Even the famous, popular and legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wengerthe ‘mister’ who began to change football in the Premier League and, now, FIFA Technical Directorhas shown his disappointment at the insistent and ineffective play of the Spanish team of Luis Enrique and, in a recent report presented to the media in the company of the equally mythical and popular German striker Jurgen Klinsmannhis assistant, has come to say that either you play with intention, with depth, on the wings and attack with enthusiasm or it is impossible, not just to break any defense, but to defeat any rival.
Once the World Cup quarterfinal pairings (Croatia-Brazil, Netherlands-Argentina, Morocco-Portugal and England-France) have been confirmed, I have talked again with my friends Llorenc Serra Ferrer, Santi Canizares, Victor Munoz and angel ‘Pichi’ alonsocoach, goalkeeper, midfielder and goalscorer, to find out what they think of what happened and reflect on this extremely painful, precipitous, early elimination of Spain, the only surprise in the round of 16 of the World Cup.
no alternative
The first conclusion is surprise and absolute disappointment for the elimination “so early and against an inferior rival& rdquor; from Spain. And the second is Luis Enrique’s stubbornness in always wanting to play with the same system, which everyone considers wonderful, showy and very effective “when it is executed to perfection, with intensity and determination”, but they point out that non-existence, at the whim of the coach, of a ‘plan B’, which, as Serra Ferrer himself admits, “even had Johan Cruyffinventor of all this, placing alexancosometimes, as a center forward or himself Pep Guardiolawhen his system does not work out well & rdquor ;, it is necessary when the games get stuck.
“Whatever some of the national team players say, everything is football and anything goes in football to win a game. All ways of playing are valid”
Llorenç Serra Ferrer / Mallorcan coach
“The disappointment after the elimination of Spain is enormous,” he explains Serra Ferrer. “And it is for various reasons, starting with the criticism that some of the members of the team have made of the style of play used by Morocco. Let’s start from the base, and that has to be sacred and respected, that everything, everything, is football. Contrary to what many believe, there is not only one way to play soccer. Morocco has what it has and knows exactly what it is playing. She tried to make Spain desperate and she succeeded. Won. Hopefully yes, but he won. We like more or less how he did it & rdquor ;.
Serra Ferrer considers that 130 minutes go a long way and “Spain, I’m sorry, produced very little and proposed less. 1,019 passes are of little use. They are useless if you shoot three times on goal. And we don’t even talk about the penalty shootout.” It is evident that, given the ineffectiveness for 70 minutes, for example, there should have been a ‘plan B’, “but Luis Enrique, a great coach, refuses to have it, to prepare it, he doesn’t even think he’s going to need it. And he is wrong. You always need a ‘plan B’. You put in a great dribbler, who had it; you change the system; you boost the bands or place two 9s, which gives the Moroccans more headaches than with a false 9, that’s for sure.”
“It is clear that direct football is less showy, but in a World Cup it is about winning, going to the next round. These are not lentils, if you want to eat them and if not, leave them, no, no, here you have to adapt. I repeat, Cruyff before and Pep (Guardiola) now, inventors of this football beauty, had and have resources to change the game, the intention, the proposal of their team when things are not going well. Pep has even signed a giant, when he only wanted to play with little ones & rdquor ;, says Serra Ferrer.
“We could talk two days in a row about the useless way we played the 130 minutes against Morocco,” he says. Pichi Alonso. “We could recognize that, when it comes to the penalty shootout, luck comes in, okay. We could say that Spain competes better against the big ones than against the small ones, perfect. But the first thing we should think about when we see how they’ve kicked us out of the World Cup is that we still don’t have that differential player that the others have, that the big teams have, that they have all the favourites, that the teams that win have.”
“Let’s look at reality: Spain lacks that differential player, that 20-goal scorer, who saves your games”
Ángel ‘Pichi’ Alonso / Spanish soccer goalscorer
For the goalscorer, Spain lacks a footballer who can easily see a goal, who scores 20 or 25 goals per season. Does not exist. There is no one like that in LaLiga, nor outside of it. “From three quarters of the field forward, nobody has played like Spain. But none of those above scare anyone, nor leave anyone. Neither Ferran, nor Asensio, nor Morata, nor Sarabia, nor Nico, nor Ansu, or this Ansu, at least and thus it is impossible to go far in a World Cup where there are Mbappé, Giroud, Vinicus, Neymar, Messi, Álvarez, Kane, now the Portuguese Gonçalo Ramos, who left us speechless against Switzerland, and many others. We must accept that reality. This is what it is. And period & rdquor ;.
