Vicente del Bosque, Spain Part Ways: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

Vicente del Bosque said on June 30 he would step down as Spain manager after their exit from UEFA Euro 2016. Spain confirmed his departure on Monday:

Speaking to RNE (h/t Sport), the 65-year-old announced on June 30 he was set to walk away when his deal expired in July, and the decision had nothing to do with "how the European Championships turned out." Per BBC Sport, he previously said the same thing in 2015.

Del Bosque succeeded Luis Aragones as La Roja manager following their victory at Euro 2008, and he subsequently guided them to back-to-back victories at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2012.

However, a disastrous 2014 World Cup saw the holders humiliated 5-1 by the Netherlands and dumped out in the group stage. As football journalist Richard Martin noted, Del Bosque offered to step down as Spain manager at the time:

They then exited this year's European Championship in the round of 16, after their failure to win Group D set up a tie with Italy in the tougher half of the draw.

While Spain possess an almost unrivalled talent pool, their lack of penetration has been a real problem, and they've failed to strike a balance between dominating possession and getting the best out of their centre-forwards.

Football journalists David Cartlidge and Andrew Gaffney were particularly critical of Del Bosque and his failure to develop the side beyond the foundation Aragones laid:

The former Real Madrid manager's recent record also left a lot to be desired, as revealed by statistician Pedro Martin (h/t ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan):

However, as Corrigan further noted, there is a dearth of obvious successors to Del Bosque:

That is a problem the Spanish FA will need to sort out quickly—their next manager must look to rebuilding the side ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and qualification for the tournament begins in September.

Fittingly, La Roja's second game in qualifying will be a trip to Italy in October. Whoever replaces Del Bosque won't have had long to work with the players prior to that match, but it will provide a useful barometer for where the team is at.