in-behind and importantly operate adeptly with his back to goal.” Which is a tremendous range of attributes, but which was he supposed to showcase here? Why was he picked ahead of Torres, Llorente and Fabregas? To play on the shoulder, presumably, but Spain didn’t provide him with clever service to exploit that ability, and Portugal defended well at the back.
Portugal left / Spain right
The other interesting part of the pitch was, as expected, the Cristiano Ronaldo v Alvaro Arbeloa battle. Arbeloa spent the first half pushing high up past his club teammate, providing an out-ball for long diagonals, and sometimes forcing Meireles to come across and intercept passes intended for him.
Ronaldo played more like a second striker at times. Spain needed bodies in a midfield zone they didn’t have control of, so Busquets couldn’t move over and cover. A couple of times Ronaldo got into good positions, but the pass rarely came, and when it did, Gerard Pique moved towards him.
Going the other way, twice Arbeloa and David Silva created 2 v 1 situations against Fabio Coentrao, who spent the first half playing deeper than usual. Spain could have been more intelligent in these situations, but they were demonstrating width and forward drive, often lacking in previous games.
But the really interesting part of Ronaldo v Arbeloa was how this movement affected the positioning of other players. Silva, for example, came inside quickly to create space on the overlap and seemed narrower than against France, but didn’t get any time on the ball between the lines. At the other end, Almeida moved over towards that side, trying to take advantage of the space that came when Arbeloa was high up, or when he was sticking tight to Ronaldo.
Second half
The pattern of the game changed after half-time. First, Arbeloa stopped moving in advance of Ronaldo so readily, and the opportunities down that flank (and the resulting movement from elsewhere) dried up. Around the same point, Ronaldo and Nani switched wings for a brief period – it was probably coincidental, but Spain seemed to settle down into a much better spell of passing.
The game became a little dull here, with Spain dominating possession without creating real chances. Portugal’s pressing dropped, and the sides played in front of each other.
Substitutes
Both coaches looked to the bench, and here Spain had the upper hand in terms of squad size. Bento has used his bench more productively than most coaches in this tournament, as both Nelson Oliveira and Silvestre Varela have had good cameo roles. However, Del Bosque had a much greater range of options and completely reformatted his attack.
Spain went from having Silva and Iniesta on the flanks, and Negredo upfront, to Jesus Navas and Pedro Rodriguez wide, and Fabregas dropping deep from a centre-forward position. This was probably the closest we’ve seen to a Barcelona-style ‘false nine’ system, with Fabregas moving into midfield and two quick players coming inside from wider positions.
In fact, this nearly worked brilliantly. In extra-time Fabregas won a high ball, dragged the defenders towards him, and slipped the ball to Pedro, darting centrally from the left. He was briefly clear of the Portuguese backline, but turned inside rather than taking the ball on, and was tackled in a not dissimilar fashion to the way he wasted a fine chance at this stage of the World Cup two years ago.
Spain had other chances, too – most notably one from Iniesta that produced a fine save from Patricio. Again, this came following width – and Spain were able to turn up the tempo and fly down the wings as Portugal tired.
The final stages were about fitness and discipline. Both sides tired, and there were nine yellow cards shown, all to defenders or holding midfielders. Both sides focused upon keeping their shape rather than pressing.
Maybe Bento’s side were exhausted having pressed heavily early on. Their opportunities came from two sources – either Ronaldo free-kicks, or counter-attacks. Their chance in the final minute of normal time, when Meireles’ poor pass to Ronaldo meant the captain couldn’t take the ball into his stride, was a huge opportunity. They were on the verge of the perfect performance against Spain, and Bento’s tactics throughout the game can barely be faulted, despite Iker Casillas not having to make a save.
But even Bento would accept Spain were more dangerous in extra time. Pedro, Navas and Jordi Alba were the main men as Spain flooded forward down the flanks. If either side was going to win it, it was Spain – but 0-0 was a fair scoreline after 120 minutes.
Conclusion
Spain progressed, but Bento was the more tactically astute manager here. Portugal were highly impressive, pressing energetically and remaining compact. Their transitions could have been better, and they didn’t counter-attack as prolifically as Bento would have hoped – but it only needed one moment. That Meireles – Ronaldo incident was it.
Overall, Portugal’s performance in this tournament has been very good, and Bento deserves a great deal of credit. Portugal, after all, were only third favourites to progress from their group – so getting within penalties of the final is a good, if frustrating, achievement. Aside from not sorting out his left flank against Denmark, the majority Bento’s decisions were justified.
The same can’t be said for del Bosque – the Negredo move was fruitless. His substitutes had a good impact, but he still isn’t sure of his best attacking combination, and it’s now twice in five games (after the match against Italy) where his side looked genuinely clueless in the final third for the first hour of the game.
For as long as Spain continue their astonishing record of clean sheets in the knockout rounds (that’s now nine in a row) they won’t be embarrassed. They’re in the final, of course, and their incredible array of attacking players, their cohesive overall footballing philosophy and del Bosque’s consistency of selection (throughout the majority of the side) deserves much admiration.
But in individual games they can be nullified by an intelligent coach, as Cesare Prandelli, Slaven Bilic and now Bento have shown. The question is, can they be beaten?
I only have one question. Who does Del Bosque hate Llorente?
Maybe he doesn’t deem him fit enough at this point? It’s been said that the Athletic Bilbao season took a serious toll on the players.
The rumor is that Llorente has poor fitness. I then wonder why did Del Bosque call him up in the first place of that is true.
This is totally plausible as atletic bilbao went to the C3 final added to the liga, and always the same players were playing, with a direct football approach so they must be burnt out.
Maybe that’s why Muniain didn’t get called too, let’s hope next year they don’t pull a villarreal and injure their best player+finish in second division because of the fatigue accumulated the previous season…
To prevent a civil war.
^^ word of wisdom
Though exaggerated, it is darn spot on
Thing is, if he needed a Basque and doesn’t trust Llorente, bring Munian, he fits the system better.
Muniain is even more tired
The Athletic board begged the spanish federation not to take Muniain, as he is quite simply half dead by now
What do you mean they are tired? Is Llorente so tired he can’t even play 40 minutes? This is nonsense. Tired or not tired, Llorente has been a goal machine lately. Give the guy some chance for God’s sake!
Llorente is not even Basque while Xabi Alonso is, so that is pointless.
god now spain has reached the final i hope they are finaly going to try to attack at least from half-time, and put somebody more speedy upfront like preferably mata, or pedro…
i understand and respect VDB’s approach to put ball keepers on as much as possible to keep possession lower the rythmn, and lower the opponent’s (counter) attack possibilities for the longest moment possible, mainly because those players like xavi, xabi alonso are the one playing the more games a year for 4 years now (i don’t have the stats but they must be right up there, but come on now put mata on please !
Your plan to decrease your team’s attacking threat to lower the possibilities of a silly footballish upset has worked, now attack properly again germany for a game to be remembered VDB !
you have to understand VDB’s approach is to put more ball keepers is due to the fact that Spain don’t have a good striker. please don’t tell me Llorente, Torres, and Negredo are good. the 3 of them combined are the lowest scoring strike force among the big teams in all of Europe. as a result VDB has to field midfielders whose natural job is to maintain possession. secondly its extremely difficult to drop players such as Alonso, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Silva, Fabregas from the starting lineup and put in place Torres, Llorente, Negredo, Pedro … these 4 players are the weaker than the rest and they haven’t had brilliant seasons. VDB dropped Silva in the world cup and Silva complained, it may be easy to say that VDB shouldn’t start with Silva and should put in place a more attacking player such as Torres but Silva is a huge player and had a great season, thus VDB is forced to start with him and the rest of the ball keepers as they have all had good seasons.
The point I’m trying to get at is that Spain have not adopted a slower approach intentionally, their current approach is a consequence of not having a striker who can finish. If Villa was fit, he would start for sure and Spain would definitely play at a faster rhythm because they have one less midfielder and a player who they can pass to in the box.
