On paper Oyarzabal,Baena & Olmo - hardly world beaters ,but the Team always sum of it’s parts greater than the individuals. If it was Nagelsmann he would have shoe horned Pedri & Ferran Torres & Nico Williams into the staring 11 hampering Team Balance in the process .
There's a saying I've often repeated in this forum: A bad coach can turn great players into a mediocre team, a great coach can make mediocre players a great team. Not to say Deschamps is a bad coach, but good coaching can have a tremendous influence.
Hopefully the final won't be Spain vs Argentina but I also don't think that England can beat this Spain. Just a nightmare to play against them once you fall behind. I thought Spain looked sterile in the sense of boring and extremely risk-averse in the earlier stages. But you have to respect suffocating a top team like France like this while displaying near perfect ball control and showing what it looks like when you get a team to function like this.
It really reminded me of PSG second leg against Bayern....They completely took our game away from us.
The 2008-2012 tiki taka wasnt bad.....its that everyone else that copied and made football horrific to watch because they simply didnt have the class of Xavi Iniesta Alonso Fabregas Silva Villa..but thought passing the ball around for 90 mins was the way to win.
IMO Spain have already won the World Cup, meaning the tournament has been sadly tainted for the second time in 16 years. Cabo Verde are the only ones who can hold their heads high. Shame on those who failed to stop Spain. A total disgrace this World Cup, just like 2010.
Positive to see that teams can reach semifinals and finals without all world class i individuals. Spain with a clear identity and matchplan which every player seems to master. Argentina with pure mentality, a little bit of luck and Messi. Hope Klopp can bring those two factors into Germany. Mentality and a clear identity.
How soon we forget. Remember one of the German mottos from 2014? "Brazil has Newmar, Argentina has Messi, Portugal has Renaldo, Germany has a TEAM!" Good team work and discipline will beat a group of dysfunctional superstars. See the whinging of English fans about their EPL stars not performing when they get knocked out early in tournaments as evidence.
What Spain has had in their past few games are players from all positions who are able to step up and clinical with scoring. Ruiz, Merino off the bench, Porro, they may not be primary offensive players but they were definitely able to finish when given the chance.
To develop a team you need a clear strategy and game plan. The latter years under Löw and then Flick were a confusing mess, constantly trying out different formations and line ups. Nagelsmann did better in terms of how we set up going into Euro 24 but went back to constant tinkering in the two years since. Very little continuity and no real solid base, the automatons were lacking in a lot of our play.
Italy wants Guardiola!!!! https://www.kicker.de/mehr-als-ein-traum-italien-spricht-mit-guardiola-1236477/artikel
Knowing full well Spain will stain the World Cup for a second time, I must say this England-Argentina match feels pointless.