Adama

The problem Spain have is teams sit deep and defend the spaces on mass due to their ability to retain possession.

I'd rather watch Spain than the England side from 2000 - 2016 who tended to play in straight lines and could never keep hold of the ball. Or score many goals for that matter.

The Spanish are lacking a cutting edge though and need to sort that out.
 
Well none of that side are playing 9 years later, that’s a big reason nobody is saying it now.

Spain between 2008-2012 were a great team with great players. The Spain team in the last 4-5 years are not a patch on that side.

the team from 9 years ago had a very effective style but could also put the ball in the net. This side and the one in 2018 can keep possession well but lacking real firepower.
I didn’t mean no one was saying it about the current Spain side, I meant no one is saying about the 2008-2012 side, or at least I haven’t heard them say it for years.
 
It can mean that. It can also mean,
"excessively embellished in style or language."

Which meaning do you think he intended?

I'd think Spain were excessively embellished in terms of style. A little less embellishment, a little more goal threat maybe?
I don't think Sweden were any more over-embellished than they were full of fluid.

I was being a bit facetious in some of my comments last night: I don't really think Sweden were a better attacking force.
That said, I do think Spain are guilty of prioritising possession for the sake of possession, rather than as a means to scoring goals, and that they would score more if they weren't so risk averse. Nor do I think it's particularly attractive to watch: it strangles a match.
 
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I would agree with that. Spain were guilty of too many safe passes rather than try to get forward quickly to perhaps catch the Swedish defence out of position. Remember the last years of Wenger at Arsenal when they were accused of always trying to score the perfect goal? That.
 
It's a shame they didn't use him last night. The amount of possession they had, they could afford the risk that comes with attacking players that try and do something a bit different and Traore certainly does that.

For most of the second half, although they were boxed right in, I didn't think Sweden looked panicked at all.
 
They looked similar to the last World Cup. Able to keep possession well against a lesser side but not much else. Their best chance come from a Swedish defender missing the ball.

I think against an even better defensive unit, it’s just going to be a lot of side to side passing with no real way through.

The young lad Pedri was really the only one trying to get the ball forward and get players running behind.

they still have some talented players so you can never rule them out but they don’t look like anything to fear. Pretty much none of that starting 11 would get in the Spain team from when they were winning things.

but who knows, plenty of teams have started slow and grown into tournaments
 
Sweden are always a dire watch, the only team I actively avoid watching at major tournaments. Isak is good though.

This isn’t a vintage Spain squad at all. No leaders, no firepower.

That Xavi-Iniesta-Villa-Fabregas team were revolutionary, no-one had ever played that tiki-taka at that level before. Doesn’t lend itself to freewheeling end to end football though and was always more like watching a training ground routine played at an extraordinary high level.
 
That vintage Spain squad had David Villa, when a big chance came along he’d usually take it.
This Spain squad have Morata, who is a good player but he’s not a finisher. He works better as a foil for another player, when the big chance comes along he is more likely to miss than score.
 
I'd argue the Swiss are a worse watch than the Swedes; the Swedes at least deliver a reasonable challenge to strong teams at tournaments. The Swiss rarely seems to threaten qualification.

I thought Klinsman was quite good on Spain last night, showing oportunities for forward passes that were turned down in favour of safe passes.

Fair point about quality of player too. I don't think possession football makes you win; you can win with it if you have the best players already, and it is arguably the best way of making your superiority count. However, it doesn't work if you're not already better than your opponents.
 
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