Julen Lopetegui dismissal changes little for professional and experienced Spain

Andy West 22:22 13/06/2018
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  • What now for Spain?

    After the shattering developments of the last couple of days, unexpectedly losing their manager on the eve of the World Cup Finals, surely La Roja’s hopes of taking the title in Russia have disappeared?

    Surely rookie coach Fernando Hierro, who has practically no managerial experience and is totally unprepared for the task, will not be able to smooth over the wide cracks which have appeared this week and serenely lead his team through the toughest tournament in international sport?

    Surely we can write off Spain’s chances?

    Not so fast. The good news is that if any team is built to survive this week’s revulsion, it is this Spanish side.

    As he acknowledged during his frantically arranged unveiling on Wednesday evening, Hierro is taking over a team which is fully functioning, and he is completely correct to state that he will not attempt to change the work of two years in the space of two days.

    The leader has gone, but the players remain. And the players, without doubt, are still among the most talented groups of all the World Cup squads. Nothing about Lopetegui’s departure will change that.

    Lopetegui

    In fact, it wasn’t really even Lopetegui’s team. Sure, he had freshened things up in a few positions since the disappointments of Euro 2016 and the 2014 World Cup under predecessor Vicente del Bosque, but all the now-departed coach really did was steady the Spanish ship onto the path it had been following for several years.

    Spain’s style of play, famous around the world, is very much based on the short-passing, high-pressing, possession-based style they have consistently employed throughout the last decade.

    Many of the players, of course, have been active passengers on the journey for much of that period. With Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique at the back, and Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and David Silva in midfield, there is quality and experience oozing throughout the squad.

    Even the ‘newcomers’ into the set-up – players like David De Gea, Isco and Koke – are all proven at the highest level, and the professionalism, discipline and focus of these players should be enough to let them forget the managerial sparks that have been flying above their heads this week.

    The team more or less picks itself, with only the striker position up undecided as Diego Costa vies for a starting slot against other options Iago Aspas and Rodrigo, but that would have been a question for Lopetegui to solve just as much as it is now Hierro’s. Same problem, different solver.

    Other than that, though, Hierro doesn’t really have any decisions to make. We know how Spain will play, we know who will be in their team, and none of that will be affected by Lopetegui’s departure.

    Sooner or later, of course, Hierro will have to act. He will have to make substitutions, replace injured players and tweak the strategy. And although that will be his biggest test, there’s no reason to assume that he won’t be able to rise to the challenge.

    Although he is a relative coaching novice, Hierro’s deep experience in the game as a top-class player (more than 600 appearances for Real Madrid and 89 international caps for Spain), an assistant coach (won the 2016 Champions League with Real Madrid) and more recently as an administrator (the Spanish federation’s sporting director) mean that he has seen everything there is to see in football.

    Hierro will also be able to command the respect of his new players, who recognise him as ‘one of their own’ – a former player who knows exactly what they are going through and has their best interests at heart.

    There will also be no problem with motivating the players, who know they are competing for the biggest prize in football – many of them for the last time. Indeed, this week’s upheaval might even prove helpful in bringing the playing group even closer, fostering the ‘us against the world’ mentality which can be so powerful.

    So Spain have the players, they have the motivation and they have the tactical structure. They don’t have a proper manager, but perhaps the next few weeks will show that they don’t really need one.

    A lot depends, of course, on Friday’s opener against Portugal. If Cristiano Ronaldo and co can sow the seeds of doubt and spark internal dissent, the whole thing could unravel very quickly.

    But let’s hypothesise that Spain’s players galvanise themselves to overcome Portugal: the rest of the group stage – Iran and Morocco – shouldn’t present too many problems, and Spain would then be through to the last 16, top of the group, and Lopetegui would already be a distant memory.

    Football is fickle, change happens all the time and players have to adapt quickly. A strong start against Portugal is just the medicine La Roja need, and if they get it they will swiftly move on, putting their former coach far out of their minds.

    Spain might be battered and bruised, but they are not yet broken.

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