Spain went as second in the group to the round of 16 in Australia and New Zealand after suffering a heavy defeat against Japan (4-0). The Japanese uncovered the defensive gaps of Jorge Vilda’s men and their little bite in attack. Here my keys to defeat:
The party responded to the expected script in terms of the approaches. A Spain in 4-3-3 with the intention of carrying the weight of the match against a Japan in 5-4-1 giving up the initiative and waiting for a mistake to be able to go on the counter. And in such a scenario, the selection was very bad in surveillance. Three of the four goals for the Japanese followed the same pattern: a quick transition behind the defense from a recovery in their own territory. In all of them there were significant defensive imbalances both in the wingers (Ona and Olga) and in the central defenders (Irene and Rocío Gálvez) in terms of distances. But all as a consequence of a bad starting position that triggered everything else. On a team that wants to dominate the game, guarding is just as critical as attacking well.
Spain combined a poor defensive performance with a poor offensive tone as well. And it is that the selection had more ball and more location than Japan but in a totally unproductive way. Vilda’s men finished with 411 passes to Japan’s only 96 but only with two shots on goal (one in each half). And it is that Spain touched the ball a lot in the opposite field but it circulated slowly and, above all, it lacked breaking markers that shook the orderly rival defensive gear. That is what explains why, even when gathering a lot of internal talent (Alexia, Aitana, Jennifer or Mariona), the associative quality was so missing. Both the first line of forwards and the second line of midfielders lacked dynamism and broke into space. Alexia, Aitana, Jenni and company will have to gain mobility if Spain wants to get past the round of 16.
That Spain was uncomfortable defensively and stuck in attack was evidence already in the middle of the first half. But Jorge Vilda needed to change the tactical framework to reverse the bad dynamics. He tried it late with the entry of Ohiane, Eva Navarro and Alba Redondo for Olga, Alexia and Mariona and in a very individual way (through the profiles of the players). The move to a defense of three to stop the counters or a more general change of system already in the first half might have been two good maneuvers on the board. In soccer, it is always important to have an alternative plan in mind in case the expected match does not take place.