Llorente is an excellent striker, have you ever seen him play?
Probably not. Maybe this will help him to create an idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbLSg1PdSQI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7z6ThxbOwM&feature=related
FORZA ITALIA.
——————Buffon
——-Barzagli Bonucci Chiellini
Abate De Rossi Pirlo Marchisio Balzaretti
—————–Diamanti
—————–Balotelli
Will destroy the Germans and the Spanish.
Like they ‘destroyed’ England?
Are they going to score 0 goals against Germany too?
not even close. thered be two free men on defence (creating gaps elsewhere) plus even if they did go with three at the back, maggio and giaccherini would be the wingbacks
maggio is suspended. he wouldnt have started against germany anyway and it doesn’t matter because germany will beat them
Thought that Portugal played 4-4-2 (with Ronaldo as a striker) for the first half of extra-time, then went back to 4-3-3 for the second half – would have to see it again to be sure though.
It’s interesting that Spain started playing real well when they switched to a Barac set-up: Iniesta up front of Sergio and Xabi, and with two wide players (Navas and Pedro). Before they had Xavi in up front role. He’s obviously uncomfortable there not being a very mobile player and it is a wonder why del Bosquue keeps him there. Dropping Xabi and playing Xavi deeper as well as Iniesta in the center (and not on the left as it is now), would make space for wingers and some width, as in the extra time.
I’m surprised how conservative del Bosque is and I almost wish they pay the price eventually. It’s almost negative football which is a shame given the player at disposal.
Thought the same thing.
-Xavi is not a number 10 and needs to play deeper and have players in front of him to be most effective
-Iniesta is brilliant wherever he plays, but most dangerous when i nthe center,
so why not dropping Xabi and play the Barca-midfield
They play like that in Barcelona, so it would be perfect, I don´t really understand why he VDB isn´t doing that.
Only reason might be because he doesn´t want to drop Alonso(who is a great player btw.) for political reason or because he´s just conserative.
With Iniesta in the center, this would make space for Pedro as left-winger, so you have more width.
I would then start with Fabregas as false nine and Silva on the right, or Silva as false nine and Mata as a winger.
————————–Busquets————————
—————–Xavi————————————-
———————————–Iniesta—————-
——–Silva/Mata——–Fabregas/Silva———–Pedro–
Also would be interesting to see Llorente upfront as a target player and Navas on the right to feed him with crosses.
Sounds like and interesting plan b, especially considering that spain might be more unpredicable than, because they would be a thread to
1)good passing and dribblings
2) and crosses(also overlapping, especially through Jordi Alba, would be more effective).
Given the way Alonso has played during this tournament, I’d play him instead of Xavi. Up front, I’d play Silva and Pedro wide with Fabregas as a false 9. I don’t think Llorente will work in Spain’s system. Which of course leads me to question why del Bosque called him up instead of Soldado, who seems a more suitable replacement for Villa.
Alonso would prefer to sit deep even more than Xavi though, his natural game is the deepest of the 3 midfield.
Without Alonso their midfield would get overrun by the sheer physicality of either the Germans or the Italians (mostly de Rossi here). Busquets remains soft and the only reason he works at club level is Dani Alves. He covers a huge zone in the right flank, allowing them to congest the rest and keep safe.
Obviously Arbeloa can’t perform that role, so you need a tough midfielder. Of del Bosque’s selections, Alonso is the toughest.
I think Alonso is the weakest link there. He’s had an ambisal second half of the season (speaking of overrunning, what did Kroos to him in semi-finals) and is clearly not fit. Busquets has been doing the same at Barca and he’s been a success. I actually think he is the reason why Alves can play so up in the field, and not the other way round. I also don’t think anyone is going to bully Busquets as besides being a strong man himself, he is a clever little prick and know when to fall.
To think employing a pacy winger and strong center forward could make a team more unpredictable is funny change from the norm. It shows how this Spanish side has come to rely almost exclusively on their tiki-taka style of play.
Barca’s wide front line provides the midfield space for the technical masters to circulate the ball in their mesmeric style. In contrast, Spain seems to have space resulting from their opponents’ fear of Iniesta, Silva, & co., than from players being in genuinely dangerous positions. Whoever ends up in the final could benefit from more aggressive pressing because Spain take some time to work players into position to get in behind defenses. As always with the best team in the world–easier said than done.
Yeah, funny at first, but when you think about it, it might make sense.
Spains opponents make the center really ght and close, because they know thats where they are dangerous and because the know they cannot bring high crosses.
So as a plan b, if scoring trought the middle isn´t working, you could bring Bavas and Llorente, so you have both options of crosses and combinations, so the opponents can longer only focus on the midle but also has to be concerned about real danger from the flanks.
I also thought so for a long time (why not drop Xabi), but Spain needs him. Even more so since Puyol is out, and Javi Martinez and Llorente out of form. He is tall, he is strong, he is good at headers. Probably he is also some sort of ‘leader’. Without him, they’d only have Pique and Ramos being able to defend corners (Busquets is tall, but light and weak).
Xabi is helping Spain defend, and he is taking their penalties.
Agreed. Though I do not want them to pay the price as I’m a supporter. I dont think the main reason is being conservative, I think it is ego: VDB dropped Silva in the world cup, he doesn’t want to drop him in place of Navas/Pedro who, in my opinion are better for the team but had a worse season compared to Silva who on the other hand had a great season and played brilliant in the Spain friendlies before the euros. And VDB cannot drop Alonso and Xavi, both of them are huge players, even though Spain would play better without one of them.
Spain just have so many brilliant players, dropping any one of them just sounds ridiculous. Each player from the current starting 11 is an integral (or the most integral) part of their respective clubs:
Fabregas (former Arsenal captain, part of current Barca setup),
Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi (spine of Barca-considered to be one the greatest club sides),
Alonso (Madrid-anchor of club considered to the be the best team this season),
Silva (Man City-very important for the Premier League champions)
….. so who do you drop?
Can you drop any one of these names to put in place…. Torres, Llorente, Negredo, Pedro – all who have had terrible seasons – without hurting their egos?? It may be easy to say that VDB has a lot to choose from but it’s very difficult when each player in his starting lineup up is worth more than 30-40mill euros.
My personal favorite is 4-3-3:
————————––-Busquets———————
—————–Xavi/Alonso—-————————–
———————————–Iniesta——————–
-–Navas———-–Fabregas—–———–Pedro–
Sounds good.
Still ridicolous to drop a player like SILVA.
Navas seems a bit “one-dimensional” to me, and is not as good as SIlva, but his style fitter.
Maybe one could start with Silva to not hurt his ego and pass the opponent to death, and läter bringing Navas, just like VDB did a lot of times.
Than you still have the problem that you´d have to drop eiter Xavi or Alonso, which seems impossible due to political reason.
So maybe one should start with Alonso and Avi and dropping Busquets.
Most important to me would be Iniesta in the center and Pedro on on the flanks, anyways.
Are Xavi and Xabi Spain’s Gerrard and Lampard ?
From that point of view, Mata should be there starting or at least as a sub. He’s had a good season and been a key player for Chelsea. The least you would expect is a chance for him.
I never liked VDB’s choice of a 2-defensive midfielder formation. Xavi and Iniesta simply don’t need 2 holding midfielders. As the WC2010 showed, Spain was becoming more dangerous when Spain were switching to a 1-holder formation. It is as though VDB realised that the Barca style must be emulated, but were afraid to drop Xabi Alonso for the sake of overall good athmosphere in the team. One explanation of VDB’s stubborness is his desire to keep the psychological balance, which is always tricky. Another factor is the overal tiredness of the team. Perhaps the level of fatigue is such that VDB clearly realises that they cannot press with the intensity needed to maintain 75% possession.
