Luxembourg vs. Spain: How La Roja Should Line Up in Euro 2016 Qualifier
After slumping to a damaging 2-1 defeat to Slovakia at the Stadion MSK Zilina on Thursday, Spain travel to the Stade Josy Barthel on Sunday to take on Luxembourg, eyeing the chance to secure a confidence-restoring victory in the third match of their European qualifying campaign.
Against Slovakia, it was the same problems we've come to expect from La Roja that again brought about their demise: The precise build-up amounted to little, their possession dominance not reflected on the scoreboard and the defence breached too easily on the counter-attack.
As explained here, there's an unshakable sense of monotony surrounding Vicente del Bosque's team.
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With Sunday's clash against Luxembourg approaching, there's a definite need for something new from the Spaniards. Strangely, that's what Del Bosque promised prior to Thursday's defeat, but we saw very little that was different against Slovakia.
"We'll have a slightly new system in place from the one we had against Macedonia so we should have more of an offensive presence," the manager remarked in his pre-match press conference, per Football Espana.
With a midfield three of Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas and Koke joined centrally by Andres Iniesta and David Silva who started on the flanks, Spain's approach was frustratingly predictable—reflected in how comfortably the hosts quelled their Spanish counterparts.
Spain must now recognise that a rethink is required, both in a tactical sense and in personnel. If they continue in this manner, La Roja stand little chance of defending their European crown in France in 2016.
Thus, it's time to begin devising methods to make this team more potent. The finesse needs some force. And that's only going to happen if Del Bosque's manipulates the system and looks to change the balance between ball-playing midfielders and natural scorers.
At present, Spain play with an XI that contains only one man with a real eye for goal. Changing that is going to require some experimentation.
A clash with Luxembourg—a nation in 127th place on the FIFA World Rankings—presents the perfect opportunity to toy with a new method in attack.
What we'd most love to see from Spain is two up front. In Diego Costa and Paco Alcacer, Del Bosque has two fine forwards who could form a devastating partnership at the head of the attack; the Chelsea striker's power complemented by the Valencia man's pace and predatory instincts.
Such an attacking setup, of course, would require the manager to use one less midfield player, but given the central dominance Spain should enjoy against Luxembourg, that shouldn't be an issue. Whether it's Fabregas, Silva, Koke or Iniesta who moves to the bench is almost irrelevant. Provided Busquets is at the base of the midfield, the three in front of him will have sufficient cover.
While unconventional for Spain, Del Bosque could place his midfield quartet in a diamond, with Fabregas the most advanced of the group in the No. 10 role and supported on either side by Iniesta and the industrious Koke.
It might be vastly different from the 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 shapes we're used to seeing from Spain, but it would be an effective method to develop something significantly more lethal up front.
And after all, something has to change.
At the back, it's likely Del Bosque will make some changes, particularly with the array of full-backs he has at his disposal.
After using Juanfran and Jordi Alba against Slovakia, Daniel Carvajal and Juan Bernat could take their places in the clash with Luxembourg—both men capable of offering the width and attacking support that's needed when using a midfield diamond.
In goal, David De Gea will surely get the nod over Iker Casillas, following the veteran's blunder that gifted Slovakia the opener on Thursday.
Such a formation may represent a significant deviation from Spain's typical system, but that's beginning to become a necessity as La Roja's characteristic methods continue to come unstuck.
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