B. In the best scenario. As a spaniard (also as a good football lover) very pleasantly surprised by our sometimes magnificent team perfomances, right now i still thinks that we lack the hierarchy of players with the caliber of Puyol, Piqué, Ramos or Iker Casillas in our back four. Maybe a differential factor against us in the quarterfinals (if it has been reached) against Germany. If wrong, I won't complaint at all. 😊
imagine a team where silva, fabregas or cazorla were reserves; with puyol, pique and ramos in the back, casillas in the goalie, and the most underrated player ever in spain, villa, in the top. What a dream it was to watch them play and win.
@@javierluissantosrubio6603 esta claro q es un buen dato teniendo en cuenta q España no ha sido eliminada por perder un partido desde el 2016 y q además los penaltis tienen un alto factor de suerte
De la fuente is still playing tiki taka, is just that is more vertical than the other past coaches. Because of this the media thought that he was refusing spain's style of play. But in reality is the same thing. Against Italy Spain did not have that much possession. This is because he tried to adapt to the opponent. But he said that his first priority is the possession, but if he has to be more direct to adapt to the rival, he will. The idea of play is the same, is just being a little vertical when needed.
Any team wants to have the most vertical passes as possible, independently of its philosophy. The thing is that Luis Enrique's Spain didn't have a winger like Yamal at the right side. The difference is that now the team can stretch the field with substantial threats coming from both sides with Nico Williams and Yamal. This creates space and permits more verticality.
Not every team what u talking about. Yawal doesn't even stretch the wing that is nico's yamal's job is to invert. Rewatch the matches😔 although he ussualy does it. That is not his primary role. That's why he cuts inside looking for a shoot or cross
AH LOPETEGUI did the same,,with EPIC diego costa smashing all defenders,,but he was fired 24 hours before 2018 world cup in the most retarded decision ever ...LOpetegui bring back the strikers to bury the lame delbosque decadence era of 2014 to 2016..
Spain is still playing tiki taka, don't get confused. The players have been raised with that style, they will just change the ways depending on the players they have but the philosophy is the same (Cruyffism). There are no rules against "passing with a fast pace" in tiki taka, they did have a good pace in the 2008 and 2010 teams, but as they grew older and less hungry for titles, they slowed down, as it happens with any team. With all due respect, this is just a superficial analysis based on recent results. Spain against Croatia was an outlier, Spain isn't that effective usually, they normally need more chances to convert (more like what happened in their match against Italy) and they usually beat their opponents in possession. Don't forget Spain with Luis Enrique reached semi-finals last Eurocup and lost to the champion in penalties, we don't even know if the current team will get that far. Regarding the WC, Morocco also beat Portugal, so they deserved more credit than just blaming tiki taka. It is normal that when a physical rough team sits deep in a low block parking the bus, Spain will suffer, even the current team or with their best team in history. Let's remember 2010 Spain (the "GOAT"), beat their opponents 1 - 0 and COULD have gone out against Paraguay easily. This trouble against those kind of teams will always exist, and any style of football will look toothless against a good bus parking team that won't take the initiative. You will need players that dribble and beat defenders one on one to gain an advantage, but those kind of players aren't always available.
It's true that Spain won 1-0 all the elimination matches in that world cup, but they were much superior to the oponents, shooting way more with clear chances, and matches could have finished with many more goals. Both the semifinal and final could have ended 4-0.
Something that people always seem to forget is that Guardiola arrived at Barcelona as a coach in the season 2008/2009, right after Spain won the EURO2008. Guardiola only took advantage of what Luis Aragones had built.
Guardiola was coaching the B-team in 2008 with the same tiki taka style. Trying to discredit Guardiola typical Madrid fans. Only Xavi, Iniesta & Puyol were from Barcelona in that 2008 team
@@CarebearwithfamGuardiola was the coach of Barcelona's B-team, but never coached Xavi, Iniesta or Puyol. Also Fabregas, Silva, Senna and Xabi Alonso were part of the tikitaka midfield that won that Euro. Guardiola is a great coach, but he didn't invent anything, he just continued with the great work that other coaches had done and adapted to the way these players played. An evidence of all this is that Man City doesn't play tikitaka. Not even Bayern when Guardiola was the coach
Pep in his first season with Barca played a more direct attacking style to accommodate Eto'o, Ronaldinho, and Henry. Only when he moved Messi to false 9 did they went full tiki taka
@@Carebearwithfam are u gonna repeat the same in every comment, dude people have already explained to u that the success of spain 2008 was not guardiola related, and u still crying about that. For most spanish fans the best national team was in the 2008 euro, but the most credit one is the 2010. U have to understand that the spanish national team historically was very unsucessful even the 2002 selection had a very good team but never past the quarter finals, the 2008 had an INCREDIBLY presion from the mass media, and they stepped up as the best team in that competition by a good margin.
There's no such change in Spain's style. After more than 180 games, it is normal to lose the possesion in one game, but that was just an exception. The great difference and the only reason why now the spanish team is competitive again is that in this Euro, they have 4-5 very talented players; Rodri, Pedri, Fabián, and specially Nico and Lamine Yamal.
It's hard to strike a balance between relying on passing as your defining trate and overdoing it to a logical extreme. Spain always needs SOME tiki-taka.
Depending on the officiating of the games. If the referees allowed them to play their game without trying to control the result then Spain should go far. We all know that does not happen often. Look at how England and France have been winning their games it’s gross.
As a Spanish, I clearly think Spain has the capability of winning the whole thing. France is not looking as strong as it was just a year or two ago, England is very hit or miss, and realistically, Germany is the only opponent that worries me
i kind of agree, but do not forget portugal squat is capable of producing very dangerous moments, so it does french mbape, dembele ... if they have their day they can make huge damage to anyone. And at knock-out stages it is a matter of just few moments the coin can shift from one side to the other. So i believe Spain can defeat all of them but also can be defeated by any of those ones. One strong point of current spanish squat is the cohesion, spirit and motivation,that seems to be among the highest of all! as example look at cucurella reactions and electric one to one confrontations, (as weel as nico against italy), it reminds me of puyol energy, as a feared dog overwelming oponents!!
France give my Real Madrid vibes... Like, they can be awful in the group stage and display mediocre football but they can win it in the end with their individualities and determination.
The other teams allowed it too. Most nations can’t outplay a midfield with Rodri, Pedri, Gavi Fabián, or with Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Xabi, Silva, etc before, so they focused on giving the ball to Spain, park the bus and wait for the counter
The great problem was to have the key players to make that can of Game. Nor Xavi, Nor Iniesta, Nor Silva had substitute to make that kind of Game. The case of Busquets yes, Rodri. Not to say have problems to have good centre-backs. Until now these problems became cronic. At the end, le Normand, Laporte, Nacho, finally, the centre back were find, even midfielders like Pedro, Fabián, Gavi. Were joined to achieve a good centre-midfielders, however, are not but good enough. The case of forwards Morata has been find as the only one. He is not a TOP forward but IS good enough. Was at the end which players will support Morata at the attack. Luis enrique decided for more attack midfielders in order to copy Tiki Taka style of his predecesors, however, that was a real failure. None of then achieved the objectives. Was a even a boring Game without any goals. When De la fuente the under 21 coach arrive to the Big team he decided to combine the Tiki Taka style but with more direct wingers to support Morata. That si when Young talents like Nico and Lamine arrive to Barcelona and Athletic first teams. The players that wanted were found.
Tiki Taka was created by Aragones, that was BEFORE Guardiola arrived to Barsa, Tiki Taka wasnt tuned up, but CREATED by Aragones, Spain NEVER EVER played Tiki Taka before Aragones.
The tiki-taka style in the Spanish national team was implemented by Luis Aragonés during Euro 2008, before Guardiola coached Barcelona. Additionally, among Spain's three consecutive titles (Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, and Euro 2012), I believe the best tiki-taka, with a single defensive pivot, was seen in Euro 2008, as mentioned before Guardiola arrived at Barcelona. Xavi Hernández himself says that Luis Aragonés reinvented him as a player and states, "Luis Aragonés is the most influential person in my sports career." The notion that tiki-taka in the national team comes from Guardiola's Barcelona has become almost a truth by repetition, but the fact is that a year before Guardiola took over at Barcelona, Spain had already amazed the world in Euro 2008 with matches like the one against Russia.
This, word by word, is the truth. Luis was an old man without Guardiola's charm and style and (certanly) with fewer friends in the media, so his greatest creation (la España de los bajitos, the midgets' Spain) will forever be attributed to others. If you read this, spread the word, right that wrong.
