Online Reporter
SUPER Spain are marching on to the World Cup final after a tactical masterclass completely dismantled France.
Didier Deschamps’ men were left utterly humiliated in a mismatch that proved Luis de la Fuente is a mastermind at the top of his game.
For all the pre-tournament talk of France being favourites, they were thoroughly played off the park by La Furia Roja, who will now face England or Argentina in New Jersey on Sunday.
It was a performance of pure dominance from the Spanish, who managed to neutralise the French threat while exposing their rivals’ biggest flaws from start to finish.
Wily old fox Deschamps simply had no answers.
His team sheet surprises fell flat, his midfield looked lightweight, and his defence was repeatedly spun into areas they wanted to avoid.
So, where exactly did it all go right for the Spaniards, and where did the French dream turn into a nightmare? SunSport’s tactics guru Dean Scoggins breaks down the three key battles from last night’s semi-final.
HAND OF ROD
Rodri was absolutely immense last night, putting on the best all-round individual tactical display of this World Cup so far.
The Manchester City superstar dominated the engine room, racking up 85 touches.
The secret lay in Spain‘s average position map, which revealed a diamond in midfield.
Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, and Dani Olmo were joined by Mikel Oyarzabal dropping deep to flood the French engine room.
Whenever France tried to build, Spain’s press choked them and Rodri acted as the ultimate hoover, mopping up loose balls and recycling possession. Spain’s ferocious work rate constantly created 3v2 overloads in the middle, backed by an incredibly solid back four.
The Spanish pressed with a four.
What they did then was make France try to play risky passes through them.
And then Rodri was there as the recycle machine. Deschamps’ lightweight midfield pivot of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni was a disaster. They were completely overrun, and it wasn’t until Rabiot got booked and replaced by Manu Kone at half-time — and later Rayan Cherki came on to make it a midfield three — that France found any stability.
By then, it was far too late.
SOMETHING PORRO-D, SOMETHING BLEU
Our second battle shifts to the wings, where Spain unleashed what I call their “double width” system. Before kick-off, France’s full-backs were flagged as a major weakness, and Spain targeted them relentlessly.
Tottenham’s Porro was sensational, putting in the kind of overlapping full-back performance Spurs fans have been desperate to see.
Spain’s game plan relied on forming perfect, virtually equilateral triangles in wide areas during the first half. By combining their full-backs and wingers, they constantly overloaded the flanks and dragged France’s defensive shape to pieces.
The real masterclass came in the second half for Porro’s goal. Again, Rodri recycled the ball, allowing Spain to set up their wide triangle.
Porro held the width at the base, while the underappreciated Oyarzabal made a brilliant run to drag a French defender away.—Sun
