World Cup 2018: 3 reasons why Spain lost their place in the tournament

#2 David Silva's poor form

Spain v Russia: Round of 16 - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

David Silva had been instrumental in Manchester City’s run to the title this season. He was expected to continue in the same vein and inspire Spain to their second World Cup as well, however, he looked a pale shadow of himself throughout the tournament.

Spain played very narrow with the full backs providing the width. This enabled the opposition to defend the width of the penalty area and thwart all of Spain’s attacks. While the inclusion of Marco Asensio was a step in the right direction, his inclusion should have come at the cost of David Silva, rather than Thiago or Iniesta.

With Silva out of form, he could not contribute anything of note to Spain’s forward play. Silva also contributed very little defensively, thus making the case for Asensio’s or Lucas Vasquez’s introduction stronger.

This takes nothing away from the outstanding qualities of Silva, though.

When he is on song, he is one of the most exquisite passers of the football, but in such a crucial game, the manager could have been more pragmatic and replaced him with someone from Spain’s talented bench.

A little break would have done Silva a world of good, and he could have influenced the game as an impact substitute. A rejuvenated Silva would have been a much harder proposition for Russia to tackle.