It would be safe to say that a new era in Spanish football kicked off last night. The most disappointing of World Cup performances brought an end to Xabi Alonso, Xavi and David Villa's international careers while players such as Andres Iniesta, Juan Mata, Javi Martinez and Fernando Torres were not in the squad for various reasons.
With a wealth of talent bursting through La Roja's doors, it was a chance to start players such as Mikel San Jose from Athletic Bilbao, Koke and Raul Garcia from Atletico Madrid and David de Gea from Manchester United. The same problems seemed to trouble the side, however, as they looked good at times, controlled the ball for even longer, but rarely troubled Hugo Lloris in the France goal.
The tactic in the first was half was clear and simple. Attack the right hand side until something cracked – use Antoine Griezmann's poor defending ability to your advantage and keep doing so until it breaks. Dani Carvajal ran the flank on several occasions and France were, at times, overwhelmed by the Real Madrid full-back’s pace and willingness to get forward, but his raids led to nothing.
Raul Garcia occupied the right hand side of an attacking line that also consisted of Diego Costa as the main point and Santi Cazorla on the left. But Garcia struggled as the tactics seemed more suited to a smaller, more technical player. The lack of urgency, directness and conviction in some of Spain's passing can be frustrating to watch when it is not paying off and that extra pass caught them out more than once in the Stade de France last night.
Costa was embroiled in a battle with France's centre-backs, he kind of battle he thrives on. In Raphael Varane Costa was matched for speed in behind and in Mamadou Sakho he was matched for strength. Yet it felt as though that if enough balls were played in to him, he would have gotten on the end of a few. Instead Spain resorted to a tiki-taka style with France sitting deep, breaking with purpose when they won the ball back and ultimately getting the important goal to win the contest.
San Jose was quiet on the night, which is arguably a good thing for a centre-back. There were times when miscommunication played a role and there was occasionally a lack of cohesion in how the back four moved but for a debut, the 25-year-old was steady and assured.
Koke showed himself to be adept at the style of football Vicente Del Bosque likes to play and his role in the midfield three that also included Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Busquets looks like it will be his for a long time to come.
It would be easy to expect things to automatically turn around with the players coming through, but the reality is that a World Cup winning team has had its centre ripped from it and with that a rebuilding process is necessary – along with a shift in style of play.
A win on Monday in Macedonia should ease worries but if del Bosque is to bring trophies back to Spain, he will have to find a way to be more direct in his approach.