Anyhow, what I cannot understand is how come VDB doesn’t play Pedro who is ideal in pressing and knows all the moves. Silva – as technically gifted as he is – doesn’t fit into the Barca system and plays risky forward passes way too often. (Perhaps it has to do with th fact that he plays for an English club. Fabregas had the same impatience when he arrived from Arsenal.) The same goes for Xabi Alonso, with his inclination to play long and risky when he can play short an maintain the possession. The Barca style takes a certain mindset – patience is essential. Not every player has that.
I definitely feel that a barça style 4-3-3 is the way to go for spain.
They don’t necessarily have to press as intensely as barça but they should definitely play with the quicker tempo short passes offensive mindset with a false nine, two fast wingers running in behind, and constant overlapping runs from fullback.
Fabregas seems to be their man of choice for this position even though barça rarely play him there as his strength comes from driving midfield runs. I would consider playing mata in this role but I wouldn’t start him this late in the tournament. Fabregas is doing alright in the role and should definitely start the final. Although he isn’t primarily a fast winger I would play iniesta on the left though simply to give the team the option of adding a player to the midfield zone to dominate possession against a 3 man midfield (germany) or maintain the numerical advantage against a team that typically starts 4 central midfielders (Italy). That would also open up room to start alonso in midfield playing the role xavi plays for barcelona rather than operating as part of a double pivot with busquets. Leaving Alonso on the field enables the team to play long diagonal balls but he is definitely capable of playing short passes higher up in tandem with xavi and fabregas. I would start pedro on the right playing the exact role he does at barcelona. he knows how to play that exact forward role and is always fresh enough to press when needed.
In defense I think they should start javi martinez (unless he is also a fitness concern) with pique to create a centre back partnership that is ludicrously good at passing and able to exchange with busquets whenever needed. Sergio Ramos has looked shaky at CB but confident going forward. Playing him as an attacking RB would be just fine. Should they fall under sustained pressure from (presumably) germany, having Ramos tucked in a tighter back 4 would be totally solid. He would essentially be playing the same role Eric Abidal plays for Barcelona only on the right. A player equally comfortable at centre back with some attacking inclination who is content to be the second fiddle when it comes to the attacking fullback position.
I guess that would lead to a lineup like this:
Casillas
Ramos — Martinez —- Pique —— Alba
—————Busquets————
———–Alonso——————–
——————–Xavi
Pedro——-Fabregas———-Iniesta
Every barça player in the squad (other than valdes) (Martinez and alba are understandably barcelona transfer targets)
Should lead to another trophy for spain
you could go extreme and drop alonso in favor of an all barça midfield and someone else at left forward or false nine but I wouldn’t go that far.
I don’t really understand Del Bosque’s decision to play Silva so much in this tournament. Silva had a successful season playing as an inverted winger in a high tempo team that predominately played a 4-4-2 and didn’t place much emphasis on technique. He understandably thrived in this environment because he is a player that posses incredible balance, ball control, vision, and overall technical skill and was playing against premier league defenses that while strong in some ways tend to struggle against players with his skill set. He had an amazing season but based on the circumstances around it I would not play him so much in this team. I do have to admit that he has the big tournament experience from his time with the 2008 and 2010 squads. Sometimes that makes all the difference. I guess we’ll see this Sunday.
Cesc with two actual forwards seems the best way forward. Iniesta and more so Silva both drop deep with Cesc drops out of the #9 position, Pedro and Navas move into the space he leaves. Mata and Cazorla are somewhere in the middle, with Mata being a little more forward running than Cazorla.
How on Earth does Ronaldo not go in the first 3? I can understand not wanting him to go first, but he has to be promised a chance.
From my comment on the Spain-France game, when talking about the differenci in approach from France and Portugal:
“Question remains if a different approach is enough to disrupt Spain.”
It was obivous throughout that it was.
Portugal managed to break the tiki-taka with some inteligent pressing, Spain looked somewhat lost and it made for a very balanced game.
Problem was Portugal lacked cohesion upfront, with Almeida clearly not providing the same kind of link up play that Postiga does.
If you consider his finishing (3 shots in good positions, all off target), one can only wonder what would have been….
Portugal had a very good 1st half and should have capitalized from their “surprise” tactic.
Spain needed to adjust throughout, and one could feel they were getting better by the minute, as Portugal tired and Spain kept putting more on form players on the pitch.
Pedro and Fabregas had a huge impact on the game, one that isn’t available to a team like Portugal.
Spain gradually controlled the game more and more and could have settled it in OT.
P.S: Some curious incidents in the shootouts:
- Moutinho, who once missed 5 penalties in a season while still at Sporting, took the 1st one
- B.Alves thought it was his turn and went all the way to the penalty area, before Nani straightened him up
- S.Ramos with a (low key) Pirlo impression
- Ronaldo was the 5th man in Portugal’s penalty lineup (which is ridiculous!)
I felt that it was ridiculous too. I even suspect he asked Bento to be 5th, so that he might not need to take the penalty at all. My friend however argues that many great players were set to shoot as 5th man – Drogba, Pele, Baggio, Platini etc., and it’s up to tactics (like: putting best shooters at the beginning/at the end). As I said, I feel that was weird to tell Cristiano to shoot as last, but I can’t really indicate what’s wrong in it. Can you tell me?
I like that he took no. 5, the vital match-deciding penalty as opposed to the easy way out but glory-hogging no.1. That was real courage. Think of this: both the last two penalties hit the furniture; Portugal’s went out, Spain’s went in. If either of those results had been different then Portugal would have had Mr Reliable (penalty-wise) burying no.5 and putting Spain under massive pressure.
“Asking to take no. 5 to avoid having to take one at all”? I mean come on, that’s some real hating on a brother. He was unfortunate Portugal lost the coin toss and the uneven penalty result became a possibility (if Portugal had kicked first he’d have definitely had his turn).
Or if you like they could have put some idiot on no.5 duty, say David Batty vs. Argentina in 1998 who literally had not taken a competitive penalty in his career.
You don’t think that penalty #5 is more glory hogging than #1? The penalty that may decide the shootout and hog all the spotlight. You don’t think that Ronaldo wanted all that spotlight which is why he took it?
Because Ronaldo is such a good penalty taker(and the captain and their best player), he shoulve taken one of the first penalties so that he would put the pressure on the opponent and set the standard for his teammates. But no, he managed to not take a penalty afterall.
In this particular situation, Portugal certainly made a mistake with Bruno Alves. Nani or whoever insisted that he go and take over the third penalty when Bruno Alves was already there should take some of the blame for that.
There’s credence in both of the points above about should Ronaldo have been no.5 and the broader point of how important the number 5 position is. More often than not it is a very pressurised spot, but you have to understand if you are in that spot that you may not take a penalty at all, and so needs must. So for example in this game, to have an inexperienced penalty taker at 4 when you have your star player and penalty expert at 5 is a poor plan. In a microcosm it’s like sending Kevin Pietersen to bat at number 11. Inspired if you need 10 runs to win off the last over. Idiotic if you need 40, because he’s irrelevant, just like Ronaldo last night.
Problem is you need someone who can take the pressure AND score from penalties frequently for #5.
Should’ve kept Meireles instead of Moutinio and used him for that, with Ronaldo at #2 or 1. He has great technical skills but hasn’t shown he can take the pressure.
I definitely have to say that taking a decisive 5th penalty is infinitely more glory hogging than taking first. Every replay of a PK shootout, you’ll likely never see the first shot (and especially if it goes in). You’ll likely see a crucial miss, and the winning kick. For example, every game summary I’ve seen on TV has shown Cesc Fabregas’s winning fifth kick.
But Cesc (and all number 5 takers) deserves the all the accolades he gets for both Itlay and Portugal pens because the stakes at number 5 are incredibly high. Miss number 5 and two years of hard work for your entire nation go down the toilet. Miss number one or two (Montolivo, Xabi Alonso) and you have time to set it right. So it is right that last takers are shown on the highlight reels because they deserve it.
Thing is, the #5 spot is not a glory position when shooting last; the only way to win it is if the teams are level; it’s more likely that he will need to score to continue, rather than to win.
