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 level there is always a tendency to praise one over the other. And so it will continue to be.
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 the ball less with 47%-ante Italia -won with a 57%– and before Albania -domino also with a 59%– which makes him be outside the ‘podium’ of the most dominant teams with the ball in their possession.
Las The first three are Germany, with 64.3%, like Portugal, and England, with 59.7%.. Even so, and despite the fact that Spain has less of the ball than these three competitors, it does rank at the top among those with the best passing effectiveness. To summarize: 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 the host Germany, with 93%.
This is a reflection of one of the messages that De la Fuente has the most influence on: It doesn’t matter how much you have it, but what you do with it.
The padlock and 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 They have not yet conceded a single goal, ahead of 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. Total, 10 stops divided between 6 for Unai Simón, who also saved a penalty against Croatia, and 4 for David Rayawho had their chance against Albania in the last match.
It should also be noted that Of the 39 individual duels that have occurred in their matches, the Spanish players have won 17 of 39which is an excellent 43.59% success every time a rival player tries to surpass one wearing the red jacket.
