Euro Cortado #22: Spain rightly reign
It took a little time, but Spain clicked into gear and claimed the Euro 2024 winners' medals in fine style
Spain are champions of Europe for the fourth time, and for the third time in five editions of the UEFA European Championship.
Congratulations to La Roja, and congratulations to me for winning £95 for predicting them as my tournament winner before a ball was kicked… even though I wasn’t confident enough to put my neck on the line by predicting them to win on here!
Although, if you read between the lines of this article…
…you would see that I had them as the last team standing and that I couldn’t find one major fault with them! ;)
But enough about me, here is my main takeaways from last night’s final in Berlin. Get your UEFA branded mug from the cupboard and for the final time in 2024, join me for a cup of warm, tasty Euro Cortado!
No Rodri, no problem
I joined all Spain fans and neutrals in groans of fear when Rodri did not emerge for the second half, not least because in my preview I had him down as the difference-maker after half-time. Sorry, I said enough about me.
But after not clicking into gear in the first half, Spain switched on immediately after the restart, and were ahead within two minutes thanks to Nico Williams’ cool finish.
There were plenty of times in the first half it appeared Williams and Lamine Yamal were holding something back, playing more conservatively then usual and not flying down the wing at every opportunity.
If they were keeping something in reserve, then the plan worked to perfection; the two youngsters used the width of the pitch to create space for themselves and combine beautifully for the goal.
One should have become two should have become three should have become four, as Spain went on the rampage, but a combination of near-missing and Jordan Pickford kept the score down.
Lesser teams would be rocked by losing the player of the tournament halfway through a final, but this Spain side showed once again how they are not over-reliant on any one player to get the best out of the system which has made them the standout side.
Even after England’s equaliser, they regrouped and deservedly scored the winner which fittingly came through one of their squad players, Mikel Oyarzabal.
Fluidity, speed, telepathic understanding and togetherness from number 1 to number 26, with no need for one star to perform, no one can begrudge Spain a terrific victory.
England’s loyalty sees them outclassed
It should be obvious really - the team who produced nothing more than 30 minutes of decent football against Serbia and 45 minutes of a performance against the Netherlands in their first six matches weren’t good enough to compete with the best team in the competition.
Only well-timed moments of individual class had taken them from humiliation to the runners-up spot, and that may be enough to beat Slovakia and take Switzerland to penalties, but it won’t wash against the likes of Spain.
Again England pulled off a special moment, with Cole Palmer finishing off a well-worked attack, but other than a late header cleared off the line, England offered nothing.
It’s a divisive metric, and while it’s not the be-all-and-end-all, xG does have its uses. One of which is to point out that England’s entire expected goals total in seven matches was lower than that of Croatia, who were eliminated after three group stage games.
For the team widely seen as the most talented in attacking areas before the tournament, that is absolutely shocking.
But is it any wonder? Harry Kane was playing when unfit and injured, Phil Foden was playing out of position, Jude Bellingham was clearly exhausted, while ready-made replacements Cole Palmer, Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney and Eberechi Eze barely got a look-in (yet all performed when they did). Spare a thought for Anthony Gordon, who played four minutes all tournament.
And who is to blame for this? The manager, of course. Gareth Southgate picks the team, so the buck stops with him. A lovely bloke who has done wonders for English football, by all accounts, and a very loyal individual.
But that loyalty has clearly come back to haunt him, and cost his team.
I have always spoken up for Southgate, but it is time for him to move on. The system he wanted to play, with unfit players out of position, was proven inadequate time and time again by England playing better with a back three, by being bailed out by Bellingham bicycle kicks and the like, and by squad players regularly out-performing the starters.
The Palmer/Watkins sub against the Dutch can look like a stroke of managerial genius, but for those players to always look more of a threat means there’s a lack of managerial know-how.
Another mentality switch needed
I cannot remember the stat exactly, but Spanish teams have won about 3,000 finals in a row against non-Spanish teams in both club and international competitions.
Whatever the secret, it is rightly being kept very well guarded, but clearly the mentality of Spanish and Spanish-based players is exactly right for the biggest of games.
For England, switches of mentality will be Gareth Southgate’s greatest legacy from his time as England boss. From creating a positive environment within the camp, better relationships with the media and - most importantly for English fans - an ability to win penalty shoot-outs, the outlook has become much more positive.
But one major psychological hurdle still remains for the next England manager to overcome.
Spain in 2024, France in 2022, Italy in 2020, Croatia in 2018, not applicable in 2016, Italy and Uruguay in 2014, Italy in 2012, Germany in 2010… the list goes on.
Whenever England first come up against a real top team at any major tournament, they crumble.
Two finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final in four tournaments is a great record for Southgate, but had the draw been a little less kind each time, those exits could all have come at the Round of 16 or sooner.
It seems the English mentality sorts every team into three categories; Brazil, France, Argentina, Spain and a handful of others depending on recent performances are in category one; England are in category two alone; and every other national team is in category three.
The 199-odd teams in category three are all “easy” and should be comfortably beaten, anything else is a shambles. But play a category one team? Ooh, they’re tough, you know! They’ve got some good players!
The arrogance England have works to their benefit on a regular basis - games against Iceland aside - which is why qualifying is always such a breeze.
But to finally win a major tournament after what will be 60 years when the next World Cup comes around, they have to find a way of believing they belong at the top table, and that means beating the best.
Anthony Tomas is a football writer and commentator, who writes for Flashscore and World Soccer Magazine.