World Cup: France 0-2 Spain

I remember, a few years ago now, talking on Twitter about the relative strengths of England and Germany’s players in the 2010 World Cup. I was laughing at the British commentators insisting only two or three of that Germany side were good enough to start for England. This was a Germany team that we can now see was full of quality. Here was the apparently poor Germany lineup:

Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Jérôme Boateng; Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira; Thomas Müller, Mesut Özil, Lukas Podolski; Miroslav Klose.

And then the England team:

David James; Glen Johnson, Matthew Upson, John Terry, Ashley Cole; James Milner, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard; Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe.

It’s all very funny. But I remember I got a really insightful reply from Connor Rowden, current technical scout at AC Milan and one of the smartest football thinkers I’ve known online. His argument was that both sides have plenty of quality, but Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose being massive overachievers at international level took Germany over the top. England’s long-term failure has been in not finding our (Rowden is English) version of those players, with him suggesting Jermain Defoe or Theo Walcott as hypothetical equivalents to Klose and Podolski at club level.

I think about this every time I watch the current Spain side.

Let’s break down the team a bit. Pedro Porro has looked better than 17th-placed Tottenham at times, but not by such a degree that he’s “clearly world class”. Centre back Pau Cubarsí is a talented 19-year-old, while partner Aymeric Laporte’s best years were supposed to be behind him when Pep Guardiola got rid. Marc Cucurella has been defensively shaky at times at Chelsea. Rodri has never quite looked the all-conquering defensive midfielder at Manchester City since coming back from injury. Fabián Ruiz has been in and out of an admittedly brilliant Paris Saint-Germain side. Dani Olmo has been solid for Barcelona, but Andrés Iniesta he is not. Álex Baena has been vaguely useful for Atlético Madrid. Lamine Yamal is a genuine superstar, but his fitness was a real concern coming into the tournament. Mikel Oyarzabal has never been thought of among Europe’s best forwards.

And yet here, when they play together, it all just works.

Spain’s overall game plan was not exactly a shock. They didn’t throw out what they’ve been doing pretty continually for the last 18 years or so. But I was slightly surprised by just how easily it worked here. They were always going to look to dominate in central areas, and France apparently just didn’t plan for that.