The #5 spot going second is the least likely of the original 10 to not shoot.
It makes no sense. I get not putting him first, as the pressure is big, but I think 3rd is a good option, most statistically missed spot, but you still know he will get a chance.
You forgot that lately “Mr Reliable” failed three times.
I did not forget, but he’s scored a hundred others versus three or four misses. And which did he fail? The one versus Neuer, yes, but the one the week later he just tried a chip and doesn’t really count. 2008 vs. Cech? That was four damn seasons ago.
He might have missed but it would be very unlikely compared to his teammates, or indeed anyone else in the competition.
I think if you team is not starting the penalties, the best player should take the 4th penalty, because the penalty could very well be over before the 5th.
It can be over by the 4th, too. 1-3 are going to shoot, 4th might not.
Who is to say that C Ronaldo would’ve scored?
He missed in the Champions League with Real Madrid this year. And remember when he was with Manchester? Another miss in the Champions League.
About the 5th penalty, one has to see that placing the best penalty takers at the beginning is somewhat of a recent thing. Until not so long ago in the past, the two best penalty takers would be the first and last. Therefore, Ronaldo as last (imagine the pressure, especially if you are set to take the last penalty of the series since your team starts second) was not so strange.
Note as well that the only times Ronaldo won a penalty shoot-out (that I can think of) was with Portugal. He has missed some three times his penalties for his clubs in penalty shoot-outs (once for Man Utd in the final of the CL, once for Real in the semis of the CL and I think once more for Real, but I am not sure).
Alba was excellent going forward.
Nani vs Alba was one of the most interesting battles in the match.
Alba was impressive.
Can’t believe he still had the energy to overlap in extra time.
Spain’s left side with Alba, Iniesta & Pedro was one of the best attacking flanks I’ve seen in the tournament.
I think Alonso was the best player tonight along with Busquets. They both dictated well and kept the flow in midfield, Alonso was also dropping deep and creating a 3 man defence (also playimaking from there) numerous times when Arbeloa/Alba were drifting forward. Final is gonna be a really tough physical game for Spain, either with Germany or Italy. I think now it’s the right time for Del Bosque to start Llorente. Negredo is inconsistent, Torres is slow and badly out of form, and Pedro cannot provide strong physical presence inside the box, unless he is deployed on the sides like today, where he creates havok. Nevertheless, it’s gonna be a hell of a final…
Negredo and Silva were largely useless tonight, hope Pedro and Fabregas start the final. The energy, width and runs Pedro brings are just what Spain needs. Also, his control of the long ball was amazing, would you ever make him out to be a target man? Iniesta combined well with Alba on the left flank, but I think in games when they get pressed in the midfield he should come inside and play quick one-twos with Xavi and Busquets (and Fabregas too, hopefuly), something that Alonso seems incapable of.
Portugal were so close to success at this competition, but Spain deservedly go through. Portugal were a good team throughout, with a highly impressive backline, solid (if underused) midfield and a forward line that carried a punch. Their failure today was their inability to get the ball forward consistently (with Spain’s pressure a big factor).
Spain had their toughest game here, so credit should go to them for winning. Portugal had the defense and midfield to play a high pressure game with a high line, which meant Spain couldn’t control the game as they like to do. This worked extremely well against a tired Spanish side and I really though Portugal might win this game at points during the game. But as ZM said, they simply had too many attacking options and easily could have won it in extra time. The front three of Fab, Pedro and Navas worked really well and should be retained at part in the final. I would play Fab, Iniesta and Pedro, as they have good chemistry and offer a good balance to the attack which is very much needed.
That and Arbeloa’s presense in the team remain Spain’s only weakness, and if Germany or Italy can exploit that, they could become European champions.
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Why Negredo:
Del Bosque knew Portugal was going to make it hard for Spain to play tiki-taka, and would force Spain to kick the ball into the sky, so he wanted to have a man upfront able to collect these balls. How many times was Negredo fauled by Alves?
Three times apparently, according to FourFourTwo’s Stats Zone.
How do you view this statistic?
I can see that Alves committed 5 fouls, and Negredo suffered 4, but one would probably have to compare the location of the fouls to see that Negredo was fouled 3 times by Alves, no? Am I missing something?
Yeah, I compared the location. One can’t be fully sure that it was indeed Alves that did foul Negredo on these occasions but he definetely didn’t do it more than three times.
I’m not sure what sibelkacem’s point was but suffering three fouls from the opposing centre back isn’t really all that much (to complain about).
I don’t think Del Bosque knew Portugal would press – they could well have been more defensive/played more purely on counter also, may even have worked better that way with more space?
My thinking was VDB went with Negredo as a fighter/physical player to tire & impact on Portugal’s strong central defence before making later, mobile changes – he loves changing the type of attack, a big believer in the whole ‘matches are decided in last 20 mins’ theory.
interesting analysis as always, but i wonder about the conclusion. portugal created few if any danger moments. really i can only think of one or two. and while one or two CAN make a difference, i don’t know how that adds up to bento being superior to del bosque.
spain created much better chances. yes they were frustrated, but i thought some of that was pretty cynical defending from players like alves who seemed more interested in hammering on spain players than in actually winning the ball. i didn’t see much creativity from portugal when they had the ball. instead, it seemed to me the plan was to disrupt spain’s possession game (which yes is a good idea) and then pounce on an error (which almost succeeded). but i think of that as reactive rather than proactive. its a fine plan, but does it mean the coach has outdone the opposing coach who is attempting to actually play?
one interesting note for me was how spain improved when xavi went out. that was surprising in some ways but not in others. he seems to slow the play most of the time and in this game it seemed like spain actually needed to speed things up. so when fabregas became the link to the attack things perked up. is that b/c portugal finally wore out from all that defending and so there was more space?
thanks michael for helping us think carefully about the tactical dimensions of these games.
I think Bento did better because his team was less talented, yet he produced a game that nearly matched the quality of Spain. I agree about Xavi, I always thought he should be a player (at this tournament, not 2 years ago) who plays 60 minutes to control the game and wear out the opponent, then be subbed for someone with more drive and direct passing (cesc as a straight swap, or someone on the wing to move iniesta inside).
Whenever their is an underdog vs. a favourite, if the match is more or less even, the underdog is praised heavily, while the favourite is criticized. But this is Spain and Portugal we’re talking about. Both teams are fantastic. Sure, the media didn’t pay much attention to Portugal pre tournament, but most people realized that this team was very powerful and dangerous. That’s why I think it’s unfair that people will say Portugal did great while Spain did bad. If one was to watch this game, not knowing anything at all about either team and their history, they would come out of that saying Spain were the better side and deserved to progress. Portugal pressed well, but they weren’t dangerous. Spain weren’t fantastic, but using my point of view, Spain kept more possession, were comfortable in defense, and created more scoring opportunities. Then it extra time, they dominated. So that’s that. Spain outplayed Portugal. Almeida was hardly more dangerous than Negredo.
Now, about del Bosque’s selection… I don’t agree with him. Llorente is by far Spain’s best and most talented CF. Unlike common belief, he isn’t static and one-dimensional, and definitely more than the classic EPL CF. I’ve heard that he’s been doing very well in training, so I just don’t understand why he hasn’t gotten a single minute. Personally, I think he is one of the top 10 strikers in the world, and I bet on him for the Golden Boot (how stupid am I?).
I also think the double pivot is a mistake unless you plan on using two wingbacks. Arbeloa has tried pushing up, but he simply isn’t a wingback. But VDB will not drop the system, that much is obvious. So instead, in a match like this, I would have preferred Javi Martinez over Alonso. I don’t mean drop Alonso permanently, but in this specific match, I feel as if Martinez was the better option. Alonso wasn’t asked to defend as much today. He might’ve contributed more offensively, but against Portugal, I can see Javi’s physicality and box-to-box skills could have been great for Spain late in the game. And I think Xavi would prefer playing with Javi Martinez behind/beside him.
The difference is Portugal is a much smaller country than Spain with about a quarter of the population and a fraction of the resources spent on caoching etc.
