The weakness of the defense in the air game and the difficulties in generating chances conditioned the duel against the physical Swiss
The symptoms are obvious. Luis Enrique’s Spain can beat any rival, even the toughest, but it can also fall prey to theoretically inferior opponents, albeit with remarkable virtues, such as Switzerland in recent years, which is usually a headache for its extraordinary solidity. And it is that despite the fact that they usually dominate the matches, not especially in the match against the Swiss team, La Roja still suffers from their lack of strength in the areas.
He suffers from weakness in air balls after set pieces. Switzerland’s two goals from two corners are a perfect example of this weakness, however much Luis Enrique tried to downplay the matter by making sure it is “topicalazos”. «Now it will be said that if we are short. Of course you have to work on strategies from set pieces, but I like the confidence that the team has had,” summed up the Spanish coach, who outside the defense of his players is aware of the obvious physical inferiority that his team showed against the rocky side. Swiss combination Embolo as an offensive reference and Akanji in the search for the balls were a nightmare for Eric García and Pau Torres, two central defenders who do not stand out for their strength, but for a clean ball exit.
It is true that Aymeric Laporte and Iñigo Martínez are not in the call, two central defenders who greatly improve the performance of their partner in the back in Zaragoza. It is plausible that there has been some improvement in the Manchester City and Athletic players in this regard, although during Luis Enrique’s time on the bench in Spain, problems in this regard have been repeated on several occasions.
However, it was not only in the defensive aspect that La Roja showed certain limitations in La Romareda. Past the final rush, with more confidence than game, Spain lacked arrival. He found no inspiration near the rival territory, except in a great individual move by Asensio, who guided and assisted with great precision in the game leading up to Jordi Alba’s goal. It can be argued that the experiment with the Balearic as a false ‘9’ did not yield the intended result. Ferran Torres and Sarabia’s forays down the wing and additions to Jordi Alba’s attack as the Madrid player came in didn’t find any purpose without a pure finisher on the pitch, so it’s foreseeable that Morata will recover in Portugal natural condition as a starter in this selection.
This chorus of Spain, without major stars or decisive players in the areas, which on the other hand is still the same that despite everything reached the semi-finals of the last European Championship and was close to the final, has its strong point in midfield . The medullary of light azulgrana color formed by Busquets as midfielder and Gavi and Pedri as interiors premiered in Zaragoza and did not have the dream staging that the poster invited. There was a clear blockage in the circulation of the ball, with inaccuracies in passing that were not befitting the talent of such midfielders.
“I’ve never seen so many players with so many technical mistakes on easy balls, but it’s normal, they’re not machines and this is football, not an exact science,” Luis Enrique analyzed at the end of the match. Interestingly enough, this blur came just after what he considered to be the best week of training in his time as a coach. The still early stage of the season and the amount of matches in the club competition due to the strangeness of a calendar set by the World Cup in Qatar could largely explain these flaws in Spain’s game.
In any case, with practically no time for reflection, La Roja stands for the visit to Portugal. They have to beat the Portuguese team, another good benchmark to measure the state of the football nation, which will also be the last reference for the pre-World Cup training camp in Qatar.
Source: La Verdad
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