| Spain 20:31 - Jun 18 with 3598 views | Clive_Anderson |
How many dodgy free kicks do they get? |  | | |  |
| Spain on 21:58 - Jun 18 with 1098 views | CHUBBS |
| Spain on 21:49 - Jun 18 by AgedR |
I think we tend to remember sides fondly from a specific time in our lives when we watched them, the 70s Dutch side for instance. For me this was the 82 Brazillian team, who were just great, forget winning.
However you could equally argue that to be a great side you need to have won something. And you could put the French sides in the late 90s early noughties above Holland in the 70s and equal with this Spanish side, if we're talking about results.
Could be the death of ticka tacka though. |
The 82 team always resonates with me as the greatest team never to win a World Cup and played the sort of incredible football seen in a bygone age never to return.
The French team were also superb but never dominated like this Spanish team have.
I wasn't old enough to remember Holland but my dad says they were a great side who seemed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory.
All top teams,but its also about winning things and Holland and Brazil although superb failed. |  | | |
| Spain on 22:01 - Jun 18 with 1090 views | Clive_Anderson |
Fair enough, they were undoubtedly skillful, but I just never found them captivating to watch. To me a good team is measured in goals and chances created as well as defensive performances and possession. | | | |
| Spain on 22:01 - Jun 18 with 1089 views | WatfordR |
Cant believe hardly a mention of Chile. Magnificent tonight. |  | | |
| Spain on 22:01 - Jun 18 with 1088 views | CamberleyR |
The "curse" of winning the new World Cup which was introduced in 1974 continues. Nobody who has won it has gone on to defend it successfully. |  |
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| Spain on 22:07 - Jun 18 with 1075 views | ElHoop |
| Spain on 22:01 - Jun 18 by WatfordR |
Cant believe hardly a mention of Chile. Magnificent tonight. |
Yes they were good but when you think that the Dutch thrashed Spain and crawled home against Oz then you have to think that this wasn't exactly a 'group of death' and Spain might well finish bottom of it. |  | | |
| Spain on 22:49 - Jun 18 with 1027 views | TW_R |
| Spain on 21:41 - Jun 18 by Clive_Anderson |
Nah not having that, it's possible to be a successful side without being completely boring to watch.
Spain have always stuggled when they go behind, they couldn't even break down Switzerland in the last World Cup. |
Blimey. I didn't realise not giving the ball to the opposition is boring. I always thought that passing it to a team mate was what every team planned to do. The fact that Spain were better than anyone else at playing football makes them boring is quite frankly laughable.
Every team played against them in the same way in the last WC. Defend with 11 men and try and nick a goal. That worked for Switzerland, but no one else. In the end the Dutch knew they could never beat them playing football, so decided to try to kick them off the park. That didn't work either.
If only England were that boring. |  | | |
| Spain on 23:04 - Jun 18 with 1015 views | traininvain |
| Spain on 21:08 - Jun 18 by Jamie |
Whilst Casillas isn't even the best Spanish keeper at Real anymore, De Gea is so incredibly dodgy, he makes Casillas look like Gordon Banks. |
Yet Casillas has a trophy cabinet that would put any keeper to shame including Banks.
Spain have been the best national side of the last 10 years irrespective of whether people don't have the attention span to appreciate their style.
That said, strange decision to crow bar Diego Costa into the team which has ultimately finished them at this World Cup.
The irony is that Costa is exactly what Brazil need given the way they play. |  | | |
| Spain on 23:16 - Jun 18 with 1004 views | jamois |
| Spain on 23:04 - Jun 18 by traininvain |
Yet Casillas has a trophy cabinet that would put any keeper to shame including Banks.
Spain have been the best national side of the last 10 years irrespective of whether people don't have the attention span to appreciate their style.
That said, strange decision to crow bar Diego Costa into the team which has ultimately finished them at this World Cup.
The irony is that Costa is exactly what Brazil need given the way they play. |
And that is exactly what should have happened. The idea of him being Spanish is ridiculous and frankly I'm satisfied it has worked against them. I've thoroughly enjoyed hearing the brazilians boo his every touch. |  |
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| Spain on 09:40 - Jun 19 with 938 views | Clive_Anderson |
| Spain on 22:49 - Jun 18 by TW_R |
Blimey. I didn't realise not giving the ball to the opposition is boring. I always thought that passing it to a team mate was what every team planned to do. The fact that Spain were better than anyone else at playing football makes them boring is quite frankly laughable.
Every team played against them in the same way in the last WC. Defend with 11 men and try and nick a goal. That worked for Switzerland, but no one else. In the end the Dutch knew they could never beat them playing football, so decided to try to kick them off the park. That didn't work either.
If only England were that boring. |
90% of their passing is backwards or sideways. They never try and take a man on or cross the ball or take any risks whatsoever. Multiple times last night they were one on one with a man on the wing and every single time they checked and passed backwards. Chile were far better to watch.
