As Iker Casillas lifted the European Championship trophy earlier tonight there were two predominant thoughts in my mind.
Firstly, that this Spain team are incredibly impressive, to the point that it does not take someone who has been around for years to tell you that they are one of the greatest international sides of all time.
The second thought was of a more uneasy nature – it all just seemed a little bit too easy – and through no fault of the Italians.
Tonight did not feel like a final. Del Bosque’s men simply destroyed Italy, they tore them apart, and they did it their way.
From the very offset Spain and del Bosque seemed intent on creating an entirely new method of playing football, a method that excluded the central striker – the role of the goalscorer, the hero.
This was not a method that was generally approved of by the footballing public – it is not something that anyone had really come across before, excluding, at times, at Goodison Park when Everton’s lack of striking options had forced their hand somewhat. With no disrespect to Everton however, what we saw at Euro 2012 was hardly the same thing.
What Spain presented at these championships was a groundbreaking football philosophy – a conscious decision to do away with the role that has housed the likes of Pelé and Müller in the past, and use Cesc Fabregas – a man criticised in his Arsenal days for his lack of goals, as a ‘false nine’.
When you really consider the magnitude of what del Bosque was trying to create it is hardly surprising that it took a little bit of time to really start to work. Spain didn’t exactly stutter their way to the final but they failed to truly impress by their own high standards. It went so far as them being branded ‘boring’ for their ‘tiki-taka’ passing style of football. They were accused of using possession as a method of defence rather than one of attack and intent.
Their demolition of Italy in the final, on the biggest stage, however, has dispelled all such thoughts. What Spain had put their opponents through in previous games was akin to footballing torture – a slow death that was not the most pleasing to the eye. What we saw tonight was the perfect battle plan being executed impeccably.
Xavi and Iniesta ran the show as they do for Barcelona, whilst the likes of Fabregas, Silva, Pedro and Mata drifted in and out of the space where the striker should have been. It was fluid football at its finest, and Spain had the game won long before Motta’s unfortunate injury forced the Italians down to 10 men in the second half.
Having already won the game their way, del Bosque decided to rub it in a little more, stick the knife in to all his side’s critics by bringing on Fernando Torres and killing off the game in a slightly more conventional manner.
The fact that Torres, the golden-boot winner, was confined to what was largely a bit-part role over the course of the tournament seemed to almost be some kind of statement from del Bosque. It was as if he was saying, “yes, we can win trophies playing your way too, we just prefer not to – because our way is better.”
The question is, what does this Spanish revolution mean for football? Will it bring about a change in philosophy at club level, and will we start seeing other sides try to replicate Spain in playing without a recognised centre-forward?
Despite the beauty of seeing this method work in full flow, of seeing it tear apart what was, let’s not forget, an extremely good national team, in a major tournament final, I really hope not.
Whilst Spain in the final were a joy to behold, they were at times quite frustrating to watch in the tournament’s earlier stages.
Their lack of a striker was very noticeable as they tried to get the system working, and if a team blessed with such talent as Xavi, Iniesta and David Silva are going to struggle, at times, to score goals with this method, then I cannot see any other sides (other than Barcelona, and they have Messi) being able to make it work.
The fact that this Spanish side have the enormity of talent at their disposal to win a major tournament without a centre-forward is a testament to their ability, a sign of their greatness and a mark of their deserving of a place in history – it is not the start of a footballing revolution.