During Luis de la Fuente’s first international break for Spain in March 2023, he interrupted training at times the players were not expecting. It’s an approach that has become familiar, but was foreign to the team at the time.
One intervention was for goalkeeper Unai Simon to shoot long. Another was to work on set pieces, as De la Fuente’s predecessor, Luis Enrique, insisted he “didn’t have time”. These are rudimentary pragmatic elements that seem to go against Spain’s ideological purismpossession that dominated the game 16 years ago, but that was part of the point.
On the other hand, Enrique gave long instructional talks with a giant screen after the sessions, which began to contribute to a feeling of detachment and drift. This was the great frustration with his regime. It felt like a vibrant new era with a new generation, but it ended up falling into the same old flaws that Spain has suffered since 2012.
Morocco’s 2022 World Cup exit was a low point because excessive possession again became a parody with a joke rather than a knockout punch. The 2008-12 era of glory was becoming a burden, having previously been a long-awaited watershed moment.
It is because Euro 2024 It has been very rewarding for those who are part of the country’s football culture. It’s not just a return to a grand final for the first time since 2012, but the revitalization of an idea. This idea simply required sharpening.
De la Fuente did it. This is most obvious in the two bracingly incisive young wingers. They were also part of a shake-up in which De la Fuente showed his edge after an opening 2-0 defeat to Scotland at half-time in March 2023. The manager realized that some of the ideas were not being immediately understood, so it was time to make bigger changes.
The central idea persisted, even if it had to evolve. That’s a remarkable thing, especially as Rodri made sure to put his foot on the ball in the final moments against France to get Spain back into the final.
The idea went through bad results, bad tournaments and even some bad players. There was a period recently when the famous Spanish youth system seemed to be producing fewer clones of its great technical players, rather than new talents themselves. No one can say that now, after Spain went through one of the toughest tournaments any team has ever had to reach the final.
There is an ominous statistic in this, which will circulate in the build-up to Sunday’s game at Berlin’s Olympiastadion. Since May 2001, Spanish teams have faced non-Spanish teams in 22 major club and international football finals. There was never a defeat.
That’s actually what England will be playing on Sunday. They are facing a idea which expanded a team. It is famously developed for all players who undergo the same technical and tactical training as children. They are simply in tune with this idea. Some in the Spanish camp accept that this team is not yet as individually talented as England, but believe the system can multiply their capabilities.
De la Fuente has been important here in another way, compared to Enrique. While the former Barcelona coach was seen as divisive in a Spanish political context of growing Madrid-Barcelona divide, De la Fuente has none of that as a figure more aligned with the Basque Country. All of this has already made Spain favorites.
This could even have been the game Gareth Southgate faced in his first Euro 2020 final, as an inferior Spanish team were arguably better than Italy in that semi-final. Spain’s latest record is, instead, what the English coach wants to recreate.
If England win, it will be the equivalent of Spain’s Euro 2008, finally translating the clubs’ long-term success into international triumph. The problem, to almost come full circle, is that they face a Spanish team that has a similar feel to 2008.
It’s impressive now to watch games from that tournament, which ushered in an era of glory in which Spain became known for their ultra-control. In fact, this turned out to be such a level of control that it led to conversations in 2010 and especially 2012 about whether the team was “boring.”
There was none of that in 2008. It was all acute angled passes from Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, to elegant runs and finishes from Fernando Torres and David Villa. The play was very calm and almost foreshadowed the flow of this 2024 team. There simply wasn’t the same strength as there is now.
This openness reflects the team’s progress, which can be monitored by the coaches. Although Spanish international managers are seen as falling within the core idea rather than having any wider influence, most are credited with leaving their own individual mark on the ideology.
For Euro 2008, Luis Aragonés finally pushed the button on all Barcelona passersby, who were described as “los bajitos” – “the little boys”. Vicente del Bosque, who won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, was seen as the creator of the double pivot. This happened after opposing teams began to adapt to Spanish possession to try and hit them on the counterattack. There was a glass jaw. Enrique realized the need to introduce “intensity”. De la Fuente realized something was missing from that and is now giving Spain the right wingers.
These wide players finally provide the release the team so desperately needed. As a result, Spain did not enter into these existential crises over its fleeting identity that successive World Cup eliminations to Russia and Morocco represented. They no longer have to wait for gaps. They can simply release Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams to force those gaps themselves.
The way the pair stretched the field meant that there were more gaps in their own team, which made them look more fallible than “great Spain”. It is also true that there are not the same number of senior professionals as in 2008-12. Xavi, Iniesta, Carlos Puyol, Sergio Ramos and – later – Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso could simply take complete command of a game. Rodri now performs this role almost exclusively for Spain, which is why it is so important that he has stepped up another level as perhaps the most outstanding midfielder in the game. In front of him, with Pedri injured, Dani Olmo offers a distinct insight that Spain previously lacked. The duo were among the players at the tournament, alongside Yamal and Williams.
A disadvantage for Spain is its relative inexperience. Southgate is preparing for his second final. This Spanish team is going for the first time.
The team is obviously not complete yet, so it will have vulnerabilities to exploit. And yet, look at their route to Berlin. They have now won six games out of six, something no previous European champion has achieved. Brazil 2002 is in fact the only team in history to have won all of its games in a seven-game tournament. Spain can emulate that, but the race has been much tougher.
The team talks about how they faced all the “giants” from Italy, Croatia, France, Germany and now England.
They’re not just names either. These teams represent the defending champions, the 2018 World Cup finalists, the 2018 World Cup winners and 2022 finalists, the vibrant hosts and the Euro 2020 finalists.
It could be perfect, as De la Fuente was told when Spain’s expansive play was compared to other teams. He’s stressed that it’s not that. It’s just perseverance with an idea.
