What exactly is the new-look Spain?

After the shambles of the 2018 World Cup, Spain needed change. Drastic change. Looking like a serious contender going into the tournament, easily dealing with fellow European giants Italy in their qualifying group, manager Julen Lopetegui was sacked 2 days before their opening game- a strong statement from the Spanish FA that they wouldn’t be taken the piss out of by Real Madrid, announcing his appointment just a few minutes after informing FA President Luis Rubiales. A poor tournament in which they were unable to break down low blocks, they were knocked out by Russia on penalties in the last 16, and a change of management came in Luis Enrique.

Perhaps done a favour by the wave of retirement announcements following the World Cup, Enrique began to build a new-look Spanish side, and, unlike many other national teams where the managers’ comments that selections are based on form often are vapid, with La Roja this actually did seem to be the case, bringing in players such as Marcos Alonso, Suso and Paco Alcácer in from the cold. Results from this were mixed- a fortunate win at Wembley was met by two blitzing and emphatic wins over Croatia and Wales, before coming to an abrupt end, losing at home to England for the 1st time in 31 years and then beaten in Zagreb by an out of form and ageing Croatia.

They then started their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with unconvincing wins over Norway and Malta, before Luis Enrique resigned from the role for ‘family reasons’. Despite not disclosing the full details, one could decipher what had likely happened- that a member of his family had fallen gravely ill, or perhaps deceased. With assistant Roberto Moreno filling in for him on a temporary basis, Spain began to play with more verve, whilst still maintaining the values of form-based selection. A very promising 3-0 at home to Sweden was followed up by wins in the Faroes and Romania, as the Spain’s best XI and structure began to be crystallised. Kepa had become the number 1 goalkeeper after the poor form of David de Gea not just on the international stage but also for Manchester United, stalwart Sergio Ramos was accompanied by Diego Llorente, Jesús Navas had nailed down the starting right back spot, with Jordi Alba and José Gayà still vying for the left back spot. In midfield, Busquets remained at the base, flanked by two mezzalas of Saúl Ñíguez and Fabián Ruiz, with a nominal front three of Dani Ceballos on the left, Paco Alcácer up front and Rodrigo Moreno on the right. In attack and attacking transition however, this often morphed into a 4-4-2 diamond, allowing the attacking full backs to push on, Rodrigo and Alcácer to act as a poaching front two with Ceballos as a number 10. However, the break was marred by tragic news. Luis Enrique announced that his daughter, Xana, had passed away at age 9 from bone cancer. Realising that this might have, of course, had a long-term effect on Enrique, Spain began to see Moreno as a permanent replacement. However, in the October break, Spain’s ‘4-3-3’ was exposed in their trip to Scandinavia, drawing 1-1 in their double header against Norway and Sweden, both unconvincing performances where Sweden especially should have won. To that end, Moreno again shuffled the pack with his November selection. New additions such as Pau Torres, Dani Olmo and Gerard Moreno all made an instant impact, all getting on the scoresheet against Malta, and looked like they’d be breakout players into the Euro 2020 squad.

Spain’s fluidity shown here as the 4-3-3 has morphed into a 1-3-3 attacking shape, with Alba and Navas pushed into the forward line, with Saúl out of picture and Fabián picking up the ball on the right. A deep run from Alba is later rewarded by a goa from his cutback.

However, with the tournament being delayed a year, and the controversial reappointment of Enrique as manager, Spain’s style again will morph, whilst maintaining their 4-3-3. The composition of this will change and has already changed however, as shown in this September break. Again, Enrique has stuck to his word on form- Dani Ceballos and Isco, who were squad regulars last year, have been axed, in favour of new boys Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati and Óscar Rodríguez. The nominal 4-3-3 has also stayed the same, but this time round has changed to more of a focus on pace and dynamism than players with a larger arsenal of incisive passes. In Stuttgart away to Germany, a slow midfield pair of Thiago and Busquets placed too much of the pressing burden onto Fabián Ruiz and thus struggled to gain the midfield advantage until the introduction of the more aggressive and combative Mikel Merino. The failure to gain a midfield foothold in turn led to too much of a focus on direct balls to the pacey wide players of Navas and Torres, before a regression to Spain’s more natural, patient approach after the introduction of debutant playmaker Óscar Rodríguez, culminating in a late equaliser from left back José Gayà after a brilliantly worked and patient move. Against Ukraine however, Enrique got the balance just right between dynamism and elan. The pacey Fati on the left was balanced by the creative Olmo on the right, with the versatile and deceptively elegant striker Gerard Moreno knitting the two flanks together, with Rodri and Merino providing both a combative and progressive base for Thiago to be the maestro. Admittedly it was two goals from captain Sergio Ramos that took the game away from Ukraine, but the opening penalty was won by a driving run from Fati, an element of dynamism so deficient from Spain’s last three tournament campaigns. Fati later became the youngest scorer in the history of La Furia Roja to make it three, before Ferran Torres scored his first goal for Spain in the second half to seal a 4-0 rout.

Fati scores on debut

A great performance against an up-and-coming Ukraine side, and with 4 more tests against strong opposition on the horizon, it will be fascinating to see if there are any further adaptations from Enrique.

By Alfie Wilson

Pictures credited to SkySports.