Guardiola was coaching the B-team in 2008 with the same tiki taka style. Before that Riikjaard, Cruyff. Trying to discredit Guardiola typical Madrid fans
@@Carebearwithfam I am not a Real Madrid fan; I am a Valencia fan. As you can understand, given what happened with Mijatovic, what they tried with Mendieta, with Villa, and many others, I am probably even less of a Madrid fan than you are. In fact, I am quite an admirer of Barcelona, though not a supporter, but I admire their philosophy, La Masia, and many other things. Secondly, what you said about Guardiola already using that style with the B team is irrelevant. What is constantly said is that "Guardiola's Barcelona" (and everyone, including you, knows that when people talk about Guardiola's Barcelona, they mean when he coached the first team) came before the first time the national team used tiki-taka, and that is not true. No one disputes that the more touch-based game or total football was invented in the Netherlands in the 70s, or that the best example of it is Barcelona with the arrival of Cruyff, establishing that style as Barcelona's identity. No one disputes that Rijkaard added certain elements and that Guardiola added many more. But that doesn't negate the claim that the national team copied and transferred Guardiola's Barcelona to the national team, which is not true-it happened before his arrival. What you have said does not contradict what I have said because we are not discussing who invented the style (which was neither Aragonés nor Guardiola) or who gradually improved it. The point is that it is not true that Aragonés copied Guardiola's Barcelona. These are two different things. It is false to say that Aragonés took "Guardiola's Barcelona" and transferred it to the national team, and that is incorrect from any point of view. Even Xavi's change from playing where he had been his entire career to a slightly more advanced position was Aragonés's idea, and from then on, it became Xavi's position, even at Barcelona. That is why Xavi says Aragonés is the most influential person in his career. That Barcelona has been the greatest exponent of combination and touch football from the 90s to today due to Cruyff's arrival is 100% true. But it is false to say that Aragonés copied and established the style of "Guardiola's Barcelona" in the national team because the beginning of the wonderful era of "Guardiola's Barcelona" started the following year. Sorry for the lengthy text, but I wanted to clarify that I understand what you are saying, and I don't dispute that Barcelona has been the clear exponent of that football style since the 90s. However, that is one thing, and another is that it was not possible to specifically copy Guardiola's Barcelona, the use of those players, etc., when he hadn't yet coached them.
Spain still aim for possesion but instead of reaching it by keeping the ball, they reach it by agressive pressuring enemy possesion. This leads to less possesion percentage but more effective possesion of the ball, more goal reach and quicker defense reaction on counter attacks
guardiola had been in barsa b with the tiki taka the previous year where busquets and xavi were in his team, where they were promoted from third division.
@@daavids19 you definetly didn't see that. It was Van Gaal who made Xavi debut in Laliga and Rijkaard used him as a regular for years before Guardiola. People can't stop trying to prove that Guardiola invented football. And he just continued with what people before him did.
@@robertcena9194 Xavi had been alternating since 1998 in fact with vangaal he hardly played, guardiola discovers busquets, stop always repeating the same phrase because it is obvious that you are Madrid fans.
@@robertcena9194 The Barca team that started playing tiki taka was his, Spain only had possession of the ball because they had the players that had those capabilities, but they never tactically played that style, only after the Eurocup when they saw that it worked for Barca.
@@daavids19 It is funny that a Real Madrid fan knows better Barcelona's history than you do. Because you keep giving credit to Guardiola for things he never did. The coach that made Busquets debut was Frank Rijkaard in the summer of 2007 in the final of copa Cataluña against Espanyol. You should really stop. You are embarrasing yourself.
They also got to the semis of the last Euros losing only to Italy on pens. Sadly, the author decided that the narrative of the video was more important than the actual facts.
So true. And they were they best team in the 2021 Eurocup. All respect to both teams, but Italy played very dirty and did not deserve to win. They fell of from the greatness in 2008-2013, but in the last ten years they have been better than Germany, England, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, etc. In the last ten years they have been the third best European team, only behind France and Croatia.
Your make a few inaccuracies that I find important to correct. 1) Tiquitaca was born on October 17th 2007, in the qualifying game for the Euro08 between Denmark and Spain, 1-3, coached by Luis Aragonés (check out the highlights in RU-vid); 2) Pep Guardiola had just been hired hired as the new coach of the B TEAM of Barcelona, and coached all season in the Third tier league of Spanish football; when Spain won the Euro 2008, Guardiola was announced as Barcelona team A new coach. Soooo, you need to ask yourself who influenced who, and how Catalan Tiquitaca’s roots were; B) Under Del Bosque Tiquitaca did not became more defined, but never coached with full conviction. A very conservative coach, Del Bosque always gave priority to NOT LOSING the ball, so he created the boring, purposeless game that has been mocked so much. Spain went into a winning strike in spite of Del Bosque, who screwed up a few important details in the mechanism, and thanks to an incredible generation of players. The firing of Luis Aragonés right after winning the Euro08 was shameful, unfair, and a great loss if Spain’s national team; 3) Last, but not least, only ball players in every position were in Aragones’ formations. There is more to say, but I will live it here.
luis aragones never played with that tactic in his teams, the team of luis aragones in the first stage of the selection without xavi and busquets, did not play like that, it was not until xavi and busquets entered barcelona and came from guardiola's subsidiary with which he won the third division playing that style of play.
