Was it a disastrous outing for Spain and Luis Enrique in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup ?
The winner of the 19th edition of the tournament were sent packing, following a shootout lost to their Andalusian neighbour, Atlas Lions of Morocco, who reached the quarter finals for the first time ever.
When Luis Enrique announced the squad that would represent them in Qatar, it stirred a lot of controversies but the manager maintained he has selected the best legs the country has to offer.
The list included seven Barcelona players, which was later made eight as left-back, Alejandro Balde was selected to replace the injured Luis Gaya in the squad, making it another young player in the ranks.
Of course if we are being fair, the most successful part of the Spanish National Team history was dominated by Barcelona players. Not long ago, the trio of Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez and Andreas Iniesta pulled the strings for them.
They were all mainstay in the side that won the European Championship back to back and a FIFA World Cup title between the from 2008 to 2012.
The likes of Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué were also played their part in that success while Pedro Rodriguez was another Barcelona player who had a fair share of the plaudits.
Even in the present, looking at the current options available for the national team, it is still Barcelona who have the best shots at producing having groomed the likes of Pedri Gonzalez, Ansu Fati, Pablo Gavi and others.
Their recruitment structure has also seen them bring in the likes of Eric Garcia and Ferran Torres from Manchester City, two players who are now considered regulars for the national team, mostly Torres.
However, have these set of players proven themselves worthy of deserving a place in the Spainish starting XI, when compared to their international teammates, who play for other clubs ?
Luis Enrique went for a midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Pedri Gonzalez and Pablo Gavi, the same combination that is employed by Barcelona manager, Xavi Hernandez.
Since the 2021/22 season, the trio have played a handful of games together and have over time understand one another in order to bring the right balance to play.
Sergio Busquets, which his unbeatable technical prowess and ability to beat press superbly makes him continuously come top and high on the list of any selection, because he is highly rated by Enrique, who had coached him during stint with Barcelona.
Pedri Gonzalez has been one of the best youngsters in the game since his breakthrough season and even before the start of the FIFA World Cup had won 14 caps for the national team since his debut last year.
He has been a consistent player for them and earned his place. It was never in doubt that the 2021 golden boy winner will start for Spain in Qatar.
Same can be said of the current golden boy award holder, Gavi, who is also fast becoming a mainstay in the national team has Enrique favoured him over any other.
However, despite their qualities, there was always question marks over their inability to show up in big games. In consecutive season, they failed to reach the knockout rounds of the UEFA champions league albeit they remain incredibly good against average opponents.
It was the same scenario in Qatar as they completely dominated Costa Rica in their opening game, winning by a record scoreline of 7-0 but the problem started against a qualify opponent in Germany, and they were only lucky to escape with a point despite their dominance of possession.
It was even worse against Japan where they we completely in control but couldn’t prevent Hajime Moriyasu’s side from coming back from a goal down to earn the maximum three points.
The midfield is quality but are too passive when in possession. They appeared more obsessed with retaining the ball than actually creating worthwhile dangers when in the final third.
The trio appeared in all of Spain’s four games in Qatar and together, combined for nine key passes, five of them coming against Costa Rica in their opening game, which was a total whitewash.
Despite the good number of possession enjoyed by the team in much of their games, the trio were not really able to put the opposing defenders under any real threat. They continuously do the basics, which is passing the ball from sides to sides.
Despite the number of center backs in the squad, Rodri Hernandez was played as a makeshift Center Back just to accommodate him in the XI. Albeit the Manchester City man had no flaws in the tournament, one can help but wonder what he could have offered playing in the middle.
The duo of Gavi and Pedri are good but have shown they lacked the experience and easily succumb to pressure. They are also shy in picking the deadly passes in attack, thus widening the gap between midfielders and attackers for Spain in the tournament.
Surprisingly, it is not that this players doesn’t have it in them but unfortunately, time and again they have failed to really deliver on the big stage. This has been the case when Gavi and Pedri starts together for Barcelona but Enquire choose to down the fate of the nation on this uncertainty.
In the loss against Morocco, Rodri had 200+ touches, Laporte had 190+ touches but some of the midfield players barely completed 20 passes. Just image the disharmony in the play.
It is in the culture of the Spainish national team to dominate possession but in the years of their past legends, they had creativity to their play which is surely lacking in the current set.
Alvaro Morata, a traditional No.9, who looks on form in the tournament, scoring in all his appearances in the competition before the game against Morocco was kept on the bench for the match against a side that has never conceded a goal from an opposing player since the appointment of Walid Regragui until their semi final loss to France.
Morocco doesn’t press high, and are content with absorbing pressure and playing out from the back through it. That is the kind of game suited for a No.9 and Morata’s positioning could have really troubled the likes of Romain Saiss and Naif Argued.
Any manager could have started him for the match but Luis Enrique had other futile plans, which in the end backfired.
The 52 year old has stepped down after the disappointing exit from the tournament and has been replaced by Luis de la Fuente, who has had quite a history with the country’s youth having been under employment with Spain since 2013.
Spain have the quality and very young players to build a future on but selecting them in the right order to bring quantifiable balance to play will only get them to the desired heights and not just selection because of other reasons.
England have the likes of Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Mason Mount, James Maddison and even Jacob Ramsey but a manager would not choose to field them all at the same time because they are all good but he has to consider the right balance in the XI.
It remains to be seen if the lesson is already learnt and fans will wait to see the starting XI of de la Fuente, when he takes charge of his first assignment as the new manager of the Spanish National Team against Norway in March, 2023.
A section of Spanish fans will however choose to continue to hold Luis Enrique responsible for the nation’s failure in the 22nd edition of the tournament in Qatar.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
Do you think Luis Enrique is solely to blame for Spain’s failure in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup ?
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