Spain needs
to make changes and bring in the next generation of stars after being
eliminated from the World Cup.
La Furia Roja is out of Brazil 2014
after losing its first two matches to the Netherlands and Chile, making the 3-0
win against Australia an irrelevant one.
The
Spaniards were considered to be a contender to win the World Cup and even
become the first team since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 to win back-to-back titles.
Coach
Vicente Del Bosque relied too much on some of the stars from the past and it
backfired on him and his team. Spain’s tiki-taka
football looked slow, static and predictable against the Dutch and Chileans and
the reliance on the veterans played its part.
Iker
Casillas had arguably his two worst performances as a professional goalkeeper
when the Netherlands thrashed Spain 5-1 and Chile disposed of the Spaniards
2-0. Casillas lacked confidence and his errors played a huge role in Spain
conceding as many goals as it did.
Midfielders
Xabi Alonso and Xavi are in their early 30s and the World Cup looked like one
tournament too many for them. They could not handle the physically stronger
Dutch players or the faster Chileans.
Fernando
Torres was another player who should not have played at the World Cup. He did
score against Australia but the match was a dead rubber. He has not been
impressive since becoming a Chelsea player in 2011 and he has looked like a
shadow of himself for the last few years.
If selecting
those veterans was a mistake, Del Bosque’s worst mistake has to be convincing
Brazilian striker Diego Costa to switch allegiances.
After
playing a few friendlies for Brazil, Costa was Spain’s centre-forward at the
World Cup and it was an unsuccessful move. He won a penalty against the Dutch
but he failed to score in the tournament.
It’s
puzzling to work out why Spain would call-up Costa in the first place. Cesc
Fabregas did well in the false nine role at Euro 2012 so why change a winning
formula? Even if Del Bosque wanted a more traditional centre-forward, he could
have used a Spanish-born player like Alvaro Negredo or Fernando Llorente.
Negredo
scored nine goals in 32 EPL matches as Manchester City went on to win the
Premier League title and Llorente scored 16 goals in 34 matches as Juventus
went on to win the Serie A title.
Llorente is
not the only Italy-based player who should have gone to the World Cup.
Right-winger Jose Callejon and central midfielder Borja Valero were worthy of
selection too.
The Serie A
is not as strong as it used to be and Spaniards usually struggle on the Italian
peninsula but Callejon and Valero merited spots in the Spanish squad.
Callejon
scored 15 goals in 37 matches for Napoli in his first Serie A season and Valero
has been Fiorentina’s midfield general for the last two seasons.
Spain has
plenty of depth in central midfield and most of the players are in winning
teams but Valero has been a real standout in the Serie A since arriving in
Italy two years ago.
The Spanish
need to bring in more stars from their youth teams now. Players like Marc
Bartra, Gerard Deulofeu and Thiago Alcantara probably weren’t good enough for
this World Cup but they are the type of players La Furia Roja could be relying on at Euro 2016 and Russia 2018.
Spain still
had some youngsters who were good enough to play at this World Cup such as Iker
Muniain, Isco, Alberto Moreno and Daniel Carvajal.
Athletic
Bilbao midfielders Ander Herrera and Ander Iturraspe are in their mid-20s but
they too could have made Spain’s final 23 for the World Cup.
Del Bosque
was perhaps spoilt for choice but he probably should have left out some of the
old faces when he selected Spain’s squad for the World Cup.
This marks
the end of a generation and a new one will be expected to emerge. The players
are there but regardless if Del Bosque stays as coach or a new one comes in,
the newcomers must play ASAP.
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