Having won the last three major international tournaments, it is worth wondering if reigning champions Spain might finally come a cropper at next month’s FIFA World Cup.
Their remarkable run of success simply has to come to an end eventually and there are concerns that their style of soccer — epitomized by the aging Xavi Hernandez — is already outdated.
Spain followed the Barcelona way of playing to win the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. In the latter tournament, they ultimately triumphed in style, destroying Italy 4-0 in the final, but the sterile way in which they dominated earlier matches led many to label Vicente del Bosque’s side boring.
Photo: EPA
Even if was not always thrilling, it was effective, but the two years since have witnessed the decline of the Pep Guardiola empire at Barcelona.
The Catalans’ possession-based game, popularly known as “tiki-taka,” was made to look utterly one-dimensional as they were taken apart by Bayern Munich, all power and fast transitions from defense to attack, in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2012-2013.
Fast forward a year and Bayern, with Guardiola in charge, were playing the tiki-taka and being torn apart on the counterattack by Real Madrid at the same stage. Recently, as a result, it has become popular to mourn the death of the style.
Alternative ways of playing have emerged at club level. Borussia Dortmund’s high-octane counterpressing game took them to the 2012-2013 Champions League final, while Atletico Madrid have achieved extraordinary success with a 4-4-2 formation centered around defensive discipline, midfield industry and the brute attacking force of Diego Costa.
Jose Mourinho has taken things to extremes at times. His approach is often that if you willingly renounce possession you will make fewer mistakes and therefore win the game.
However, to say that tiki-taka is dead is to jump to conclusions. After all, until 2011, Guardiola’s Barcelona mixed their mesmerizing short passing with a crucial element — a high-energy pressing game — and Guardiola’s Bayern won the double in Germany this season.
Tiki-taka can still succeed if played at the right tempo and Spain are set to maintain the faith in a style that has served them so well previously.
“Why would we change? We’ve done very well with this style. There’s no need to change it,” midfielder David Silva told British newspaper the Independent.
There are different ways to win matches, though, and all are valid. Playing with two forwards has become less commonplace in the last decade, while both the 4-2-3-1 and Barcelona’s classic 4-3-3 with one central forward, or perhaps a false nine, will be prominent in Brazil.
Nevertheless, several Central and South American sides will play with two strikers, including Uruguay and Chile.
The four-man defense will remain de rigueur, even if Mexico should favor a back five and Louis van Gaal has admitted that the loss of midfielder Kevin Strootman to injury could see the Netherlands abandon their 4-3-3 for a 5-3-2.
Van Gaal’s seemingly last-minute change in policy is all the more remarkable given that modern World Cups tend to be characterized by the desire not to take risks.
The first FIFA World Cup Technical Study, of the 1966 finals in England, noted that “emphasis on defensive strength in team play is spreading throughout world football,” because “team coaches in modern competition cannot afford to lose.”
Fast forward to South Africa 2010 and FIFA noted that “the opening group matches were characterized by cautious play.”
Things did improve, but the average goals per game for the tournament was just 2.27, the lowest ever except for Italy in 1990 (2.21), while Spain were the lowest-scoring winners since the World Cup began.
In Brazil, given what is at stake, the emphasis should again be on caution and there will probably be little in terms of innovation.
“Teams that get to the World Cup arrive there via a process,” Portugal coach Paulo Bento said. “To qualify, this process must be successful. Therefore, I don’t think it is likely that coaches will change processes in a short period of time when they have been prepared and worked on for so long.”
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS