We have to go back to the moment when Rodri decided to stop the game against Georgia. Suddenly, and after an own goal, Spain was once again faced with one of its most disturbing conundrums: a very tight five-man defence and a disadvantage on the scoreboard. Variations of this scenario have caused deep frustrations to a team that for almost two decades has built its identity through passing. And there they were again, facing another impenetrable rock, despite the different approach to which Luis de la Fuente had guided them. In contrast to the classic approach, which could be called erosion, of meticulous wear and tear with the back and forth movement of the ball, the coach advocates a kind of demolition by accumulation of impacts. Spain shoots 20.5 times per game, more than ever in a Euro Cup, almost double the 11.8 in the Qatar World Cup, according to StatsBomb. There is no team in the tournament that tries it so often.
Le Normand’s own goal made them lose the plot, as Rodri explained. That’s why he called for a break. And after stopping, they continued with what they were doing. Until they completed a match that left a record that can be taken as consecration of the new path: they shot 35 times (13 on target), their highest number of shots in a major tournament since 1980, also the fourth highest of any team in a knockout tie for 44 years, according to Opta.
It was deliberate: “The more you shoot, the more likely you are to score goals,” said the coach. Something that seems obvious, but it is quite complex. In the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar, against Morocco, and with extra time, Spain shot 13 times (one on target), almost a third of the attempts they accumulated against Georgia. In Sunday’s game, after ordering a save, Rodri cut back and scored from the edge of the box. He opened the way they had calculated they could do it: “Given the way they defend, so tight, with the two forwards not dropping back, we knew that the edge of the area was going to be an open space for the midfielders,” explained the City player. “It is easier to score goals with the striker, finishing, but when there is so much congestion of players it is not easy. A play has to occur in which you have a clear shot.”
The choreography of the wingers’ movements, Morata’s, Fabián’s and Pedri’s between the lines, was intended, among other things, to open the way for those options in the tangle. And without waiting for time to run out. From the start of the match. De la Fuente has been insisting to his players since the beginning of the tournament that they should shoot more, something that Rodri, his voice on the pitch, has internalised: “These are situations that we have to apply more against this type of team,” he explained in reference to the Georgian strike. “We have players who shoot well from the edge of the box. Fabi has scored a couple of goals like that. Pedri has to be more encouraged. I shoot too…”
Against Georgia, he and Fabian (with a header) scored, the two central midfielders, or the central midfielder and a midfielder depending on the phase: a symptom of the evolution of the style. That position had limited his reach until now, focused on distribution and balance. But De la Fuente has insisted on bringing them closer to shooting positions, and on pushing them to dare to try.
The midfielders have made a huge leap since the World Cup in Qatar. Sergio Busquets only took two shots in four games. Gavi shot once: his goal in the 7-0 win over Costa Rica. And Pedri returned home without a single attempt. However, the Barcelona player has an average of 2.5 shots per game at the Euros, three times as many as he tried with Xavi Hernandez during the season.
Fabian’s transformation under De la Fuente is also very notable. He is the midfielder who has attempted the most shots in the Euros: the 3.6 shots per game that StatsBomb has counted for him are almost triple the 1.3 he attempted this season at Paris Saint-Germain under Luis Enrique.
De la Fuente was very satisfied: “This is a team that finishes many plays, that creates many dangerous chances, that comes down the wing and crosses. That gives you more options,” he said after the match. “Football is about insisting, insisting, insisting. And above all, from conviction. And we are convinced that this is the way forward.”
At half-time, with the score at 1-1, Spain had 17 of the record 35 chances, although they were not very dangerous: they amounted to 0.80 expected goals (xG), according to the StatsBomb model. In the second half, up to 4-1, the other 18 were worth 1.9 xG. “Everything we saw in the second half was the result of wearing down our opponents during the first. If not, we would not have been able to achieve such an overwhelming second half,” explained De la Fuente. The accumulation of goals had worked.
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