And, yes, of course, Pichi also agrees that it is “absurd & rdquor; not having a ‘plan B’ even if, later, you resist applying it “but, having it, you have to have it& rdquor;. And he proposes, of course, trying the intentional hit in search of the second play, sending Rodrigo or whoever, second 9, opening the wings with two authentic dribblers…”whatever, but you have to try something, you can’t keep adding passes without depth, nor offensive sense & rdquor ;.
“Honestly, I thought that, after the last 20 minutes against Germany and the bump we gave ourselves, which the players also gave themselves, also, against Japan, they would have learned, but the match against Morocco seemed to me of absolute impotence and very disappointing. Not because they eliminate you, that too, but because a team that is inferior to you eliminates you. For me, if Portugal knocks me out in the quarterfinals, a great team, with great individualities, look, perfect, but Morocco in the round of 16 seems like a tremendous blow to Spanish football,” he says. Victor Munoz.
The Barcelona all-round midfielder also shows his strangeness and “up to a point of perplexity& rdquor; due to the fact that, from the outset, Luis Enrique left his theoretical ‘goal man’ on the bench, because “Morata was on a roll, I didn’t understand that starting decision& rdquor;. In the same way that he does not understand that he reserved the mattress scorer for the second half or extension.
“I did not understand how, from the outset, you leave Morata, your scorer, who is also on a roll, on the bench”
Victor Muñoz / Spanish midfielder
“Regarding not having a ‘plan B’, obviously I agree with everyone that it is a mistake by the coach,” Víctor insists. “Good or bad, effective or not, you must do something. But… but you have to take into account that changing the chip, changing the plan, changing the way of playing, in a team that only knows how to play in a way that, on top of that, boasts of playing only in one way, is not easy. You need to change players and maybe you don’t have them because you haven’t summoned them. For example, we couldn’t put two 9s because we only have one, Morata, and he didn’t even start, he doesn’t believe in them. It’s not easy, no. This is not flipping a switch and changing the way you play. But, yes, Luis Enrique must have done something.”
“Let’s see,” he explains Santi Canizares, “I am not a fan of this game system. I like it, yes, but not more than others. I am with ‘Mister’ Serra Ferrer: all systems are valid, good and even winners if they are executed well, to perfection and, above all, if they are executed with intention, with determination and the desire to win.”
“Against Costa Rica, we had the ball with the intention of scoring; against Morocco, we had the ball with fear, just to take care of it”
Santi Cañizarez / International goalkeeper
“Our problem against Morocco, like against Japan, not so much against Germany, was that we played with fear, we played more to take care of the ball than to use it to do damage. There was no intent to go deep, no intent to attack. And like that it is impossible to win& rdquor ;, comments Cañizares.
“I share, of course I do!, ‘Pichi”s explanation that we lack a goalscorer, an Mbappé, a Neymar, a Kane, a Messi, a differential, decisive player, but precisely our strength was In what we showed against Costa Rica, yes, it was Costa Rica, okay, but that day we fell in love because we played as a team, with intention and determination,” Cañizares continues.
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“A convinced group, without stars, as Sergio Scariolo demonstrated with his magnificent and exemplary selection in the last Eurobasket, is a winning team, whether or not they have a leader on the pitch. There is nothing better than the team being the leader. I remember Valencia that defeated the galacticos and I also have that feeling”, commented the goalkeeper.
“And, yes, of course I can’t finish without criticizing not having variables, alternatives, even within tiki-taka football itself, with 1,000 passes, when the game gets stuck and, above all, because you’ve been playing for 70 minutes and you’ve kicked twice on goal. That, the truth, does not make sense and it is a serious mistake by Luis Enrique, insisting on always playing the same & rdquor;, sentenced the Valencian goalkeeper.