Chile heaped further misery on a Spanish side which was still recovering from the wounds they suffered in the match against Netherlands. A 2-0 loss at the hands of Chile means that the World Champions are now officially out of the race to defend their title.
However it is important that Spanish clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona in particular take important lessons from their national team’s horrid campaign and try not to make the same mistakes next season.
Form should be given precedence over reputation
If it was not already clear anyway, the message has been sent loud and clear. Iker Casillas can no longer be recognized as a top goalkeeper and Diego Lopez fully deserves to start ahead of him. A section of Real Madrid fans had expressed their dissatisfaction over the Saint’s demotion to the bench and many lashed out at former manager Jose Mourinho for disrespecting a club legend.
However through the passage of time it has became more and more clear that whereas Casillas can no longer meet the demands, Diego Lopez fully deserves to be the first choice goalkeeper not just for Real Madrid but also for Spain. The Spanish national team has many lessons to learn from their exit and the fact that they need to find a new man to step between the posts is one of them.
There are also concerns over Xabi Alonso who despite of being a consistent performer might be unable to maintain the same level of performances due to his growing age. Xabi like his national team midfield partner Xavi Hernandez looked out of sorts especially in the second match against Chile where he was seen misplacing a lot of passes and losing possession in key areas. Whereas the former Liverpool man is still one of the best midfielders in his position, it is probably time Madrid start searching for his replacement.
No more tiki-taka
The attractive brand of football promoted by Barcelona surely has its cons and mesmerized the world of football for a long time. As exciting as it is, pressing football has effectively announced the end of tiki-taka football and Barcelona should take important lessons from Spain’s inability to break down defences while playing attractive football.
This is not the first time a side playing pleasing to the eye football has been humbled. Barcelona were drubbed 7-0 on aggregate by Bayern Munich, who a season later received a taste of their own medicine as Pep Guardiola’s side got outdone by Real Madrid’s counter attacking football.
Spanish football has dominated the game for quite some time now and it surely is surprising to see a team as talented as Spain bowing out of the competition so soon. But like everything it is imperative that Spanish football evolves and along with it clubs in Spain should also work out fresh tactics in order to avoid a similar fate as suffered by their national side,