Spain are without doubt the best side in the world whereas no one thought Portugal would get out of their group.
Portugal were also the better side in the 90 minutes until they tired and the best side in the world looked rattled in the first half.
I thought Pique and Ramos had to defend excellently on occasions to nullify dangerous situations. The no shots on target part is misleading as Portugal fashioned several dangerous situations but finished poorly.
Th Portuguese midfield 3 also outplayed their much more illustrious counterparts during the 90 minutes before tiring in extra time. Man of the match was Joao Moutinho.
“But in individual games they can be nullified by an intelligent coach, as Cesare Prandelli, Slaven Bilic and now Bento have shown. The question is, can they be beaten?” – I don’t understand that at all. I havn’t seen Spain be nullified from any of there opponents.
Agree. Spain has often came out on top.
Portugal just did, but unable to finish the job.
Spain were the most unconvincing they’ve looked at a major tournament for years. Portugal made them look mortal, even beatable.
So true, refer to the comment by the person named ‘Me’ just above as well – Spain are expected to beat everyone easily, and things are often taken out of context when they win narrowly against other high quality teams (like Portugal).
To say ‘Spain were nullified’ is incorrect, diagnostically they were slightly the better team regardless of the penalties result.
Michael – some constructive criticism, you tend to allow assumptions and expectations to skew your view of the match and make tenuous general statements, like the nullification one.
They barely beat Croatia, were outplayed by Italy (draw), and today was fairly even, but Spain looked very tame for long stretches (draw). Tactically, they have had trouble against all three opponents.
I don’t know what you mean “they have had trouble”?
If you mean trouble in the sense of not finding a break-through(decisive chances and goals), maybe but, the only side that remotely troubled Spain were Italy in that 1st game.
If the Italy showing was people’s idea of out-playing Spain then it shows just how far ahead of the rest Spain really is!
Spain is rubbish.
Please explain.
Neither of the teams today played football..
Especially Portugal, their numbers of yellow cards receive showed how ‘dirty’ their defending is.
All four Defenders receive yellow card.
Spain have 4 yellow cards too, not much ‘cleaner’ if you look at it.
You’ve GOT to be kidding me, up until this match Pepe and Bruno Alves only had A SINGLE commited foul for the whole tournament. That renders your comment as absurd.
Ronaldo had golden chance to seal the game before 90 min, alas he skied it. Portugal showed fine team spirit but still lack one or two things, I guess. Spain looks like lack of stamina to press high, made many pass mistakes too.
Ronaldo could have done better with that chance, but to be fair, a smarter passer (i.e. any of Spain’s playmakers) would have put the ball through on the inside for Ronaldo to run onto 1v1 with the keeper, rather than (slightly behind him) on the outside, putting the defender between Ronaldo and the goal.
My understanding about how Spain play has been that the initial period is about wearing their opposition down. Try to score, sure, but more importantly, hold onto the ball and make the other team run. The period Spain consider ideal for scoring is about 60′ on. If the opposition are more resilient than usual then bring on a fast winger or dribbler. Someone that’ll make the opposition work that much more. To that effect del Bosque did a good job. Negredo was a toss up, but the rest falls into place.
I posted this over at guardian, but perhaps its more appropriate to post it here.
I think the insistence on using busquets, alonso and xavi is causing spain to play at a lower tempo and also makes xavi lot less influential. busquets is indispensable but perhaps choosing one of alonso or xavi and playing fabregas in a more advanced role might help. (Personally I will go for xavi as in my opinion he is one of the best deep lying playmakers in the game, no disrespect to alonso.)
David Silva is also in a very poor form by his standards and thats atleast one factor why spain look lot less menacing in the final third. The beauty (and attacking efficiency) of tiki-taka relies in the difference in speed of play during the buildup and in the final third. If one of the advanced players is in poor form, the whole set up can suffer. So the right side of spain’s play is very poor right now as silva is poor and arbeloa is not an attacking full back.
Hey. That’s my username
And, interestingly enough, those are my thoughts also.
I would drop Alonso. Two holding midfielders are a waste for Spain.
———-Casillas
Juanfran – Piqué – Ramos – Alba
———Busquets
—Fabregas – Xavi – Iniesta
——-Llorente – Torres
They don’t need width (they already have from the FBs – and Silva, Pedro and the likes always drive narrow anyways). They need forwards.
maybe your first name is different
. Its unlikely that del bosque will play with two center forwards ,also considering the form torres has been in (Ireland game isnt much of a measure of things as the irish were fairly poor). In my opinion, fabregas with Llorente might be a good pairing (with fabregas slightly deeper) and the mid-3 in front of busquets could be navas-xavi and iniesta. If you want to play with Llorente then you need width. Alba running from back does provide it on the left and putting navas on the right could get Llorente in the game more.
Spain go crazy with width….finally!
A pity they don’t start more with Pedro or Navas, they stretch a team across the pitch well and creates space in between the full back and centre back, which Iniesta loves to exploit. But what can you say, Del Bosque wants to cram all his playmakers in. I don’t find their system all that enjoyable but whenever Navas or Pedro are on the pitch, makes their game a little more enjoyable for me as it brings the best out in Iniesta. Negredo, the most pointless performance of all the tournament.
With Portugal, they have a long term problem in the striker department which reared its ugly head again this tournament. On one hand, they need someone to do the donkey work for Ronaldo but on the other hand, they also need that someone to at least offer something purposeful going forward. Nelson Oliveira isn’t ready at the moment, he has barely played for Benfica. That aside, I thought they did very well tonight and in the tournament in general. Their central midfield was robust and hardworking, just needs a little more creativity in the Meireles position, as I think Moutinho has solidified his position in the first XI in the long run. Something needs to give in the forward position or in that Meireles position to take this Portugal side up a level. Danny?
They were always going to find it draining in extra time when Spain had both wide players up and running, stretched Portugal right across the pitch. They had no answer for it at that time at all.
Portugal will be much more threatening if Danny plays as a number 10, it is such a shame that he is injured
I’m sorry but I think the worst thing we could’ve done in this match would’ve been to play a #10 like Danny (which we don’t have at the moment anyway). A battling runner less in a team set up exclusively to run the opposition down, only for a #10 to face a duo of world class defensive midfielders, would’ve been daft.
In the context of the whole tournament, he could’ve been helpful here and there (particularly when needing a goal down vs Germany, and when trying to break down a reactive Czech side) but mostly this midfield was right. There were more than enough chances created, through the wings, set pieces and the occasional glimpse of creativity from Moutinho. We were one of the most prolific teams in creating chances in the tournament, just were very bad at taking them, could’ve scored like 5 past Holland, Denmark and the Czechs. We didn’t look anywhere near as devoid of ideas as a creativity-starved midfield would usually look like.
I would normally say it would be too strong to say daft but considering lack of pressing by Ronaldo, I guess I could understand your caution with the midfield in a pressing team.
Well will be interesting to see how Ozil does then, if he plays in that hole and assuming Germany reach the final.
Portugal definitely need either something more from the front man or the central midfield in terms of adding something to their attack, in the long run, as otherwise, I think they will continue to fall short against the top tier teams in tournaments.
Who do you define as top tier at the moment?
Spain
Germany
Brazil
any others?
Portugal beat Holland who were considered one of the favourites in the tournament and lost to Spain because their penalty was 2 inches too high and Spain’s was 2 inches from being too wide.
They could just as easily have won this game as Spain.
Its subjective but comfortably Spain and Germany, possibly Brazil. As long as Portugal are not in the top tier, people like me will look to question what needs looking at to get them in there. Its a compliment as well as constructive criticism that people want to see a better Portugal as they aren’t far off the top tier. Yes, they were close to get through to the final (just like Greece won it but doesn’t mean they were top tier at the time or anywhere close) but in terms of reaching the peak performances that Spain and Germany have showed in recent years, they aren’t in that tier, comfortably not.
The thing is Portugal is a very small county with only about 10 million people.