@@ender_z4nd3r83 You don't have any argument to defend what you say, just as a fan of Real Madrid you want to maintain that because you want to detract from Guardiola, put arguments in front of us and we will debate, if in 2006 Luis Aragones was criticized for not playing well, in fact never a team of Luis Aragonés played Tiki Taka
spain looks incredible. they have been my pick to win the euro since the first half i saw them play against croatia. they absolutely smother their opponents offensively and defensively while having the skill to make meaningful plays and goal opportunities.
I don't think they abandoned it. It's just more effective with the wingers they have in the modern game. They still maintain what they are good at, which is their technical ability and moving the ball around, etc
we did that with lopetegui..with diego costa or even 2 more strikers on attack...luis enrique bring anabsolute chaos..we can win german 6-1 or just lose againts ukranie ,luis enrique was chaos
Spain has been winning in posession for the last 16 years, 136 marches Spain records 47% posession against Croacia in the 137th match In the 138th match, Spain records 58% posession In the 139th match, Spain records 57% possesion @FrontPageFootball: Tiki Taka is over!
I would say there is a lot of potential from Spain to reach the final but they will be in the hardest side of the bracket with Germany, Portugal, France, it will be a tough task for any of the teams.
It's not 16 years, it's 11 years. They lost in the 2013 confederations cup final which was the end for that team. 3 years ago they were also better than eventual champions Italy, who only beat them on penalties in the Semi's. This team doesn't even come close to the one who won three trophies in a row until they win trophies. The 2002 Spanish World Cup team was amazing with players like Mendieta, Morientes Raul, Ruben Baraja, Joaquin, Ivan Helguera, but have been forgotten as they didn't win anything. It's not how good they play, it's getting there hands on that trophy that counts or they'll be forgotten like other previous Spanish teams.
Now that Spain defeated germany is going to win the euro 2024. England isnt playing well, we saw it with slovenia for example and like france its a team that needs a good player like Bellingham or Mbappe. Spain has not a "concentrated power" in one player, Spain has Yamal, Williams, Morata (Morata its also playing bad), Carvajal, two incredible goalkeepers... Spain is the winer for me.
From Spain, your argument dont make sence. We just have a problem, well, we still have the same problem, the lack of a propper striker, our team the last years was really good but not as good as before, were even without a striker we won everything, that just happened cos that generation was insane, but after that, the striker problem beging to look as a big deal. Our sistem, the tiki taka was and still today perfect, we didnt want change nothing, then Nico & Lamine arrive... they make our sistem diferent, better in some ways, weaker in others, but the sistem still the same, more direct but the same, keep the ball, pass the ball. And that you said about that the other national teams found a way to beat the tiki taka sistem is trash, everyone since the first day understand that the only way to play against Spain was counter attack & pray, evryone kwnos it that, is basic, the problem come when you have to do it against one of the best defenders on the world, against a team with quick recovers, playing cleaver and together.
Its invredible how much you can get away with by just sounding technical and quoting stats.... This video is pretty much misinformation 😅 Spain still plays tiki taka, morata has been playing as a fake 9 for most of the tornament, Lamin Yamal can face up and drible, which has always been part of tiki taka (Messi, Suarez, Xavi, Iniesta) did this too. And the direct counter attacks were also a part of Spains identity in 2008 (Torres goal in the final against Germany). You sound very eloquent and probably are very smart, but I dont think you have watched nearly enough Football 😂
I watched the video and thought exactly the same. The backbone of this team relies mostly on players that had been playing in teams led by the "old tiki taka team players". Easy example would be Rodri in the Manchester City of Pep Guardiola or all FCBarcelona players between 21 and 23 with Xavi Hernandez (Gavi, Pedri, Ferran and Lamine). So, summarizing. The new style is just a small variation of the 2008-2012 style opening more to the sides with Lamine, Nico, Cucurella and Carvajal.
