EURO 2016 Qualifying

[Hamzah]

Cesc as a number ten for spain doesn't work, he should be a striker. Also Costa is totally unsuited to the rest of the players.

 

[Gnidrologist]

What tiki taka? All I'm seeing is ball circulation in slowmotion. Also Barca this season plays nothing like what Spain is doing right now.

And Spain doesn't have Messi, who bails them out, when they fail at bus-busting, which happens all too often.

Aragones, the guy whose team was the role model for Pep's tiki-taka?

No, a team that is better suited for current crop of players AND opponents. Pep's football doesn't work anymore. Either that or these players aren't fit for it anymore.

 

[Sumlit]

Iniesta's form is concerning too. He was not very good today either. I hope this is just his usual, of late, start of the season slump.

David Silva was terrible too. Front 4 as a whole was poor.

 

[Flavia]

Cesc as a number ten for spain doesn't work, he should be a striker. Also Costa is totally unsuited to the rest of the players.

But Cesc and Costa are working well for chelsea. Spain's way of playing need a change, Vdb should try to integrate that directness of them to his nt. Play to the strength of the players. Spain is slow and predictable for a while.

 

[BenRobbins]

Cesc and Costa are fine and their club form is too good for them to be left out and they play well for various other teams, the finger needs to be pointed at people elsewhere who aren't performing. Thiago needs to hurry up and get fit.

 

[SeloBarca]

Thiago is no Xavi replacemt either. Hes more Iniesta. Theres no playmaker in Spain anymore, something were also missing a bit in Barcelona and Messi have had to shoulder a bit to much.

 

[Flavia]

There is no Xavi replacement. Vdb should stop trying to replicate something that was only possible with Xavi.

 

[Alarcón]

Of course there is a Xavi replacement. No one does it as well as him but that doesn't mean you can't replace him. No style is dependent on 1 single player even if he was the best in history.

 

[Sumlit]

It's not so easy to change style just like that. For Spain to play more like Chelsea or Atletico, that's a very significant change. Maybe even have to do away with key players like Iniesta and Silva to accommodate a change like that. Maybe others too. It's not as simple to do as you guys are making it out to be.

But I have to agree Spain needs a fresh face leading them. Del Bosque's time has run out and they need a new direction. At this rate the Euro's won't be pretty for them.

 

[Flavia]

Of course there is a Xavi replacement. No one does it as well as him but that doesn't mean you can't replace him. No style is dependent on 1 single player even if he was the best in history.

He is irreplaceable. It's showing for a while now. His decline coincided with Barça's and spain's. Xavi is one of the greatest ever, might be arguibly the best midfielder ever. There's no one able to replicate what he did. Not cesc, not thiago, not koke. Changes are needed. Lucho is trying for Barça, but Vdb is still clinging to past glory.

It's not so easy to change style just like that. For Spain to play more like Chelsea or Atletico, that's a very significant change. Maybe even have to do away with key players like Iniesta and Silva to accommodate a change like that. Maybe others too. It's not as simple to do as you guys are making it out to be.

But I have to agree Spain needs a fresh face leading them. Del Bosque's time has run out and they need a new direction. At this rate the Euro's won't be pretty for them.

It actually isn't that difficult, Sumlit. Pep did something similar when he took Barça over. Spain need someone brave enough to do the same. Iniesta and Silva are not playing well, so why not at least bench them? Iker too. He won't go anywhere by choosing players based on name, and not merit and form.

 

[evilhita666]

Of course there is a Xavi replacement. No one does it as well as him but that doesn't mean you can't replace him. No style is dependent on 1 single player even if he was the best in history.

Well yeah, but it's a technicality... What happens now is that VdB has players that are not the best fit for Xavi's role and he's trying to force them into it...

 

[Kohe321]

The way Spain is playing now makes it feel like they are deliberately making it easier for the other team. This slow ball distribution around the midfield, inching their way up to the box is just way too easy to read and defend against, and also way too easy to score against with counterattacks. This is basically playing possession football and only that - possession for the sake of possession. There's no sting to it. And that's not tiki-taka by the way.

VDB needs to seriously make his team more direct, this style just isn't very good at all, and if it ever was it certainly isn't anymore. Currently this system is just wasting the incredible quality the Spain squad has in its players, and it makes the opponent look better than it is.

 

[Sumlit]

It actually isn't that difficult, Sumlit. Pep did something similar when he took Barça over. Spain need someone brave enough to do the same. Iniesta and Silva are not playing well, so why not al least bench them?

Yeah and Pep did away with half of the Barca squad. I didn't mean it was difficult to achieve necessarily, just that it would require difficult and hard decisions.

And Pep was also a new face with fresh ideas, while VdB is an old man ready for retirement. The first step should be to find a new face with fresh ideas, and then go from there.

 

[Ursegor]

I recommend everyone who has some spare 20 minutes to (re)watch and enjoy this. Just a reminder of what real "tiki-taka" is.

Arsenal-Barca, first 20 minutes, English commentary, HD: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12ip45_arsenal-barcelona-emirates_sport

 

[Alarcón]

He is irreplaceable. It's showing for a while now. His decline coincided with Barça's and spain's. Xavi is one of the greatest ever, might be arguibly the best midfielder ever. There's no one able to replicate what he did. Not cesc, not thiago, not koke. Changes are needed. Lucho is trying for Barça, but Vdb is still clinging to past glory.

That's funny because the way Barça are playing now is closer to tiki-taka than anything that Spain has shown over the last few months or even years. The way I see it Del Bosque is not clinging to past glory at all, what his team is showing is not tiki-taka and to be frank I don't even think that Del Bosque has any idea how tiki-taka really works or he wouldn't field players like Diego Costa just because he scores a lot for Chelsea. For me, saying Xavi is the reason Spain have declined is just taking 2 random parallels and saying they have a causal link when they actually don't, because it's easier saying things like these than trying to look for the real problem. I'll say it again, it doesn't matter how good a player is, not even the best player in history is so good that a whole system (that actually emerged decades ago nonetheless) solely depends on him. Every player replacing Xavi there will be a downgrade but if he has the right attributes then the system can work very well without Xavi.

This team was basically shaped by Aragonés and Pep and it's no coincidence that they spiraled down after Pep left Barça. Del Bosque doesn't understand tiki-taka in the slightest, he doesn't seem to be tactically adept, so he doesn't see the problem of this team and if you don't know the problem then you can't fix it. That involves tactics as well as personal choices; and he's not able to motivate the players anymore either. He is just not the right man for the job anymore.