Germany were great to watch in the last World Cup and they didn't try and get 11 behind the ball against at all, but Spain still sucked the life out of that game like all the others. | | | |
| Spain on 09:49 - Jun 19 with 932 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Spain on 09:40 - Jun 19 by Clive_Anderson |
90% of their passing is backwards or sideways. They never try and take a man on or cross the ball or take any risks whatsoever. Multiple times last night they were one on one with a man on the wing and every single time they checked and passed backwards. Chile were far better to watch.
Germany were great to watch in the last World Cup and they didn't try and get 11 behind the ball against at all, but Spain still sucked the life out of that game like all the others. |
I loved watching Spain (Christ - past tense already, eh?) but you've a point, Clive. Without the movement of Messi up front, or even someone on his game like Villa, Spain struggled to break through. Barca rarely dribbled apart from Messi, but they also had what amounted to wing-backs creating overlaps as well, and doing it very well, so ther movement was usually better and more varied than Spain's who lacked any dribbler or even one world-class wing-back. It made Spain easier to defend against and teams did set up camp in their own box knowing it was their best chance.
So you had full-backs and wide-men, checking back, recycling, going sideways, and on, and on, and on, with the centre-mids trying desperately to get someone free in the phalanx of defenders they faced.
Personally, I still found the ensuing tension gripping as Xavi and Iniesta tried to precison-pick the resulting lock and lay on the goal, but it did become an acquired taste. And even with all Xavi and Iniesta's class, it was usually just once in a game.*
*Unless they were playing Ireland. Yes, yes, very smart at the back! |  |
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| Spain on 10:00 - Jun 19 with 926 views | Clive_Anderson |
| Spain on 09:49 - Jun 19 by BrianMcCarthy |
I loved watching Spain (Christ - past tense already, eh?) but you've a point, Clive. Without the movement of Messi up front, or even someone on his game like Villa, Spain struggled to break through. Barca rarely dribbled apart from Messi, but they also had what amounted to wing-backs creating overlaps as well, and doing it very well, so ther movement was usually better and more varied than Spain's who lacked any dribbler or even one world-class wing-back. It made Spain easier to defend against and teams did set up camp in their own box knowing it was their best chance.
So you had full-backs and wide-men, checking back, recycling, going sideways, and on, and on, and on, with the centre-mids trying desperately to get someone free in the phalanx of defenders they faced.
Personally, I still found the ensuing tension gripping as Xavi and Iniesta tried to precison-pick the resulting lock and lay on the goal, but it did become an acquired taste. And even with all Xavi and Iniesta's class, it was usually just once in a game.*
*Unless they were playing Ireland. Yes, yes, very smart at the back! |
Exactly right. Barcelona played in almost the same way, but with a bit more width and of course with Messi as well taking people on and creating space they were absolutely fantastic to watch. I always thought that watching Spain looked like an edited video of Barcelona with all the highlights removed.
I suppose half of it is a reaction to knockout football whereby luck does play a very large part in winning the competition. They essentially played a game that didn't take any risks whatsoever in any of the games. Had the World Cup been a league format they might have opened up a bit. | | | |
| Spain on 10:00 - Jun 19 with 925 views | ballbag |
People are saying it's the death of tiki-taka....but that was NOT tiki-taka last night.
The triangles and quick fire passing weren't even attempted. Removing Xavi in the middle as well as trying to crowbar Diego Costa into this team meant that nobody knew what the rest were supposed to be doing.
Del Bosque has to take full blame for this one. The fact he left Navas, Negredo, Llorente, Carvajal at home but took Torres and Costa (an injured Brazilian) sums it up.
Still, fair play to Chile, they look great as always, but fck Holland the scummy waankers. |  | | |
| Spain on 13:04 - Jun 19 with 870 views | TW_R |
| Spain on 09:40 - Jun 19 by Clive_Anderson |
90% of their passing is backwards or sideways. They never try and take a man on or cross the ball or take any risks whatsoever. Multiple times last night they were one on one with a man on the wing and every single time they checked and passed backwards. Chile were far better to watch.
Germany were great to watch in the last World Cup and they didn't try and get 11 behind the ball against at all, but Spain still sucked the life out of that game like all the others. |
Sorry - I was thought you were referring to the last WC, which is what I replied to?
I'm not really sure what you mean by "sucked the life out of that game"? If you are referring to the fact they out-passed Germany, closed the Germans down quickly when they didn't have the ball and created more chances, then, yeah, I guess they did. I'm not entirely sure why that's so boring? What I do remember in that game is Germany sitting very deep and trying to stifle any Spanish attack with 10 men just outside the box. Seemed quite a strange tactic having scored loads of goals up to that point.
But I suspect that if you look at the 2010 stats Spain will probably be at the top of the list for shots taken.
In 2012 they were excellent and ripped Italy apart in the Final. As said above, I wouldn't mind England being that boring.
As for this WC, I think it's a tournament too far for a number of their players. They've lacked pace and both Holland and Chile recognised that fact. Chile were excellent at closing Iniesta and Alonso down and gave them no time to pick a pass and it worked a treat. And you're right, Chile were far better to watch and Spain got what they deserved. | | | |
| Spain on 13:13 - Jun 19 with 863 views | Brightonhoop |
It's a dour day in Spain, I can tell thee! |  | | |
| Spain on 13:20 - Jun 19 with 854 views | bob566 |
| Spain on 21:54 - Jun 18 by BrianMcCarthy |
I agree. I've really loved watching them - Iniesta and Xavi in particular. The best National team in my adult life by far.
