Spain vs England: 3 things learned, UEFA Nations League 2018-19

#3 Spain should reconsider their attacking strategy against ultra-defensive teams

The flow of Spain’s passing game was disrupted

Spain are very effective against teams which play an open game and allow them enough space in the midfield. Spain scored 6 past Croatia, and 4 against Wales as those teams allowed them the freedom in the midfield.

However, in a stark contrast to those teams, England crowded the middle third last night to block the spaces, and as a result, the flow of Spain’s passing game was disrupted. They started resorting to playing harmless back passes, and lateral passes, which meant that they dominated possession but failed to do anything else.

They should have played quicker through passes in the final third, and their forwards should have swapped positions to trouble the English defence more. Their midfielders also did not demonstrate dribbling skills which could open up spaces in the opposition half.

Things changed somewhat in the second half as Ceballos was introduced in place of an ineffective Saul Niguez.

Ceballos did some dribbling, and created space with his fast runs. Subsequently, Spain came back into the match and scored a couple of goals. Thiago Alcantara was also below-par and did not have enough creative contribution. However, credit has to given to the English defence, as the likes of Eric Dier and Harry Maguire had a very good game.