6 ways for Spain to come back from humiliating defeat against Netherlands

Never had the defending world champions been humiliated so badly in the history of the World Cup. The 1-5 defeat of Spain by Netherlands is, in fact, the worst defeat in the aforementioned category. Spain came really close to breaking their own record for their worst victory (record still stands as the 2-6 defeat in the hands of Scotland in 1963).The 5 goals they conceded was 2 more than in the 2010 World Cup& Euro 2012 combined (3 goals in 13 games).So, what went wrong for Spain?The defending champions often looked unsure and out-of-depth, which led to mistakes frequently. The Spanish side needs to do whatever possible to ensure they don't get knocked out in the group stages only. There were a total of 6 goals scored in the match, and we'll try to find 6 possible ways to achieve the aforementioned criteria and give Spain a proper chance to defend their title:

#1 Change in goalkeeper

"Saint" Iker Casillas has always been regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in football history. Nobody dared to take his starting spot away from him, for Real Madrid or for Spain. Then came along an injury in end-2012 due to which Mourinho, then Madrid manager, bought Diego Lopez from Sevilla, and things were never the same for Casillas. He never regained his starting GK status and in the Ancelotti era, was reduced to a strictly cup-match playing role.

And whatever he may say, that ruined the form and confidence of the Spain and Madrid captain completely: something that he's yet to regain! And these were visibly evident in Spain's group B match vs The Netherlands. He was hesitant to come forward, poor in judging the flight of the ball and positioning himself likewise (the headed goal from the corner is evidence to this, although Casillas may have been fouled) and poor distribution and ball control (which led to van Persie's second goal). In short, Casillas may be in the worst form of his career and alternatives have to be looked at for replacements. Even though he is the third-choice goalkeeper behind Reina, Manchester United's David de Gea is Spain's best bet as the new #1. He is in very good form, hungry and determined to prove himself!

#2 Defense reshuffling

Spain's defense was by far their worst section on the pitch! Each of their four defenders are ball playing and regularly try to bombard opposition midfield (Alba seems permanently positioned as Spain's left winger. With all these in mind, there needs to be some changes. Spain's choice of good CBs has dwindled with Puyol retiring and the rest aren't quite up to par (Javi Martinez prefers to play as a CDM).

So, by and large, with the exception of possible 60' substitutions to bring on Raul Albiol or Martinez, Pique and Ramos will be Spain's starting centre backs. Reshuffling, however, can be done on the full backs and with Carvajal left out, the Spanish side has 3 proper fullbacks in their 23 man squad. The combinations can be Alba-LB; Azpilicueta-RB, Alba-LB; Juanfran-RB and Azpilicueta-LB; Juanfran-RB. But because Alba's blistering pace adds another dimension to Spain's attack and breaks up opposition's counters, it's better to keep him as starting LB and make Juanfran the starting RB. Azpilicueta had a forgettable match and should be dropped to make space (more on this later)

#3 More defensive style(variation in tactics)

Tiki-taka, the Spanish football style is based on possesion and passing and the defenders play an integral part in this. The two centre back are located at the half line and the two fullbacks are almost exclusively positioned in the final third of the pitch. As a result, Spain play an extremely high line and are very prone to quick counters, which the Dutch took full advantage of! A couple of offsides in the first half were mere warning; Netherlands tore apart Spain in the second half with lofted through balls and quick counters! With this in mind, Spain needs to have a change in strategy. Spain have players like Diego Costa and Sergio Ramos who are excellent on the counter and very good headers of the ball. Even when Spain are on the counter, their wingers reach the final third and for some strange reason, instead of crossing the ball, they proceed to back-pass and start the play all over again from the centre.

As for their defence (or rather, a lack of one), the Spanish defenders were haphazardly placed and often, Ramos and Pique were placed too wide apart, allowing Robben and vna Persie to exploit the space in the middle! There were absolutely no sighting of the full backs; Jordi Alba was permanently placed as a left winger and Azpilicueta was positioned as a midfielder with poor attacking and defending workrates. In each and every one of the Dutch counters, their players will pass or start their run from the wings and without any fullbacks to stop either, they ran riot! Spain needs to learn that it's okay to give up possession once in a while. But when they do that, they must have a proper shape and play as a defensive unit to prevent through balls, passes or shots!