No pity for Ramos or Busquets, though. 'Orrible Ives! |
what brian said.
loved that spanish team bar ramos. I think he#s gotten sent off more times for madrid than anybody else in their history. | | | |
| Spain on 13:51 - Jun 19 with 776 views | Clive_Anderson |
| Spain on 13:04 - Jun 19 by TW_R |
Sorry - I was thought you were referring to the last WC, which is what I replied to?
I'm not really sure what you mean by "sucked the life out of that game"? If you are referring to the fact they out-passed Germany, closed the Germans down quickly when they didn't have the ball and created more chances, then, yeah, I guess they did. I'm not entirely sure why that's so boring? What I do remember in that game is Germany sitting very deep and trying to stifle any Spanish attack with 10 men just outside the box. Seemed quite a strange tactic having scored loads of goals up to that point.
But I suspect that if you look at the 2010 stats Spain will probably be at the top of the list for shots taken.
In 2012 they were excellent and ripped Italy apart in the Final. As said above, I wouldn't mind England being that boring.
As for this WC, I think it's a tournament too far for a number of their players. They've lacked pace and both Holland and Chile recognised that fact. Chile were excellent at closing Iniesta and Alonso down and gave them no time to pick a pass and it worked a treat. And you're right, Chile were far better to watch and Spain got what they deserved. |
Fair enough we'll have to agree to disagree. If you like games that are technically good with few chances and even fewer goals, where the first team to score goes on to win then they'll probably be more your thing.
Probably similar to preferring to watch a good safety game in snooker versus Ronnie potting the balls and entertaining the crowd. | | | |
| Spain on 14:27 - Jun 19 with 765 views | traininvain |
| Spain on 13:51 - Jun 19 by Clive_Anderson |
Fair enough we'll have to agree to disagree. If you like games that are technically good with few chances and even fewer goals, where the first team to score goes on to win then they'll probably be more your thing.
Probably similar to preferring to watch a good safety game in snooker versus Ronnie potting the balls and entertaining the crowd. |
Name a team that's scored more goals than Spain in the three international tournaments preceding this World Cup? | | | |
| Spain on 14:57 - Jun 19 with 735 views | Clive_Anderson |
| Spain on 14:27 - Jun 19 by traininvain |
Name a team that's scored more goals than Spain in the three international tournaments preceding this World Cup? |
Germany scored 36 to Spains 31 in the last three tournaments even though they played less games.
Teams from South America don't enter the Euros though so it is hard to compare Spain against Brazil and Argentina. | | | |
| Spain on 15:09 - Jun 19 with 714 views | traininvain |
| Spain on 14:57 - Jun 19 by Clive_Anderson |
Germany scored 36 to Spains 31 in the last three tournaments even though they played less games.
Teams from South America don't enter the Euros though so it is hard to compare Spain against Brazil and Argentina. |
They've probably played one less game than Spain at the last three tournaments.
Not much of a difference and it's important to remember that a solid defence is just as important as a good attack. | | | |
| Spain on 17:52 - Jun 19 with 689 views | TW_R |
| Spain on 13:51 - Jun 19 by Clive_Anderson |
Fair enough we'll have to agree to disagree. If you like games that are technically good with few chances and even fewer goals, where the first team to score goes on to win then they'll probably be more your thing.
Probably similar to preferring to watch a good safety game in snooker versus Ronnie potting the balls and entertaining the crowd. |
As said above, I don't buy into this "few chances and even fewer goals" nonsense. Spain were the clear top scorers in Euro 2012 and I bet if you look at the stats for WC 2010 they come pretty close to the top of attempts on goal.
I like games with a lot of chances and goal-mouth action. When the majority of teams played Spain in these 2 tournaments, there was usually only one team trying to do that. Surely it's just as boring for a team to sit and defend with 10 men around the box and hope to get a goal on the break? The fact there weren't many goals in those games was also down to the way the opposition approached the game, not necessarily down to lack of creativity from Spain. | | | |
| Spain on 18:38 - Jun 19 with 674 views | Clive_Anderson |
| Spain on 17:52 - Jun 19 by TW_R |
As said above, I don't buy into this "few chances and even fewer goals" nonsense. Spain were the clear top scorers in Euro 2012 and I bet if you look at the stats for WC 2010 they come pretty close to the top of attempts on goal.
I like games with a lot of chances and goal-mouth action. When the majority of teams played Spain in these 2 tournaments, there was usually only one team trying to do that. Surely it's just as boring for a team to sit and defend with 10 men around the box and hope to get a goal on the break? The fact there weren't many goals in those games was also down to the way the opposition approached the game, not necessarily down to lack of creativity from Spain. |
I'll have to take your word on them creating the most chances in WC2010. Are you sure it was per game and not overall?
I can see I'm outnumbered here, but I have to say I'm enjoying this World Cup far more than the last one with a lot of end to end games and loads of goals. | | | |
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