They have done an amazing job to be where they have been the last 15 years – it’s basically impossible to compete with countries with 5, 10 or 20 times the populations – so it’s impossible for them to be up there with the best in the world. Can you see Scotland ever getting to that level?
Scotland have a totally different, backwards and neanderthal-like football infrastructure that is worse than England, so not even a 30 million population would fare that much better!
Small country or not, Portugal have one of the best football set ups in Europe. I’d rather have that, instead of bigger population. Look at England, we are a joke, absolute joke, as our FA sat on their backsides whilst the likes of France, Spain, Italy, etc, invested in their youth and national centres. I’d kill for us to have what you have, in terms of youth set up. Once upon a time Portugal had that wonderful golden generation, a set of players that should have been more than good enough to make Portugal a top tier team but it wasn’t to be. So its not impossible, tactically that time that generation failed to fulfil its potential.
Anyhoo, I’m not saying Portugal shouldn’t be proud as the semi-final is a very good objective. But no side is perfect, so when that is the case, people like me will always look to constructively criticise and see how Portugal can improve.
Good points but what’s interesting with Portugal is that it’s not due to expensive national academies that Portugal have done so well – unlike say France.
It’s largely due to one club, Sporting who have an exceptional academy and youth set-up like Barcelona in Spain.
Interesting also to contrast the 2 nations in europe who have done the most with so little over the past 30-40 years namely Holland and Portugal.
Holland is a rich country and have produced so many good players due to investment in coaches and facilities and using cutting-edge programmes.
Portugal has been the poorest country in western europe and has developed footballers in the street footballing tradition, with minimal spend on facilities so the opposite of Holland. Their success is largely due to socio-eceonomic factors that used to exist in England and Scotland 50 years ago – Kids playing on the streets and having the hunger to better their lives etc.
What do the likes of Porto and Benfica do with all the money they receive on sales?
Good question. Porto make a fortune buying young players from South America and smaller Portuguese clubs then selling them on – not sure where all that money goes but that’s the same with most clubs throughout europe.
Of the 15 players who played for Portugal, 7 were Sporting products:
Ronaldo
Nani
Joao Moutinho
Miguel Veloso
Rui Patricio
Varela
Custodio
Benfica (Joao Perieira & Nelson Oliveira) and Porto (Helder Postiga & Hugo Almeida) had only 2 each.
Sporting also produce the stars – Ronaldo, Nani, Ricardo Quaresma, Simao Sabrosa – all in the street footballer vein.
Benfica’s record has been very poor in recent years, they have a history of relying on big signings and not using their youth players – rather like Chelsea in England.
As a result, and this is important – all the best young teenage kids want to sign for Sporting because they will not only have the best coaching but will also get a chance in the 1st team.
A perfect example of this is that Miguel Veloso’s father was a Benfica legend playing over 500 times for them and 40 times for Portugal. Despite this his son who started in their youth system left at 13 to join Sporting.
Thanks for answering, always been curious about them two. They do a good job of selling, just would have thought they would be better with their youth set up with that money but as you say, it is still Sporting leading the way by some distance.
Hope Oliveira gets more playing time at Benfica, especially if Cardozo finally moves on.
I thought Postiga was actually very good this tournament, it’s unfortunate for Portugal that he got injured. Not world class maybe but he put away a good chance, he linked up well, he created space for CR… a serviceable job
Postiga did a ok job for me. But its definitely one of the areas in the Portugal team that they need improving on to take them up a level.
i totally agree, we need martinez as CB and ramos instead of arbeloa…
but even more important would be to start cesc in mid with xavi deep instead of alonso, maybe even a busi iniesta cesc mid could start, that would totally change the system tho into a more riskful and faster one
i really want these things to happen until 2014 to kick brazil
iker
ramos. pique. javi. alba
busquets
xavi
cesc
pedro. torres/villa/llorente. silva/navas
for 2014 plz!!!
alonso for cesc or xavi after we scored 1:0, maybe thiago can also challenge the likes of xavi and xabi until then??!
with ramos attacking from the back, u don’t need silva or naves.
also, did you leave iniesta out on purpose, have to play him instead of pedro not he left.
And no question villa should play if healthy not torres
I don’t think Xavi will have the legs to play 2 years from now, unfortunately. But Iniesta will be fine.
So how can Germany or Italy beat Spain and exploit their weaknesses?
1) Full pitch press efficiently (don’t overdo it like Portugal/conserve energy).
2) Exploit Spain’s right back by attacking there.
3) Stay focused and disciplined.
Just my two cents, might not so accurate though.
Speaking as a Spain fan here.
VdB will never sit busquets or alonso. He has never done it and never will.and who can say otherwise with the results Spain is getting. One reason is that remember when Ronaldo has a chance to start a counter attack and alonso made a sliding tackle getting booked? That’s something only him and busquets do so well in the Spanish team (apart from Ramos and Pique). Neither xavi nor fabregas or even Mata are for the job.
Xavi and Cesc can also commit professional fouls to break up play. It’s not like Alonso could do it twice without risking getting sent off.
Where is Mata? Didn’t he win player of the year for Chelsea, the Champions League Champions?
Mata is good but VdB’s other options are simply better. Iniesta, Silva, and Cesc are too good to be benched in favor of Mata, while Pedro and Navas offer something different to the attacking midfielders, and Torres and Negredo are strikers. That said, why VdB seriously thought Negredo was a good choice to start in the semifinal, especially after not playing in the tournament at all so far, is really baffling.
I don’t know how you can say it’s baffling. Sure we might not understand why exactly he played the players that he did, but it’s surely not baffling. You can’t suggest that a coach with that much experience makes baffling decisions. He made a decision, for a reason that just obviously didn’t work. Negredo might have finished every chance he’s had in training and worked his way into the team. We, as spectators, don’t see the trainings and how a player is really doing before he starts a match. VdB might have had a plan using Negredo which was the ideal way to to beat this Portugal side, it’s not his fault that the players didn’t/couldn’t execute it, or that the game didn’t evolve the way he thought it would. And then when it wasn’t working in the first half, you couldn’t take him off, as Spain have no confident strikers as it is, taking him off in the first half would have shattered what was already a bad outing and VdB knows that he might need Negredo in the final so he can’t have that.
I bet VdB would admit that the gameplan he set out to use(involving the Negredo selection) didn’t quite work. But i think he was always confident of winning the game and from his previous selections during the tournament i think it shows how he values how important the forwards performance is in getting results in big tournaments, as Spains midfield (less so back four) have won them their games this tournament.
I don’t think its baffling at all….he’s the gaffer.
I wish spain had a striker. They just need a proper striker! IF villa was there i think spain would’ve won 2-0
I wonder if Adrian would have been a better choice than any of the 3 strikers brought, since none of them seem to be trusted. What Adrian would offer would be a similar version, at a lower level, to what Villa does; he can be used as a wide forward in a false 9 system, or be the striker.
Munian is another that makes more sense, he can be the false 9 himself, or start wide and move to where the 9 was.
When Spain use a front 3 of Iniesta, Cesc, and Silva, Iniesta is the only one who gets into the space left by the false 9, and even he is more inclined to drop deep. Pedro is really the only “forward” who runs at goal.
I wonder why so many people think droping Alonso is a good idea. Sure, it makes sense tacticaly, but it should be Xavi that is droped. He is clearly out of form, if not outright past it, and a few moments of brilliance apart he’s not had a good tournament. Alonso on the other hand is at the top of his game and has been one of Spain’s best players in all the games so far.
Xavi makes no sense in the current set up. He is at his best with 6 players ahead of him not 3. Xabi Alonso is simply in better form than him so he should start and Xavi maybe come off the bench.
Alonso is not Spain’s best player in this tournament. He is clumsy on defense due to his lack of pace and athleticism and he continues to give away the ball. His long passes are pointless in this squad. Either Alonso or Xavi need to be dropped but del Bosque is afraid to make any hard choices. Silva should not start. Does Spain really have no other center back to replace Puyol that Ramos has to move in and render the right back impotent through Arbeloa’s play? Alonso did not always start four years ago but as he became a Real Madrid player and his reputation grew then he cannot be taken off the team.
