The Tiki-Taka Nonsense

Spain hasn’t learned, or rather its soccer managers. The tiki-taka that made the world fall in love, first with Barcelona and then with the national team, is not a style to be always repeated at all cost.

Really impressive when you have depth, it’s a real sore for the eyes when the ball goes from one side to another without much ado, and the offensive doesn’t end with a shot on goal.

La Roja suffered from the same thing again, like four years ago against Russia. They made more than a thousand passes in the round of 16 match against Morocco, but only shot on goal twice, while their rivals had three attempts, with less than a third of those passes.

The old tactic of possession is already tiring, and much more the strong defense they do especially from Catalonia. Now just moved to the national team, and again came the reality check against Moroccans who played their own style (they still haven’t allowed goals against, just one own-goal) and created even more danger in their few attacks.

What Xavi defends to the death in Barcelona (although once again fighting for the Europa League) cannot be the only scenario for a football team, especially not in a World Cup, where you find all kinds of rivals.

When he was wearing shorts, and had nearby players under the name of Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi, then it was possible, but neither he nor the coach Luis Enrique can cling to a system when they don't have the players to accomplish it.

Pedri is very good, and Gavi is a fighter, but they can’t (yet) fill up the shoes of their predecessors, and Busquets himself is no longer the same. So, he is grasping at straws.

The mirage of the 7-0 against Costa Rica also took its toll, and perhaps the indifference of Luis Enrique, more concerned with his "streamings" than with studying his opponents. If it was shocking that he didn’t know that he had been eliminated in the group stage for three minutes, worse was his ignorance of the Moroccan number 8, Azzedine Ounahi, who was a true threat throughout the match.

Those who supported him despite all his rudeness, arrogance, and whims were relieved for the moment, and I say for the moment because no one knows if he will continue coaching the Spanish team.

On the other hand, those who unconditionally supported him must be no less than disappointed, because they were promised that an obviously crazy idea would come to fruition when you don’t have a leader on the pitch, nor a prestigious striker ahead, nor even some daring wing attackers who dared one on one maneuvers. What's more, the only one who tried, Nico Williams, was substituted despite entering as a substitute. Pedro Sarabia occupied his place, supposedly to guarantee a good penalty, something he didn’t get either.

The penalty round was embarrassing. Not even an experienced player like Busquets was spared from the shame, while Luis Enrique watched impassively from the bench. The supposedly most motivating coach didn't even jump to the field to encourage his team before the critical penalty round.

In short, everything has been an ocean of nonsense in Qatar 2022 for Spain, although it was imaginable.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff