Four mistakes that contributed to Spain’s World Cup failure

In one of the biggest shocks of the World Cup so far, Spain have been dumped out at the round of 16 stage by the hosts Russia. Many expected them to go all the way this summer, but after a premature exit for the 2010 winners, the post-mortem is underway.

Spain’s tournament got off to a shaky start before a ball had been kicked. On the eve of the tournament, they sacked Julen Logetegui after he agreed to take up the top job at Real Madrid when the World Cup was over, and was replaced by Fernando Hierro.

They began with a thrilling 3-3 draw with Portugal, thanks in part to a double from striker Diego Costa. They looked certain to win the game, before Cristiano Ronaldo completed a hat-trick and secured his side a point with a brilliant last minute free kick.

They picked up their first win in their next game with Iran, but that didn’t come easy. It needed a scrappy second-half goal from Costa, while Iran missed a number of opportunities to earn themselves a point.

Progression to the round of 16 was secured with an unconvincing 2-2 draw with Morocco, in which they twice had to come from behind. Finishing top of the group meant that Spain were in the weaker side of draw, giving them potentially a much simpler path to the final than if they had finished below Portugal, and ended up in the other half of the draw.

Questions will be asked about what went wrong for Spain, as they will have targeted the world title in Russia. These are four mistakes that they made in the run-up to, and during, the tournament.

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#1 Sacking Lopetegui two days before their opening game

Julen Lopetegui Press Conference At Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

The president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, insisted that he had no choice but to sack Lopetegui after he announced his move to Real, claiming he was told just five minutes before the public announcement. The move to sack him is understandable, but that doesn’t make it the right one. Ethically, it probably wasn’t right for Lopetegui to do what he did, but two days before their first game, he was the right man to lead them into the tournament.

A new manager was never going to come into the Spain camp and make drastic changes to the way they played. All Spanish sides, from the youth teams to the senior teams, play the same way, so in that respect, Hierro was going to change very little. There is no doubt that a change of manager would cause disruption in the dressing room though.

Lopetegui understood the squad after two years in the job, and the squad understood him. It may not have had a massive effect on their tactics and style, but the change in management certainly had a mental impact.

#2 Not having a Plan B

Spain’s recent success has all been the product of their attractive, passing style of football. For years they used it to dominate the international scene, winning the 2010 World Cup, along with the 2008 and 2012 European Championships. But in Russia, this style of football hasn’t had the effect they’d have hoped for.

Against Russia, they completed an incredible 1,113 passes, a World Cup record, but only had 14 shots, and rarely threatened the Russia goal.

It was too easy for Russia to deal with their approach. It was too slow, and there was no real cutting edge. Diego Costa started every single game for Spain in Russia, but they didn’t play to his strength. He scored from a long ball in the first game against Portugal, but they rarely exploited his talents.

Had they decided to try a slightly more direct style at times against Russia, they would have posed a greater threat, because Russia weren’t set up to deal with that. They have their way of playing, and if that fails, they don’t have an alternative.

#3 Leaving Cesc Fabregas at home

Cesc Fabregas

This Spanish team is filled with creative players, but despite that, there didn’t seem to be any connection between the midfield and frontline. Very few of the midfielders in that squad have played with Diego Costa, or a player like Costa. The one creative Spanish midfielder who has played with Costa and formed a connection with Costa was sat in a TV studio - Cesc Fabregas.

Fabregas maybe didn’t have the best season with Chelsea, but in his three seasons with Costa at Stamford Bridge, the pair linked well. Spain never got the best out of Costa, and they rarely played directly up to him.

Fabregas is capable of playing the short, clever passes, but he is also able to play the direct balls forward, and maybe that’s the sort of thing Spain were lacking.

#4 Not selecting wingers

Everything we have seen from Spain in this tournament has been very one dimensional. This wasn’t entirely the fault of Fernando Hierro, because the squad was picked before he took charge. But regardless of what the game situation was, they haven’t had the chance to change things significantly.

One thing that Spain have lacked is width, and although that does not fit with their usual style of play, it may have been useful to have that option. They did have Lucas Vasquez in the squad, but not much else.

Marcos Asensio can play on the left, but he prefers to come inside and dictate the play centrally. There may be some regret that the likes of Jose Callejon and Vitolo weren’t selected.