Funny you mention the games against Russia and Morocco, were Spain were robbed by bad referees (referees who made bad decisions for both teams, but Spain was wronged the most)
spain is not ditching anything. theyre just adapting to the kind of players they have in this generation. However, the objective remains the same, to be the ones in control of the ball and to be the ones attacking most of the time. Pep did the same when he moved out of Barcelona. In Barcelona he would not allow players to cross the ball under ANY circumstances. then he finds himself with lewandoski Ribery and Robben so he started to adapt to what he had and the overall game changed a little. However, the philosophy remained the same. This is what Spain is doing. they still have tons of ball playing midfielders. However, they have to adapt to the ones who are performing better right now. There's no more mistery than that.
They just need a new generation, rodri and ruiz were subtitutes in euro 21 semifinal, now they are in the 11. Then olmo and oyarzabal were on the starting 11, now they are good substitutes, lamine and william are on the starting 11, thats a change in resources! Your tactic is a result of your resources.
I get the idea but I feel that the whole argument is suported by the match against Croatia, where Spains was 3-0 up at half time. Given the score it was not necessary to press and get the ball...
Crazy how we just do theoretical gymnastics just to avoid the truth. We had shit players for years and now we have good players again. Style doesn't make much of a difference.
Si vamos a los orígenes.... Guardiola se inspiró en el dream team de Cryuff, del que formava parte y a su vez Cruyff se insipro en la naranja mecánica de Rinus Michels. Pep también se aprovecho del buen trabajo de Rijkaard que ya apuntava maneras y sobretodo de la increíble generación de futbolistas formados en la Masia. Fue Cruyff, en los 90, el que instauro la filosofía del toque y movimiento rápido del balón en la Masia. Xavi e Iniesta no surgieron de la nada, flojos, lentos y pequeños físicamente tuvieron el mejor entorno posible para exprimir sus virtudes
Pep Guardiola has said countless times that tiki taka is a figment of the imagination of soccer journalist and it's utter bs. But somehow you guys have kept peddling this senseless narrative. In case you've forgotten let me refresh your memory: _"I loathe all that passing for the sake of it, all that tiki-taka. It's so much rubbish and has no purpose. You have to pass the ball with a clear intention, with the aim of making it into the opposition's goal. It's not about passing for the sake of it."_ A day later, he relayed a similar message to his players and shed light on the intention of all the passing: _"Be yourselves. You need to dig into your own DNA. I hate tiki-taka. Tiki-taka means passing the ball for the sake of it, with no clear intention. And it's pointless._ _"Don't believe what people say. Barca didn't do tiki-taka! It's completely made up! Don't believe a word of it! In all team sports, the secret is to overload one side of the pitch so that the opponent must tilt its own defence to cope. You overload on one side and draw them in so that they leave the other side weak._ _"And when we've done all that, we attack and score from the other side. That's why you have to pass the ball, but only if you're doing it with a clear intention. It's only to overload the opponent, to draw them in and then to hit them with the sucker punch. That's what our game needs to be. Nothing to do with tiki-taka."_ Those were the world's of Pep himself. He said those words almost a decade ago. Yet people have continued to peddle lies about "tiki-taka" That being said, it was a nice video but I just thought I should point that out. In a nutshell, *TIKI TAKA DOESN'T EXIST!*
Spanish here ;D.... First of all we still play "tiki-taka" I mean all our sub 21-23-19-17 play that style.... Spain decided to play like that with all their generations so we can have players that know how to play that style cause is clearly the best style possible and the style that provides both more titles and respect. Is just that sometimes yeah... You don't get that good players to win things even playing the best style possible. I mean look at the Eurocup 2021, we were for sure the best team playing as a team, but look at the players.... Ferran, Olmo Morata on forward, and I think they are not that bad players but just fine players, like a 6 or 7/10 then u look France doing an absolute ridiculous with mbappe, griezmann and dembele my god, or England now with Bellingham, Kane, Saka, Foden... Camon if spain has this players we wil win this euro like bullying easy the other countrys, and that's because we have the style implemented since low categories and know what we want to do on games. Sometimes yeah... you lose.... Everyone loses but it's the best we can do for sure. And now people saying we are ditching Tiki-Taka... Na na na, we play the same is just that now we play with 2 wingers that can 1v1 or even 1v2, and that provides something that we didn't have with Ferran and Olmo on wings so is another option to generate ocasions that we didn't have before and it makes it easier to don't havke matches like the match vs Morroco..... And I mean what would say the people if we just won the stupid penalties against Morroco? wining a game based on luck makes u better? or luckier? is always the same....We were good on world cup, and we are good now but with 2 players that bring us more options and are wayyyy better than the players we had back then that are Lamine Yamal and NIco, that's all, besides that it's literally almost the same team with the same Idea.
