Spain vs England: 3 things learned, UEFA Nations League 2018-19

England caused a major upset by beating Spain 2-3 in an absorbing UEFA Nations League match in Seville on Monday. Raheem Sterling scored a brace for England and Marcus Rashford added another in a first half blitz that saw England take a 0-3 lead within 38 minutes.

Spain came back strongly in the second half and reduced the deficit via a couple of goals from Paco Alcacer and Sergio Ramos, but it was not enough to save the day for them. Spain lost an international match on home soil for the first time since 2003.

Luis Enrique’s brilliant start with the Spanish national side, which saw them score 12 goals in 3 matches, also came to a halt as England forced a memorable win.

Spain dominated possession with more than 70 percent of it, and also had more than 20 attempts at goal, but England were more clinical and direct as their brilliant counter-attacking game outclassed the Spanish defence in the first half. Here are 3 takeaways from last night’s game.

#1 England’s fast counter-attacking game was too lethal for Spain

England were very clinical in their approach in the first half and outclassed Spain with their fast attacking game. They started with a 4-4-2 formation which transformed into a 4-3-3 when they had possession.

Rashford and Sterling kept moving into the wide areas, and Harry Kane played the perfect centre forward's role, with a commanding and robust performance.

Moreover, Spain tended to dominate possession and crowd the middle third, and therefore their centre backs had to play a high line at times in order to reduce the gap between themselves and the midfielders.

England took full advantage of that and their midfielders started playing long through balls to the front 3, which led to the goals. Sterling’s first goal was a result of one such glorious counter-attacking move which saw Rashford play a quick one-touch pass to Sterling before the latter beat David De Gea with a right-footed scorcher.

England’s second goal also came via Kane’s brilliant through pass to Rashford, Sterling compounded Spain’s misery with yet another fast move, and the slowness of the ageing Sergio Ramos was exposed completely.

Ramos found it difficult to contend with Sterling’s pace, and Nacho the younger centre back also could not implement his tackles on the English forwards.

#2 Spain’s "problem of plenty" in attack becomes a problem indeed

Spain are blessed with a lot of enviable options in their attack. However, it also means that they do not have a fixed front 3 combination, as they keep rotating the players. As a result, the players have not been able to develop an understanding between themselves in order to breach dogged defences.

Rodrigo, Marco Asensio, and Aspas started in the attack for Spain on Monday, and it was only one of the numerous combinations tried in the last few games. As a result, they could not interchange positions and make it difficult for the English defenders.

Asensio started on the left wing, but it is quite evident that he prefers to start on the right side. He likes to cut in from the right wing, and then take powerful shots at goal from the edge of the opposition penalty box.

He switched to the right side in the second half, and the effect was immediate as Spain forced a corner via his side of the pitch, and it led to Paco Alcacer's goal.

Aspas had a very ordinary day, and should have been taken off earlier. Rodrigo also toiled hard, but found it difficult to break the English resistance. Enrique should probably stick with a front 3 combination of Isco, Asensio, and Rodrigo, using players like Alvaro Morata, Alcacer, Aspas, and Suso as substitutes.

#3 Spain should reconsider their attacking strategy against ultra-defensive teams

The flow of Spainâs passing game was disrupted — The flow of Spain’s passing game was disrupted

Spain are very effective against teams which play an open game and allow them enough space in the midfield. Spain scored 6 past Croatia, and 4 against Wales as those teams allowed them the freedom in the midfield.

However, in a stark contrast to those teams, England crowded the middle third last night to block the spaces, and as a result, the flow of Spain’s passing game was disrupted. They started resorting to playing harmless back passes, and lateral passes, which meant that they dominated possession but failed to do anything else.

They should have played quicker through passes in the final third, and their forwards should have swapped positions to trouble the English defence more. Their midfielders also did not demonstrate dribbling skills which could open up spaces in the opposition half.

Things changed somewhat in the second half as Ceballos was introduced in place of an ineffective Saul Niguez.

Ceballos did some dribbling, and created space with his fast runs. Subsequently, Spain came back into the match and scored a couple of goals. Thiago Alcantara was also below-par and did not have enough creative contribution. However, credit has to given to the English defence, as the likes of Eric Dier and Harry Maguire had a very good game.

Edited by Anthony Akatugba Jr.