Spain isn’t just dominating world soccer, it is starting to change the way the game is played.
Spain isn’t just dominating world soccer, it is starting to change the way the game is played.The intricacies of the 4-2-3-1 system used by Spain’s national team are deep and varied. Simply put, by having two holding midfielders (normally Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets) in front of the backline, it allows a marauding force of offensive midfielders (including the sensational Xavi and Iniesta) to control possession and break down the opposition by stealth and craft.
The system is not to everyone’s liking but when deployed expertly, there is little that can be done to negate it. The primary reason why Spain was the lowest-scoring World Cup champion in history was because opponents refused to engage them head-on for fear of being surgically picked apart.
“Because football has become a bit more tactical and organized, it is about becoming harder to beat ,and teams want two holding midfielders,” England and Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard told the Guardian. “I don’t like the system too much.”
A more measured approach doesn’t sit too well with the English mentality, but elsewhere it has been adopted – and adapted – to good effect. World Cup finalists the Netherlands used Mark Van Bommel and Nigel De Jong as a holding midfield duo, albeit one with a definition of defense that often bordered on brutality.
Champions League winners Inter were headlined by the goal-scoring brilliance of Diego Milito and the creativity of Wesley Sneijder, yet Mourinho was even more grateful to his holding partnership of Javier Zanetti and the evergreen brilliance of Esteban Cambiasso.
More and more club teams are using the system and fans have warmed up to it as well. Spain’s other great achievement of the summer, apart from winning it all, was to make technique and precision fashionable at the expense of blind aggression.
“It was beautiful football,” said Spain captain Iker Casillas, weeks after the tournament. “Maybe it was not exactly the same kind of beautiful football people have seen before, but everything I have heard from the people is that they found it beautiful. Not just the victory, but the football.”
Whether that will be rewarded in individual accolades remains to be seen. I wrote during the World Cup that Xavi is now the best player in the world and I’ve seen nothing since to alter my opinion. However, little men who set up goals rather than score them and whose passes are designed for effectiveness, not the highlight reel, don’t always get the recognition they deserve.
No Spanish player has won the Ballon d’Or, which this year merges with the FIFA world player of the year award for the first time, since Luis Suarez won it in 1960.
The smart money this time around is on Sneijder, who steered Inter to European glory and the Netherlands to second place in the World Cup.
Spain’s stars may be hindered by a splitting of opinion on who really makes the team tick. Some say Xavi is the engine, others back Iniesta, Villa or Alonso as the main driving force.
But there is no doubt about which nation makes soccer move to a beat that finds beauty in efficiency, simplicity and teamwork, and has the rest of the world playing catch-up.
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