Alarm bells ringing for Spain after shock defeat against Japan

PETE JENSON: Fans know Spain got the wake-up call they needed before the World Cup knockouts… Japan exposed their ADDICTION to taking risks in defence which relentless Morocco will punish

• Spain made it through to the last-16 of the World Cup on Thursday night
• However, they were given a scare as they lost to Japan in their final group game
• After starting the tournament so well, Luis Enrique’s side have struggled since
• Spain fans hope this is the wake-up call their team needed before the last-16
• Yet Spain’s addiction to playing risky football could cost them against Morocco 
• Click here for the latest World Cup 2022 news, fixtures, live action and results

Spain’s shock defeat to Japan flicked a switch on Thursday night turning the light out on all the optimism that Luis Enrique’s side can go all the way in Qatar.

They were flying after thrashing Costa Rica and holding Germany but now old concerns over playing out from the back, being exposed by pace on the counter, and passing around teams but never penetrating their massed defences have come back to haunt Spain.

They are addicted to risk at the back and can be one dimensional in attack and while it didn’t cost them against Costa Rica some believe it could hurt them now as things get serious in the knockout rounds.

Luis Enrique has plenty to ponder after watching Spain lose against Japan in Group E

The team struggled to break Japan down in the second half as they slipped to a surprise defeat

Alvaro Morata opened the scoring, but the team looked one dimensional after the break

Don’t count Luis Enrique among the doubters though – On Instagram on Friday morning he published: ‘Close shave or death? Well it was just a close shave. We are in the last-16!!!! Come on!!!’

That last-16 game will be against Morocco followed by a potential quarter-final against Portugal and before the Japan match most Spanish supporters saw that as a much easier route than having to face Croatia and then Brazil. But they didn’t want it to happen like this.

The collapse after going behind to Japan and the inability to break down the opposition is ringing alarm bells to the point where a physical Morocco side now doesn’t seem like such an easy route to the last eight. Morocco have shown so far in this World Cup that they have the capacity to hit teams on the break and the fear now is that Spain’s high defensive line can be punished much like the commitment to playing out.

‘Soft hands’ ran one Marca headline about the Spain keeper’s failure to keep out the first goal. But many are more concerned by Unai Simon’s high-risk playing out than his shot-stopping.

Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon was at fault for the first goal, and his insistence on playing out from the back has left some fans concerned

The Spain keeper made a mistake in the Euro’s last year when a Pedri back pass rolled over his foot against Croatia but as he told MailSport in an interview before the tournament he is not about to change his ways.

‘When it’s a technical error and not a conceptual one, you don’t think anything more than: I’ve messed up, on to the next pass,’ he said. ‘You can’t stop playing the right pass just because you’ve played a poor quality ball – we all make mistakes.

‘When I see my games replayed afterwards I think: Bloody hell what a crazy thing I did there. Or how difficult was that pass that I played. But in the end that’s the way the manager wants to play and so that’s the way we do it.’

So they are not going to change and Japan’s high-intensity press is the path to follow for future rivals.

Former Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho slammed the dramatic national mood swing telling Spanish radio: ‘As always, after a victory we are going to win the World Cup and after a defeat we are the worst team in the world. The important thing was to get out the group and we did that.’

Spain are relying on Cesar Azpilicueta to help the young players with his experience 

He also refused to take the bait on whether players like Sergio Ramos should have been called up to add invaluable experience in situations like the one Spain faced in the second half. ‘Sergio Busquets and Cesar Azpilicueta have experience,’ was his reply.

But he did concede that the spirit will be affected. ‘Of course morale takes a hit but we have an extra day to get over it.’

That is the other advantage of having finished second. Had Spain won their group not only would they have had to play Croatia but they would have had to play Monday instead of Tuesday. The extra day will be a blessing especially for a midfield trio that looked to be running on empty against Japan in the second half.

Luis Enrique had been expected to change his midfield with Gavi, who had missed several sessions with a knock, and 34-year-old Sergio Busquets were both candidates to be rested by the manager surprised everyone by picking the Barcelona midfielder for the third game straight.

Morocco won Group F in impressive fashion, and could cause Spain problems in the last-16

A lack of freshness from the bench is now a concern much like the lack of a plan B in attack. When Barcelona couldn’t get past Japan’s intense low-block in the last quarter of an hour there was not big centre-forward to turn to.

Luis Enrique left Borja Iglesias at home in Spain and packed his squad with seven smaller mobile forwards. Ansu Fati – who still looks some way short of full match fitness – came on but despite offering plenty of movement there was no way through to goal in a packed Japan area.

‘A slap in the face in the nick of time’ is how another pundit summed up the 2-1 defeat. As nerves recover from the shock of being third in the group for all of three minutes that will be the overriding emotion that takes over. This was a warning – play this way again and Spain will be saying adios to Qatar.

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