#4 Need for speed

We will discuss the omission of two Manchester City players in this article, the first being Jesus Navas. Granted, he wasn't in too good a form when del Bosque announced his 23-man squad, but he is one of the quickest wingers in world football with an affinity for good crossing. And no matter how much you pass the ball, every team needs wingers to stretch opposition defense to cross or make room down the middle. And with the exception of Jordi Alba, none of the players in Spain's starting lineup are quick on their feet.

Navas would have added another dimension to the Spanish attack with crosses that might have given Costa something to work with. With Navas left out, Pedro is Spain's only out-and-out winger. An alternative del Bosque can try in the next match is putting Pedro on the right winger and Atletico Madrid player Koke on the left. Ideally, it should have been Pedro on.the left and Navas on the right, but Koke is a very skillful midfielder and a hard worker.

#5 Better finishing

Xavi and Iniesta were absolutely exquisite in the first half for Spain.They were dominating midfield with their accurate passing and constantly troubling the Netherlands back four with inch-perfect through balls. Yet, despite all those through balls and delicate passes, the Spanish strike-force lacked the finishing necessary to have an impact in the game.

Costa’s finishing was severely lacking and his replacement, Torres didn't help either. Gone are the magic days of "El Nino"; now, he's frequently ridiculed due to his lack of goals, often courtesy his glaring misses. And one example of the same was on display for the whole world to see. Trailing 1-5 in the dying moments of the game, he was put clear through on goal by an accurate pass. With no goalkeeper in sight, it seemed the Spanish would get one goal from open-play.

Yet, somehow Torres managed to jumble up his feet and allow a defender to tackle and dispossess him. A substitute for him (apart from David Villa) is the second Manchester City player we'll discuss- Alvaro Negredo. The Beast, as he is often called by the City faithfuls, didn't have the best closing stages of the season, with the goals drying up. Yet, right now, he's in a much better form than Torres. So his exclusion made little sense to the Spanish faithfuls.

#6 Change in lineup

Vincent del Bosque opted for a different formation in the first match, deciding to go with 4-2-3-1, rather than the more generally used 4-3-3 (false 9). Yet, it didn't make much difference! The Spanish squad is one of the oldest in this World Cup, with a majority players already winning the cup in 2010. The average age for the Spanish squad is also one of the highest (at 28.24 years).

Needless to say, del Bosque prefers experience over youth in his squad. And that might come back to haunt him! The current Spanish players were the golden generation: they won everything and beat everyone. So the lack of motivation comes into question, something which can be easily overcome with inclusion of younger, hungrier players. I present a few alternate formations del Bosque could use (needless to say, only the 23 players are used):

433

de GeaAlba-Pique-Ramos-JuanfranIniesta-Busquets-FabregasKoke-Costa-Pedro

433de GeaAzpilicueta-Pique-Ramos-JuanfranXavi-Busquets-SilvaIniesta-Costa-Pedro

4231 (wide)

de GeaAlba-Pique-Ramos-JuanfranBusquets-MartinezKoke-Iniesta-PedroCosta

4231 (narrow)

de GeaAlba-Pique-Ramos-JuanfranXabi Alonso-BusquetsSilva-Koke-IniestaCosta

4411

de GeaAlba-Pique-Ramos-JuanfranKoke-Xavi-Iniesta-PedroFabregasCosta

532 (very defensive)

Azpilicueta-Ramos-Albiol-Pique-JuanfranBusquets-Koke-MartinezCosta-Villa

Note that only winger here is Pedro (Koke prefers to play centrally, but will be pushed to wide midfield, thereby highlighting the need for Navas). Any 2 striker system can include Costa+Villa, who are already familiar with each other due to their playing for Atletico Madrid.