Statistically, he gives the ball away marginally more than Xavi and much less than Busquets.
And I feel Busquets should have been dropped, if only Spain still had a Marcos Senna. They have three defensive midfielder (Xavi is one too, although he’s played higher up) and none is a destroyer.
I have yet to see what Busquets offers to this team (or Barcelona, in that regard) more than a tougher, faster DM. (Which Spain admittedly seems to lack)
I admit Busquet’s influence is reduced in the national team, but if you don’t see what he does for Barcelona, you’re a fool….he allows them to play the system they do, the full backs can bomb forward because he drops into a back 3, and then has the ability to play the ball out of the back. He’s arguably Barca’s most important player after Messi.
Regarding the whole “which midfielder should Spain drop” argument, its interesting because at the beginning of the tournament I was ardant in my belief that Alonso should be dropped, mainly because it would have moved Xavi and Iniesta into more normal positions. However, Del Bosque seems resolute in his desire to play both Alonso and Busquets, so really is should be Xavi who is dropped. This was unthinkable before the tournament started, but he really is rather ineffective when deployed the way he has been. Dropping xavi would bring Iniesta more centrally and allow for a winger/forward such as Pedro to provide more width and combine with Jordi Alba
“but fail to record a shot on target”
Eh? The stats at the end of the game said they had two
The 2 shots were the penalties
I forgot to mention, the key reason Portugal were poor going forward was the lack of a number 10, wich ment that Spain could double or triple mark the flanks, with a defensive midfielder and a winger supporting the fullback.
If anything was exposed in this match, it was the lack of variety Portugal had up front.
Just a little insight from a comment I read in a forum, and tottaly agree with:
“Messi brings the directness the tiki-taka lacks”
It really is a perfect combination.
I thought that for 60 minutes Spain were quite horrible. Apart of not doing much, Negredo didn’t even manage to drag the defenders around with good movement and simply work and run, like as an example Balotelli does. The subs made a huge impact.
I thought that the Arbeloa-Silva duo didn’t work quite as well. Defensively, he did his job well but Silva, should have IMHO tried much more to play on the wing and give an outlet there, inside of congesting the center. At one point you had 7 Spanish outfield players on the left side, completely useless. Probably, a Pedro-Arbeloa combo on the right might have worked best, since Pedro can hold the flank and also move inside whenever he has a rightback to overlap while Navas is more an out and out winger and Silva none at all.
Arbeloa combining with anybody is fruitless. He is not a threat in any way and defenders know this. He can serve as an outlet but if the tries to dribble he trips over the ball and will certainly not score a goal. Navas or Pedro should start over Silva because they would create width rather than continuously dribble in and crowd the 18.
Lets all be honest here – no one thought this game would be so close before the game started.
I saw a stat near the end i think of the 90 minutes, the possession stat and it was 56%/44% to Spain – who can remember when Spain’s % has been that low?
Spain are the best side in the world and Portugal at least matched them in normal time and had them looking a bit lost in the first half – i think they deserve a bit more credit than has been shown here.
Imagine if Wales or Scotland had done this to England, this was the same thing as Portugal has a fraction of Spain’s population and resources devoted to football.
Joao Moutinho was the man of the match.
I’ve been really impressed by Portugal this summer, shame I won’t get to see anymore of them. They have a good balance, easy on the eye and the likes of Coentrao and Pereira have done well.
But Moutinho and Ronaldo are the two stand out players for me!
For my thoughts: http://tttfootball.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/portugal-0-spain-0-a-e-t-spain-win-4-2-on-penalties-27th-june-2012/
Whether it’s Italy or (preferably) Germany, I’d really like to see how Spain play if they’re 1-0 down in the final (or to be precise, 1-0 down for more than 2-3 minutes, as they were vs Italy). As exceptional as they are, we haven’t seen them in a really difficult situation since the Switzerland World Cup defeat, and even then, that wasn’t a must-win (or must-not-lose) match. Since then, they’ve been locked at 0-0 a few times, but if the score is 0-0 I would normally favour them to win it, with their usual wealth of possession, commitment, excellent stamina levels, high-level experience (El Clasicos, Champions League, etc), and varied bench options. But if they were down 0-1 their opponents would have the chance to dictate terms and force Spain to react, which we don’t see very often. For example, if Portugal had scored in the first 30 mins when they were mostly on top, or if Ronaldo had scored from his free kick in the second half (I know, but let’s suspend disbelief), Spain would have been 1-0 down, but with a lot of time to bounce back. If Portugal had then kept Spain out (for more than 2-3 mins Italy did), what would Spain and VdB have done in that situation?
Iniesta’s off the ball movement isn’t good enough for the wide forward position. Portugal could press high because Spain didn’t have the pace and movement to counter attack.
Interesting that the article didn’t bring up Moutinho’s failed attempt to find Nani around the 75min, which was equally promising situation compared to the Meireles/Ronaldo incident. You’re not jumping the Moutinho bandwagon, are you Michael?
Credit to Portugal, and good to see a manager with common sense and some cojones. Spain aren’t Barcelona, as in they don’t press well, nor do they counter effectively (unless Torres is on the pitch and feeling like it), thus trying to keep hold of the ball makes a lot more sense than just sitting back and hoofing.
Ps. Pepe was immense, and shockingly calm as well. Not that his ”basic” approach wasn’t as aggressive as ever, but he seemed a different player to the one which always goes over the top against Barcelona.
As a non-neutral Portuguese fan this game was incredibly tense. We’ve had our share of semi-finals throughout the years and never made one into penalties, exception for Euro 2004 at home soil. So this is the closest we’ve *ever* been to an away-from-home final. A fantastic achievement for a team regarded as average pre-tournament with only a few star individuals, no creativity from the midfield, no decent strikers and very poor squad depth as huge handicaps. In fact the team proved to be about on par with the eventual winners of this tournament (even if Germany win it, Spain’s a match for them and we nearly nullified Germany too – Italy are unlikely to win it without big chunks of luck).
As I watched the game, conscious of the drama and meaning to everyone over here, I realised this was an absolutely fascinating tactical battle, albeit not a brilliant game. I’d have loved this as a neutral. I think we were almost the perfect Spain-neutralising team, just a world class striker away from it.
The constant high pressing was incredibly brave, but also the positioning of not just the defenders, the whole side. A really striking feature of this match was how wide the play was, how far apart all players were from each other. This was so strange to see after so many games we watched of teams parking the bus vs Spain. Spain were pressed so much they were forced to spread themselves very far apart through the pitch, hence less functional as they’re so used to play as a compact team of short passers. This turned the tables brilliantly for us as while Spain are much superior passers, Portugal are packed with superior dribblers of the ball throughout the pitch (Iniesta the exception). This increased sharply the amount of mini 1vs1 battles through the whole pitch, making things much better for us. You would see Coentrão, Pereira isolated deep, or Nani after tracking back, Ronaldo pushed to the wings with very little space, no problem, they can dribble their way out. If there’s no space for the dribble nor an easy pass, then pass it back and Pepe and Bruno Alves will long-ball it – Spain are uncomfortable with aerial play and we’re up the pitch to profit from a rebound more than usual. This whole plan worked remarkably in the first half and I’ll dare to say we were the superior side then.
The issue with this strategy is that it relied on pressing so much, it would tire us down sooner or later and I was very worried about it since the start, we needed to score as soon as possible for this plan to work so we could abandon the high pressing and save our legs. I explained this whole theory then to my girlfriend only to get a blank bored stare.
