DANIEL McDONNELL

SPAIN CAN HAVE NO COMPLAINTS – THEY GOT WHAT THEY DESERVED

SPAIN’s World Cup meltdown started with an abrupt decision and ended with a slow and painful death.

We will never know how they would have fared if manager Julen Lopetegui had escaped an immediate dismissal for confirming he would join Real Madrid after the tournament.

The one thing that can be said about the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, is that he wasn’t afraid of an aggressive gamble.

There were lengthy spells in Moscow yesterday where the men in red could have benefitted from a risk-taking strategy.

Stand-in coach Fernando Hierro (right, above) insisted they had done just that. “We did everything we could,” he said.

But it was hard to sympathise with him or his side. Spain controlled the game because they were allowed to by a Russian side that sat off them and challenged the hot favourites to show what they could do.

In that scenario, the key is getting ahead. Spain managed to do that and still go out of the competition, which makes this a particularly catastrophic exit. The sloppy penalty concession from Gerard Pique (right, below) let the natives back in, yet there were still 80 minutes of play between normal and extra-time for the Spanish to find a winner.

The list of outstanding chances they created could be counted on the fingers of one hand. By contrast, listing their passes would almost require a hand from everyone in a decent sized studio audience.

By the end of 120 minutes, the tally had reached 1,114 compared to 290 from Russia which is a staggering statistic. But this game could function as the test study case for those who argue that possession stats are irrelevant.

Spain’s return of 24 shots with nine on target was inflated by a series of speculative late attempts when they appeared to realise they were in a spot of bother. 45 minutes had passed before they registered their first attempt on goal.

It was appropriate that an own goal sent them on their way before a half hour spell where they had the lead and showed no real desire to be incisive and add to it.

This game was so dull that the crowd resorted to Mexican waves while Spain moved the ball and the Russian lines shuffled from side to side like space invaders.

Now is not the time to rewrite the recent history of Spanish football. The ‘tiki-taka’ style always had its critics who found their brand of football boring. Sterile domination was a popular term. Former French star Bixente Lizarazu once described Spain’s approach as ‘love without the sex’, although he did also recently state that VAR was ‘like sex without pleasure’ so there does appear to be a recurring theme to his analysis. His take on Ireland’s rough and ready approach would be illuminating. Spain did prevail in the 2010 World Cup by winning all of their knockout games by a 1-0 margin, but the

feeling was that they were playing within themselves.

At Euro 2008, they did have thrilling spells in full flow, including two cracking games with an exciting Russian side where David Villa and Fernando Torres both started.

And at Euro 2012, their 4-0 destruction of Italy in the final offered a window into how good they could be. The peak was a brilliant overlap from left-back Jordi Alba to finish a clinical team move.

Cesc Fabregas started that final as a false nine for a team that owned the ball, yet there was a speed of thought and movement that kept opponents guessing with Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Silva and Xabi Alonso in their pomp with Sergio Busquets dictating from deeper.

That was Spain at their best, yet Lizarazu was finding support. Arsene Wenger wrote a stinging column about a negative Spain ‘betraying’ their philosophy.

“Originally they wanted possession in order to attack and win the game; now it seems to be first and foremost a way not to lose.”

Granted, Wenger found plenty of ways to lose matches during the tail end of his Arsenal tenure, but that analysis sprung to mind yesterday.

They did have Diego Costa as a natural number nine, but Silva, Isco and Marco Asensio were never really able to get close to him in threatening areas. Busquets and Koke were stationed in central midfield, two men doing the job of one.

It was conservative and unambitious and, while the distance covered by Russia will continue to be a source of innuendo, they were mentally tuned in too. They parked the bus, while Spain carried themselves like a team that was only pretending to have the keys.

Football is cyclical and trends come and go. France were explosive on Saturday with just 41pc possession, and there was a directness about Edinson Cavani’s goals for Uruguay that was as thrilling as any 30-pass sequence.

Belgium can mix it up and make things happen quickly, while part of England’s belief is drawn from their pace. Their next obstacle is an electric Colombian side that can pass and move. All Spain could do was pass, pass and pass.

Failure was the deserved consequence.