What Do Spain Need to Do to Win Euro 2020?
Written by a guest blogger. Given the recent successes of the Spanish national team, its easy to forget that they were historically underachievers. They always had great players yet failed to deliver when it mattered most. But then they won the World Cup and Euro Championship, and the curse seemed to be broken for good. Only, perhaps those victories were more of an exception than a new rule. They havent performed well at a major tournament for a while now, and things havent gotten off to a great start at Euro 2020. Thats not to say that they cant turn things around and lift the trophy. If theres one thing that everyone should remember more often, its that you dont win tournaments during the group stage! But victory will take monumental effort. In this blog, were going to run through what Spain must do if theyre going to lift the trophy at Wembley on July 11. Start Scoring  If there were one area where you would not expect Spain to struggle, it would be in front of goal. That would be like Italy struggling in defence. Its possible but out of sync with history. Yet, thats just where Spain currently find themselves. For the first time in a long time, theres no Spanish player in the top five players with the best odds of being the top goalscorer at Euro 2020. Theres a lot of pressure on Alvaro Moratas shoulders, and so far, its looking too much for the Juventus player to handle. Theres still time for him  and the other Spanish attacking players  to find their goal-scoring capabilities, but they better find it soon. Find Some Confidence  Spain have never been as confident as, say, Brazil, but they were a lot more confident than most other sides. Anyone would be if they had the list of players that Spain could boast! Yet, that seems to have fallen off a cliff at the moment. Theyre not playing in fear exactly, but they havent got the swagger that you would expect a Spanish team to have. Part of the reason for this could be the general lack of experience in the squad. You have to wonder if Enrique regrets leaving out Ramos, who would surely have had a thing or two to say when the going got tough. Fans on Their Side  You need some unity when youre in pursuit of a common goal. Spanish fans have historically been a good source of inspiration for the national side, but that doesnt seem to be the case at the moment. The fans have not exactly turned against Enrique and his players, but their patience is running thin. Unfortunately, the only way to get fans back on your side is to play well. It doesnt even matter if you lose (well, at least not as much), provided youve done justice to the shirt. Fans are calling for players to be put in, players to be pulled out, and for Spain to begin playing like Spain. Its not an entirely unreasonable request. Pack the Midfield  If Spain are going to make it to the final, or at least not leave the tournament way earlier than they should, then they need to play to their strengths. And theres no doubt that, just as with years done by, their biggest strength is their midfield. In Thiago, Rodri, and Koke, they have a midfield to match any in Europe. And then they also have Busquets and Pedri, too. When you have such an embarrassment of riches in the middle of the park, it wouldnt make sense to play any other way. Get the ball to midfield, let them pass the opposition to death, and get it into the dangerous zones. Plug the Weak Spot  We mentioned earlier that Spain need to get scoring, and thats true. But theyll figure out where the goal is eventually. The bigger problem they might have is at the back. Their defensive line isnt as strong as it could be, or at least, its not as experienced as it could be. The two centre backs have undoubted quality on their side, but Laporte and Torres have not played all that much together, or indeed, all that much for Spain. Laporte was playing for France up until a month ago. The best approach for making sure that theyre not found out defensively by the better sides is to, again, play to their strengths. If the midfield has the ball, then there wont be all that much defending to do anyway. Other Teams Stuttering  Were talking about the difficulties Spain will have in winning the Euro championship. But its worth remembering that there isnt any side that has hit tournament-winning form yet. France were widely touted as champions-elect, but theyve so far failed to deliver. Theres every chance that they will get it together, but this is France were talking about, so theres no way to say for sure. Another contender, England, can not be considered a serious threat, at least not at this stage. Italy, Germany, and Belgium do look to be getting into their stride, however. Luck on Their Side  You cant rely on luck to win a football tournament for you, but it sure can lend a helping hand. With the use of VAR, theres every chance that Spain will be the recipient of a fortunate decision at one stage or another. But then, the opposite is also true. In any case, if Enrique is relying on technology to save his reputation, then hes got big problems. All In  The best approach, we think, would be to simply go all in and see what happens. No ones loving the Spain performances at the moment, and especially not the players. If they can wipe the first couple of games from their memory and start afresh, then that might give them the spark of life that theyll need if theyre going to win the tournament. Whether that happens is another matter. Lets see!