Spain has evolved. There’s no doubt. The Comparisons between the teams of Luis Enrique and Luis de la Fuente, results aside, are part of the football ecosystem And from the most emotional point of view, there is always a tendency to praise one over the other. And this will continue to be the case.
But, with the data from the first phase of this EURO 2024 in hand and with the bitter memory of the World Cup in Qatar a year and a half ago, something seems more than evident: Spain has opted to give up possession of the ball a little more and, in parallel, focuses on verticality to be as close to the opponent’s area as possible.. They are not only the sensations, but also tangible aspects that demonstrate a change of course that includes, to a large extent, ‘saying goodbye’ to that possession and overwhelming control of the ball that gave so much glory to La Roja years ago.
There are only three games, but it is still significant that, even more so with full victories, Spain is the seventh team in the Old Continent tournament with the most possession of the ball for 240 minutes. A average of 54% the current Nations League champion accumulates after the matches against Croatia -had less possession of the ball with 47%-in view of Italy -won with a 57%– and before Albania -domino also with a 59%– which keeps them off the ‘podium’ of the most dominant teams with the ball in their possession.
The The top three are Germany, with 64.3%, like Portugal, and England, with 59.7%.. Even so, and despite the fact that Spain has less possession of the ball than these three competitors, it does sneak into the top of the list of teams with the best passing effectiveness. To summarise: Spain doesn’t have the ball that much, but when it does, it barely loses it. This is demonstrated by his 90% pass effectiveness, like England and Portugal, only behind host Germany, with 93%.
This is a reflection of one of the messages that De la Fuente emphasizes the most: It doesn’t matter how much you have it, but what you do with it.
The padlock and the theft
Another facet to highlight about the Spanish team at the start of the championship is, of course, the clean sheet. The only one, in fact, that has yet to concede a single goal, above France, Belgium and England, that they did receive at least one target in one of their matches.
In the defensive ranking, Spain is the seventh in recovering the most balls -123- and it is the tenth in which their goalkeepers have had to intervene the most. In total, 10 saves distributed between 6 for Unai Simón, who also stopped a penalty against Croatia, and 4 for David Rayawho had his chance against Albania in the last match.
It is also worth noting that Of the 39 individual duels that have taken place in their matches, the Spanish players have won 17 of 39which is an excellent 43.59% success Every time an opposing player tries to overtake someone wearing the red jacket.