Tika taka Spain ain’t run away from its was the player they had didn’t understand it or didn’t know how to play it it’s takes for a new generation to understand it
Ticki tacka invented by cruyf ? Lol Guyd if you want to believe thid ok. But every one in spain knows thst it was Luis Aragones who chose the team of little guys. Iniesta, Xavi, Cazorla, Villa put out Raul Gonzalez Blanco and got heat for it. Then won Eurocup with style and leave the best team in the world for the next guy.
Cruyff instilled possession football in early 90s FC Barcelona and that influenced Spain's general football filosophy. Aragonés then pioneered by basically applying Barcelona's style to Spain, because the core two players were already there (Xavi and Iniesta) and it was a compatible system for Spain's most talented players. Before this, Spain always played a much more conservative style. He got rid Raul because he was a diva, he represented the old way and most of the players in the squad did not want him around (confirmed to my boss by Raul himself).
@@AlexFuerteventura i bet you also think the brithis empire treat india great. Or that the sistemátic genocide of natives by the brithis IS fake news. Lol
@@AlexFuerteventura And the playing posesión IS not cruiff style. In Spain we play 5 VS 5 since chilhood, The técnical abilities and Kick thinking that make spanish football. Nothing to do with Cruiff bullshit. TÍPICAL ANGLOS, GIVING LECTURES ABOUT THINGS TO the natives.
Excelent video, we didnt had two wingers like Lamine and Nico before, thats why we can be more direct, but the the style its the same, height pressing and recovering the ball as fast as possible in the opposite side. This didnt change at all, the difference makers in attack are Nico and Lamine, they can adapt so well to every situation in the game that they free the midfielders
Exactly. The foreigners believe that now De la Fuente wants to change all, but nothing of that. He changes a little because now we have Lamine and Nico and nothing more. If in the past we could have had players like Nico and Lamine, the game could was the same that now. But in the past only we had good interior players, not pure exteriors (extremes), that is the unique and true differency. The Selections is adapt to their have in their countries. If you have players to some positions, but not to others, you adapt your game and your style to that. The more clearly example of that, it´s the match against Albania with players more slow, static and without ability to overflow along the band. Spain again was a little less deep, fast, dinamic, open, etc. Because don´t have a pure extremes. Spain was more a little like always was that it´s now against Croatia and Italy. Only for two players, but they are differents to the rest and uniques. This is the True. Regards.
They both cut inside the second they have the ball though, specially Lapine. But I agree, the point is that they stay open without the ball and making the field deeper helps create spaces and passes are longer and faster than the 2-3 meter passes we've had for years... Also: Rodri is the best posible replace for busquets, remember Lamine is only 16 🤯 and at least for the group stage so far no other team seems better (Germany struggled way too much last game...)
If the midfielders can add long range shots and score more goals then itll be crazy. Lot more threatening. Same with barca tbh since its just another spain
Not easy on the eyes? I very much enjoyed this Spain team a lot more than the Spain team in the 2022 World Cup. It's infinitely better; they are fun to watch, and you can see from a mile away that they are by far the best team in this competition thus far. I hope they keep up the momentum.
The key is in pressing, counter pressing and the tactical flexibility, that is being able the transition quickly from repossession to fluid, direct attack or slow down the game and control possession depending on what the situation needs.
Tiki-taka was a blessing for us back in 08-12, but it also became a terrible burden since then, when our coaches kept playing the same way over and over and over despite the fact we didn't have the right players to execute this idea anymore. As a result, we sucked from 2014 to 2023 (yes, you're right: we made it to the semifinals in 2021 and we even won the Nations League last year, but at the cost of being boring as Hell). Thank God Luis de la Fuente was able to see what went wrong, fixed it and now we're back! 🏆
The current Spanish team reminds me of the Spanish team from 1986. A bit more direct and offensive. Another thing, Lopetegui would've been a more successful coach for Spain had he not been sacked by the Spanish FA just three days before their WC debut back in Russia 2018.
I will say he slightly glazes over the fact that we did very well in euro 2020, before our change and before the embarrassing exit in world cup 2022. But otherwise good video.