Remarkably we held on physically for very long. The 2nd half was played at a slower tempo but we still held our own, albeit were forced to replace Almeida as he looked absolutely drained of energy. However by extra time the energy was all gone and I really think we should’ve parked the bus then as they easily opened our defence multiple times. Varela for Meireles looked a little bit suicidal from Bento. I think that was his only tactical mistake in an otherwise absolutely brilliant tactical plan and execution. Even if it might have looked like we were playing for penalties, better to abandon our identity for just a few minutes than risk conceding so badly like we did.
Absolutely delighted with my national team performance, even if it ended in glorious defeat. We really couldn’t have asked for more. Contemporary Spain are one of the best teams ever, if not the best, to match them and make them look more uncomfortable than ever is superb.
A final note: not sure I like the fact Moutinho is getting the recognition he deserves after a superb match and a superb tournament. About bloody time he’s getting himself rated by everyone outside Portugal after two brilliant seasons. As a Porto fan though, after this we’re surely gonna lose him this Summer…
spot on on the spain neutralizer part but a world class striker off
“As a Porto fan though, after this we’re surely gonna lose him this Summer…”
…. but Porto will get alot more money than Sporting did – always the way
Don’t need it, we’re gonna get 3000 billion euros for Hulk. According to the “press”.
Just remembered Sporting have a 25% sell-on fee
Porto only own 60% of the player.
As a Germany fan, congrats to you guys. Portugal were tame in the opener and were somewhat miserly against Turkey before that, but as the tournament has progressed Portugal have got better and better. The shootout was decided by bounces off a post. Still need one more brilliant player imo, though (Danny?), preferably more a playmaker than a goalscorer/indulgent dribbler.
wanted to see a germany spain final and there it will be…
italy has no chances and spain surely doesnt if they play like it..
Go Geramany..
Finally ozil will get the reputation he deserves…(not overshadowed by ronaldo)
The Spanish football association is run by Castillans. They don’t like Basque people. This is why Llorente isn’t getting a chance. And that will bury Spain. Unless they switch to a system with 2 wingers and Llorente up top, they are done for. This possession system has been figured out. There is already a staple tactic to kill it. Spain must go the way of old German football to keep itself on top. Crosses, crosses and more crosses.
They might have figured out Spain’s system but they haven’t stopped Spain yet.
Dropping crosses against Germany won’t do much seeing as Neuer commands his area and Germany has tall centre backs.
Furthermore, don’t invent explanations. There is no proof of a Basque-Catalan rivalry in the fa.
What a silly thing to say. I suppose Del Bosque is controlled by the football association and that’s why he put Llorente on the team – because they don’t like Basque people. Couldn’t he have easily just chosen Soldado instead of Llorente? I guess not, better to just think there is some kind of conspiracy against the Basque people being carried out by the football association controlling its puppet coach.
Thought Portugal did well and I’m still saying I’d take their 5 man midfield over any other sides. On another day the one of his free kicks would have flown in or he’d have finished the shot at the end. Unlucky Port
Very impressed by Busquets. He seemed 2 steps ahead of the Portuguese pressing. Alonso was a bit hurried and Xavi was blocked off but to be fair Portugal’s pressing was fantastic(the reason i was impressed by Busquets).
He also seems to have stopped most of the theatrics (now i said that, he will do something like that in the final).
Spain’s defence was also very good. Arbeloa was a weak link throughout, Ramos and Pique had fantastic games and they made Ronaldo only look dangerous from free kicks. Nani also seemed unable to get past Alba.
Portugal’s defence was even better and they are easily imo the best of the tournament. Pepe was unbeatable and Alves was a bit rush at times but they were extremely fast to recover when needed. Coentrao also seems a better defender for Portugal than for Madrid.
This game also showed that 2 days more rest is not all that, as Portugal got tired in extra time while Spain seemed fresher the more time passed. Alba has an amazing engine.
I know people like to see Ronaldo as some sort of pantomime villain and take great joy in making out he wanted to take the 5th penalty to satisfy his ego or that he was scared but I am sorry, on your behalf, to say that it has been confirmed by BOTH Ronaldo and Bento, that it was Bento’s decision to make Ronaldo 5th penalty taker and that Ronaldo wanted to go first. Though I guess this will still not satisfy some people, in relation to the big bad villain that is Ronaldo.
really got no energy and interest to write today .
Can someone tell me who the woman is who seems to work for the spanish team? what is her role exactly? im just wondering because you rarely see a woman at a mens football tournament.
Stupid decision by Bento to put Ronaldo fifth on the list (if indeed that is the case).
p.s., saw an article in the Wall St Journal today “The fraudulence of soccer formations” – basically arguing that “formations don’t matter”.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304782404577490652688623764.html
Had some interesting soundbites from various people in the game, but overall I thought it was the case of a journalist who doesn’t really understand football getting his wires crossed and talking at cross-purposes. Just because football is inherently free flowing, and formations are not rigid, doesn’t mean that “formations don’t matter” or aren’t a valuable way of talking about the game.
Wonder what the ZM take on it is?
The wall street journal wrote that? Seriously?! A general news publication from a country where the sport is called “soccer” and the national league is… 20 years old?
Anyone can take soundbytes out of context and conclude that the Earth is flat.
Go and ask the coaches of the English or the Greek national teams if formation is not important. For some coaches(managers) it is more than to others.
In any case the formation is always there as a framework, a starting point, a guide. Do you not make good use of a map when you visit a new place?
If the article would argue that formations are less important than what some media makes believe i’d say “bravo”. Like this it looks like Jonathan Clegg and Matthew Futterman really couldn’t think of nothing else to write about.
“A country where the sport is called “soccer” and the national league is… 20 years old?”
What is England?
I’ll take “other dumb stereotypes” for $600, please.
Apart from your stupid dig at America, I agree with you. I think the journo doesn’t really know what he’s talking about, sees that an actual game is more complex than three neat rows of players, and so cherry picks some quotes to back up his ignorant conclusion.
‘if indeed that is the case’
Might as well apply that line to every single thing said by man since time began!
Amusing what Ronaldo brings out in people.
Don’t know what you mean. I said “If indeed that is the case” because at the time, it wasn’t clear why he wasn’t in the first four pk takers.
Ramos is the best centre back in the world.
Strong, fast, good in the air, good positionally, good on the ball. What a player.
and has a loose screw at times. If he controls his tempo he’ll be greater.
… except when he fails to clear a corner kick, doesn’t mark Gomez, gives Balotelli the ball, gets boneheaded red cards, etc.
…or as he did yesterday under no pressure, with only Alba and Casillas behind him he heads a hopeful Portugal ball straight at a Portuguese player just outside the box and creates a dangerous situation for them.
If it were Pepe you were talking about, I’d say “now you are talking”.
Once he becomes more positionally disciplined and refrains from his incessant urge to kill non-existent fires, I can’t think of many better
He’s a very active CB, that’s for sure. But that doesn’t make him the best. He is much more present and involved than Pique, but Pique is still a much smarter and secure CB (even though he made some bad passes vs Portugal).
Once again Spain have showed that what they need is not a centre forward or recognised “striker”, but width in order to stretch the defence to allow for penetration. Why Del Bosque doesn’t start with Peedro-Fabregas-Navas is beyond me.
Better late than never, my take on game below:-
http://chalkontheboots.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/spain-vs-portugal-tactical-analysis-cescs-moment-part-2/
Despite not having a shot on target, Portugal probably caused Spain more problems than anyone else thus far.
Moutinho in midfield was excellent again.
To all these people criticizing Spain, its their 3 final in 4 years. That in itself is a huge achievement.
The complaint against fielding 2 holding midfielders is also useless because they won the world cup that way. That is enough to shut all arguments.
What they can change maybe is add a proper winger such as Pedro/Navas to play up ahead instead of Silva. That will allow the rest to push the ball ahead and stretch opposition defences.
Well said.
Sorry Barça fans i know if Alves was playing against your team he would be sent off but this was a great game of football and he is one of the best defenders in the world
An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto
a coworker who was doing a little research on this. And he actually
ordered me dinner due to the fact that I discovered it for him.
.. lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!
! But yeah, thanks for spending some time to talk about this topic here on your internet site.