Plan to demolish Spain: No team shoots as much as the Reds | Eurocup Germany 2024

We have to go back to the moment when Rodri decides to stop the game against Georgia. Suddenly, after an own goal, Spain is once again faced with one of the most disturbing conundrums: a very tight five-man defense and a disadvantage on the scoreboard. Variations of this scenario have caused deep frustration for a team that for almost two decades has built its identity through passing. And there they are again facing another insurmountable rock, despite the different approach that Luis de la Fuente has led them to. Compared to the classic approach, which could be called erosion, i.e. careful wear and tear through the rolling of the ball, the technician postulates a kind of destruction through the accumulation of shots. According to StatsBomb, Spain scores 20.5 shots per game – more than ever at the European Championship, almost double the 11.8 at the World Cup in Qatar. No team in the tournament tries this so often.

Le Normand’s own goal made them lose the plot, as Rodri explained. That’s why he ordered it to stop. And having stopped, they continued on their way. Until the end of the match, which left a record that can be considered the consecration of a new path: he took 35 shots (13 on goal), which is his highest performance in a major tournament since 1980, and the fourth result among all teams in the qualifying round. for 44 years, according to Opta.

It was done deliberately: “The more you shoot, the more chances you have to score,” the coach said. Something that seems obvious, but is quite difficult. In the last 16 of the World Cup in Qatar against Morocco and with extra time, Spain had 13 shots (one on target), almost a third of the shots they accumulated against Georgia. In Sunday’s game, after the stoppage, Rodri dropped back and scored from the edge of the box. He opened up the way they thought they could do it: “The way they defend, so tight, with two strikers who don’t drop, we knew the front of the box would be open for the midfielders,” the City player explained. “It’s easier to score goals with a striker, finishing, but when you have so many players, it’s not easy. “It has to be a game where you have a clear shot.”

The choreography of the movements of the forwards, Morata, Fabián and Pedri between the lines was intended, among other things, to make room for these options in the confusion. And without waiting for time to pass. From the moment the game began. From the very beginning of the tournament, De la Fuente had been urging his players to shoot more, and Rodri, his voice on the pitch, had learned from this: “These are situations that we should exploit more against these types of teams,” he explained, referring to the Georgian castle. “We have players who shoot well from the front. Fabi scored a couple of goals like that. Pedri needs more encouragement. I hit him too…”

In the match against Georgia, he and Fabian (the manager) scored, two midfielders or a midfielder and an interior, depending on the stage: a symptom of the evolution of style. Until now, this position has been very limited in its scope of application, focusing on distribution and balance. But De la Fuente insisted on bringing them closer to shooting positions and pushing them to try.

The midfield jump from the Qatar World Cup is huge. Sergio Busquets has scored just two goals in four games. Gavi has scored once: his strike in a 7-0 win over Costa Rica. And Pedri has returned home without a single attempt. Yet the Barcelona man has averaged 2.5 shots per game in the European Cup, three times as many as he has attempted with Xavi Hernandez all season.

Fabian’s transformation under De la Fuente has also been remarkable. He is the midfielder who tries the hardest at the Euros: the 3.6 shots per game that StatsBomb reported for him is almost three times the 1.3 that Luis Enrique has rewarded at Paris Saint-Germain this season.

De la Fuente was very pleased: “This team finishes a lot of games, creates a lot of dangerous moments, comes in from the flank and shoots. “It gives you more options,” he said after the meeting. “Football insists, insists, insists. And above all, by conviction. And we are convinced that this is the case.”

At half-time, with the score tied at 1-1, Spain had 17 of their record 35 chances, though none of them were particularly dangerous: they added up to 0.80 expected goals (xG), according to the StatsBomb model. In the second half, until the score was 4-1, the remaining 18 accounted for 1.9 xG. “Everything that happened in the second half was the result of the opponent being exhausted in the first half. Otherwise, such an overwhelming advantage in the second half would not have been possible,” explained De la Fuente. The accumulation break worked.

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