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Debate: Do Spain Suffer From The Barcelona Syndrome?
Spain were frustrated by Iraq in their Confederations Cup group match on Wednesday and this has led Goal.com's Subhankar Mondal to draw parallels with European champions FC Barcelona.....
19-Jun-2009 11:48:35 AM
Iraq did what they were supposed to do
and did it marvelously. And almost gained something for their effort.
There are only two other national sides on this planet who can match Spain in playing Spain-esque football and Iraq is not one of them. So Iraq decided to play with nine men behind the ball and look for the odd counter-attack(s). No, they weren't exactly ultra-defensive and they were more pushed inside their den by Spain than willingly crawl into it but they didn't feel shy to pile bodies in front of their citadel.
Iraq might not have won against Spain and had Vicente del Bosque's side taken their chances then they could have won by a really healthy margin, but the Asian champions really managed to frustrate the European champions. On Wednesday Spain's tiki-taka, pass-and-move football couldn't break the strong and congested Iraqi defence more than once as the Iberian nation showed a sign or two of suffering from the Barcelona syndrome.
FC Barcelona couldn't break an ultra-defensive coach-parking Chelsea over the two legs of the Champions League quarter-final tie last season more than once, although strangely it was Chelsea who had the better chances over the 180 minutes of football. The Catalans' footballing style is fairly reflected in that of the Spanish national team especially in the philosophy of retaining possession and passing the ball around with patience, and on Wednesday, just like Barcelona against Chelsea, Spain couldn't really rip apart the Asian nation.
Spain were clearly frustrated in the first half as their superiority in possession could yield them mostly lateral movement. Of course they had chances and should have scored at least once in the first 45 minutes but Iraq's no-nonsense display negated their slick passing movements as Spain's patient build-up encompassed extra passes that they wouldn't normally take.
The second half, though, saw Spain play with more pace and after David Villa had scored a free-header Iraq went in search for their Holy Grail (read the equalizer), opened themselves up and could have conceded two more goals.
True, some of the 'bigger' players of Spain were absent on the pitch against Iraq- Andres Iniesta is not featuring in the competition and neither is Marcos Senna, Cesc Fabregas started on the bench and so did David Silva- but even then Spain has more quality than Iraq. Just as Spain couldn't break down Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 they didn't really manage to undo Iraq.
Against Chelsea especially at Camp Nou, Barcelona were paralyzed by their own philosophy of playing the beautiful game beautifully and not resorting to any Plan B, which they didn’t have. Their lack of an immobile targetman who would lurk in and around the Chelsea penalty area and would nod in the hopeful long ball lofted in from the far reaches of the midfield was revealing against Chelsea as their slick passing movement and touch football was negated (to some degree) by a close-them-down-and-give-them-no-space approach of Chelsea.
Spain too seemed frustrated by the Iraqi approach and their movement especially in the first half was often lateral as the Iraqi traffic gave them little space but a lot of time to weave their sorcery, leading one to contemplate whether this hugely talented and massively entertaining Spanish side can be an effective win-grinder too.
Yet David Villa's eventual winner exhibited that pass-and-move football can and does overcome ten-men-behind-the-ball 'football', just as Andres Iniesta's last minute equalizer that was more like a winner at Stamford Bridge had helped the football aesthetes to put one over the football pragmatics. Not every side in the world would play like Iraq did but Spain must be prepared if they face another side of such ilk again.
Or else they would be feeling the frustration. Again.
Subhankar Mondal
There are only two other national sides on this planet who can match Spain in playing Spain-esque football and Iraq is not one of them. So Iraq decided to play with nine men behind the ball and look for the odd counter-attack(s). No, they weren't exactly ultra-defensive and they were more pushed inside their den by Spain than willingly crawl into it but they didn't feel shy to pile bodies in front of their citadel.
Iraq might not have won against Spain and had Vicente del Bosque's side taken their chances then they could have won by a really healthy margin, but the Asian champions really managed to frustrate the European champions. On Wednesday Spain's tiki-taka, pass-and-move football couldn't break the strong and congested Iraqi defence more than once as the Iberian nation showed a sign or two of suffering from the Barcelona syndrome.
FC Barcelona couldn't break an ultra-defensive coach-parking Chelsea over the two legs of the Champions League quarter-final tie last season more than once, although strangely it was Chelsea who had the better chances over the 180 minutes of football. The Catalans' footballing style is fairly reflected in that of the Spanish national team especially in the philosophy of retaining possession and passing the ball around with patience, and on Wednesday, just like Barcelona against Chelsea, Spain couldn't really rip apart the Asian nation.
Spain were clearly frustrated in the first half as their superiority in possession could yield them mostly lateral movement. Of course they had chances and should have scored at least once in the first 45 minutes but Iraq's no-nonsense display negated their slick passing movements as Spain's patient build-up encompassed extra passes that they wouldn't normally take.
The second half, though, saw Spain play with more pace and after David Villa had scored a free-header Iraq went in search for their Holy Grail (read the equalizer), opened themselves up and could have conceded two more goals.
True, some of the 'bigger' players of Spain were absent on the pitch against Iraq- Andres Iniesta is not featuring in the competition and neither is Marcos Senna, Cesc Fabregas started on the bench and so did David Silva- but even then Spain has more quality than Iraq. Just as Spain couldn't break down Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 they didn't really manage to undo Iraq.
Against Chelsea especially at Camp Nou, Barcelona were paralyzed by their own philosophy of playing the beautiful game beautifully and not resorting to any Plan B, which they didn’t have. Their lack of an immobile targetman who would lurk in and around the Chelsea penalty area and would nod in the hopeful long ball lofted in from the far reaches of the midfield was revealing against Chelsea as their slick passing movement and touch football was negated (to some degree) by a close-them-down-and-give-them-no-space approach of Chelsea.
Spain too seemed frustrated by the Iraqi approach and their movement especially in the first half was often lateral as the Iraqi traffic gave them little space but a lot of time to weave their sorcery, leading one to contemplate whether this hugely talented and massively entertaining Spanish side can be an effective win-grinder too.
Yet David Villa's eventual winner exhibited that pass-and-move football can and does overcome ten-men-behind-the-ball 'football', just as Andres Iniesta's last minute equalizer that was more like a winner at Stamford Bridge had helped the football aesthetes to put one over the football pragmatics. Not every side in the world would play like Iraq did but Spain must be prepared if they face another side of such ilk again.
Or else they would be feeling the frustration. Again.
Subhankar Mondal
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