World Football: A Tactical Preview of England vs. Spain at Wembley

England host the World and European Champions, Spain, at Wembley Stadium. Fabio Capello will look to test his side against this quality of opposition, having faced no side in the top 10 of World Football since the humiliating World Cup exit to Germany.

Although England have qualified for the European Championship, many questions are still being asked of Capello’s England, mainly due to the fact that, though England were unbeaten in qualification, they drew games to Montenegro (twice) and Switzerland.

During this fixture, Capello will look to provide some answers.

However, beating the World and European Champions is never an easy task, even at top form. Spain have been outstanding in qualifying, going unbeaten. No opposing manager has truly found a way of stopping their possession and pressing play in a competitive game. They are not taking this friendly lightly, picking a full-strength squad, with all their stars present.

Capello’s squad for this fixture was one culled of its stars, with the cuts visible in midfield. The squad is shorn of key players, like Jack Wilshere, Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. Therefore, the team that plays Spain will practically be an ‘England B Team”. What was a challenge now becomes a Herculean task.

Squads:

England:

Hart (Manchester City), Carson (Bursaspor), Stockdale (Fulham), G Johnson (Liverpool), Jones (Manchester United), Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), A Cole (Chelsea), Leighton Baines (Everton), Terry (Chelsea), Cahill (Bolton), Jagielka (Everton), Lescott (Manchester City), Lampard (Chelsea), Parker (Tottenham Hotspur), Milner (Manchester City), Rodwell (Everton), Barry (Manchester City), Walcott (Arsenal), A Johnson (Manchester City), Downing (Liverpool), Bent (Aston Villa), Sturridge (Chelsea), Welbeck (Manchester United), Zamora (Fulham)

Spain:

Casillas (Real Madrid), Reina (Liverpool), Valdes (Barcelona), Ramos (Real Madrid), Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Puyol (Barcelona), Pique (Barcelona), Alba (Valencia), Albiol (Real Madrid), Monreal (Malaga), Xavi (Barcelona), Alonso (Real Madrid), Busquets (Barcelona), Cazorla (Malaga), Martinez (Athletic Bilbao), Fabregas (Barcelona), Iniesta (Barcelona), Villa (Barcelona), Silva (Manchester City), Torres (Chelsea), Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Mata (Chelsea), Navas (Sevilla).

Tactical Approach:

Spain:

Spain will play their usual side, not changed very much since the World Cup. However, left-winger Jordi Alba has forced himself in ahead of Joan Capdevila and Alvaro Arbeloa, and seems to be Spain’s starting left-back. Fernando Llorente, a physical target man with a characteristically Spanish touch and passing ability, is a super-sub. On the bench will be the perennial benchwarmer for Spain, Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea’s Juan Mata and Malaga playmaker Santi Cazorla.

Lineup:

The above diagram shows the predicted Spanish system for the game. Two changes from the World Cup final lineup; Jordi Alba, the attacking left-back, provides width for Spain, as another new addition, playmaker David Silva, plays an inverted winger role and tucks inside. Same thing for Andres Iniesta, another playmaker turned winger, who tucks inside as well.

A lack of natural width in the Spanish starting lineup means less space in the middle for opposing teams, as both Iniesta and Silva make inside-to-outside runs.

The Spanish midfield forms this zone of possession for opposing teams, a packed space in their central and offensive playmaker positions, in which they can develop their play.

Furthermore, Spain have talented passers throughout their midfield, with two central playmakers in inverted winger positions, and a deep-lying playmaker (Alonso). Xavi plays deeper than a traditional No.10 and is just slightly ahead of the two holders. He is essentially an all-purpose midfielder (both offensive and defensive),  and having him as a central playmaker can only help the already formidable Spanish pressing game.

Villa, the lone striker, attacks from wide positions, usually on the left, as he has done for Barcelona, and generally contributes to the play. He is a dynamic presence up front.

Pique and Puyol are the usual combination of the Beckenbauer-esque, cultured, ball-playing centre-back (Pique) and the battling, Terry-Butcher-esque, hard-working centre-back (Puyol).

England:

The English side will be much changed from the qualifiers, with key players missing. Capello has already stated that Frank Lampard will get the armband for this game, so it is a fair assumption that he will start. He has also expressed the desire to try a new centre-back partnership out and leave John Terry on the bench.

The yellow line shows Spain’s high offside line, and the dashed arrows show passing patterns of the midfielders. It is clear from this diagram that the English strategy will be to win the ball quickly in midfield and get the ball to an incredibly pacey front three.

Spain’s one weakness is its defence, which is still great by any standards! The best way to avoid their pressing game when not in possession is to create fluid passing moves which cover a lot of distance in a short time.

The English midfield in the above diagram is composed of Lampard, Barry and Parker. This is a very immobile midfield, with Barry the deep-lying distributor and Parker the near-static holder. Barry would be necessary to get the ball quickly to the front three. Lampard is the only player in the side to play that role to some success, and he is captain, so he will play that position.

I went with Barry and Parker surmising that Capello will stick with experience, but a better choice to win the ball with energy that is required to intercept passes would be James Milner, winger-cum-box-to-box-central-midfielder.

And a further choice for energy could be the dynamic holder Jack Rodwell (who tracked David Silva to some success for Everton). Put Milner and Rodwell in the side, and you have a very different ballgame.

Another possible tactical change is for England to play a 4-2-2-2, with more technical ball-playing attacking midfielders (Lampard and Downing or Milner) as the second ’2,′ and perhaps, Barry or Milner and Rodwell or Parker. The two up front could be wide forwards, starting from wide positions and going inside (preferably Sturridge and Walcott).

This system would give England a numerical advantage in midfield and allow them to take advantage of Jordi Alba’s attacking runs by placing a forward in his area (true for the other system as well).

The other possible changes in the side are in defense and in attack.

In attack, there are the pacier options of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Daniel Welbeck (a technical and energetic target man, who could play in a 4-3-3), as well as Bobby Zamora.

In defence, Phil Jagielka could take the place of one of the centre-backs, and Baines and Walker could take the place of Johnson and Cole, but this would be almost like for like in style.

Conclusion:
Either way, England will be severely crippled by their injuries and face an uphill battle against the World and European Champions, Spain.