All Whites v Spain at Confeds Cup

360 Football's Nigel Sampson picks apart New Zealand's naive tactics against Spain.

Sunday showed us Spain in all of their glory.  Currently undisputed as the world�s best, they tore New Zealand apart at will.
 
But for all of the outstanding virtues on display; the smart positional interchanges, the lightning quick pass and move game and prolonged ball possession, one peculiar feature of the match stood out for me; New Zealand played with two strikers.

Presumably New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert selected a side based on his team�s strengths.  After all, Christopher Killen and Shane Smeltz appear to be two of his more capable players.  However, pushing them both up the park to mix it with the Spanish back four only served to create extra space for the Spanish to easily exploit in the New Zealand defensive third.

The 4-4-2 formation deployed by New Zealand required that the two front men �hold� all four of the Spanish defenders.  This was never likely to be an easy task considering the pace and mobility that all four possess.  A common approach to this problem is, when without possession, to station each of the two forwards on a full back and allow the centre backs to play out.  This is all well and good when one of those centre backs is Gary Pallister, but Carles Puyol and Raul Albiol are both capable ball players and would easily counter such a measure.

As it went, the New Zealand forwards were neither here nor there and, seemingly lacking a clear defensive game plan, the New Zealand front line was frequently pierced by whoever felt like moving forward whenever they felt like doing so.  Most often this movement came from the full backs, Sergio Ramos and Joan Capdevilla, who permanently occupied attacking wide space; Capdevilla was regularly seen in the area between the 18 and six yard boxes; one such foray setting Fernando Torres up for a simple tap in. 

Because of the two up policy, the New Zealand defenders and midfielders were asked to defend man on man against the world�s hottest side.  Spain�s movement and ball speed completed the disintegration of New Zealand�s defensive plan.

4-5-1 is, as much as anything, an acknowledgement of your inferiority to your opposition.  We have witnessed a string of decidedly average Premiership teams deploy it with the effect of allowing poor sides, assembled on a shoe string budget, to avoid relegation and often sneak a European spot.  When a premiership coach sits down at the start of the season, he looks at his resources, his opposition and picks a formation to suit.  It didn�t take big Sam Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers long to figure out that his best chance of success was to baton down the hatches, flood the midfield and hit the opposition in a direct manner on the counter attack.  Following from Allardyce�s departure, Sammy Lee�s disastrous attempts to open things up and introduce 4-4-2 exposed average players as just that.  Lee lasted barely half a season in charge.

You can call it bold or you could call it na�ve.  Either way, I�m sure that this outstanding Spanish side could hardly believe their luck at the space they were afforded in front of the New Zealand back four.  Spain�s 4-1-3-2 formation allowed midfielders to move into this crucially-creative space at will.  Front men Torres and David Villa were also keen to drop back and leave gaps for midfielders to run beyond them.  It was classic Spainish football. 

With two comparatively easy games to come, against Iraq and South Africa, New Zealand�s goal in this game was to limit the damage and pick up points in their remaining two games.  4-4-2 did nothing to achieve this.  4-5-1, with Smeltz playing wide and an extra defensive midfielder would have given New Zealand a better chance.  The spare man could close the space in front of the back four and free up New Zealand�s most capable ball-player, Simon Elliott, to retain possession; the wide players would have the mandate to follow the Spanish full backs, thus ensuring that their own full backs were not over-run.  The one striker would then be left with the more manageable defensive task of holding the two centre backs and providing an outlet for the long ball.

As it went, New Zealand was mauled by a classy Spanish side that looked well and truly capable of hitting double figures.  Iraq and South Africa can be regarded as also being international lightweights, so would be well advised to close down space in these key areas and deny this classy Spanish side the space to flourish.