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22/11/2007 02:37
Euro Qualifying Review: Spain - Aragonés Scores Against The Press
Luis Aragonés is not a man for hiding his feelings, but after Spain not only qualified for the European Championhips but finished top to boot, he opted against a smug outburst.
zoom - galleria Throughout la Selección's campaign the veteran coach has been hounded by the press with many calling for his head in the first few months before deriding him for poor performance later on.
His decision to drop Raúl caused the biggest stir with the media scrambling to dig up dirt on the trainer and how the Spanish camp was in chaos as they stumbled from one unconvincing display to another.
At the weekend, however, it all came together as the incredible talent in the squad finally showed what they can do when they gel with a masterful display against Sweden.
The about-turn from the press may not have been a surprise, but Aragonés must have surpressing a chuckle when he fielded questions on his thoughts about whether Spain were favourites to win the tournament next summer.
Problems were evident at the end of the last World Cup Finals and they came to head after the Spanish had been beaten by Northern Ireland and Sweden last year.
At the time, the coach stayed quiet about the real reasons behind the upset and instead offered to step down, a move that was swiftly rejected by the Football Federation (RFEF).
It has now transpired that he had spent most of the World Cup and the early stages of the Euro 2008 qualifiers in a battle for control with a group of veteran players.
Power Play
One of those was, allegedly, Raúl and in a bid to finally decide who was the top dog in the national set-up, Aragonés tested his bosses by stating that he would resign.
When that move was turned down, the coach knew that he had the backing to return to work while the troublemakers were weeded out and not chosen again.
It was a bold move, but as results failed to go his way Aragonés came under intense pressure to bring back the veteran players or change his system.
Looking at the record books now that the group stage has finished actually makes for impressive reading on paper as the Spanish did not lose another game as they surged on.
The problem is that on a game-by-game basis there were some terrible performances that saw the team score and pick up wins with virtually their only attack of the match in question.
With the quality available to the coach both in midfield and up front the inability to break down and hammer teams that set up multi-layered defences was a problem.
The Spain defence were doing their job, so with the strikers misfiring, or not receiving adequate supply, many games became frustrating and boring with only brief highlights as la Selección did just enough.
While Aragonés maybe be smirking now, there were signs that he has not completely solved the problem in the win over Northern Ireland on Wednesday.
The Main Goal
Against Sweden all the neat passing led to three goals, although the overall shots on target total was still not as impressive as it should have been given the amount of possession the home team had in the Bernabéu.
Northern Ireland on Wednesday exposed Spain's ability to be able to pass and pass without the penetration at the end of it to make it all count.
The one goal by Xavi, via the head of Stephen Craigan, was a poor return when the fact that Spain had over 70 per cent of the ball during the 90 minutes in Las Palmas.
It is quite a sizeable problem for the coach given the wealth of attacking options available to him, but one that he will have to find the answer to in the next seven months.
Two years ago, the Spanish made relatively easy work of reaching the first knockout stage of the World Cup, but were then sent home after coming up against their first serious rivals for the trophy.
During the 12 qualification matches, Aragonés used no less than nine different strikers and even threw in a tenth, Javier Arizmendi, for the friendly against England in February.
With only four or five likely to be in his squad for the finals in Austria and Switzerland choosing his favourites and then making them perform could be the difference between success or another failure.
But for now, the trainer can bask in the glory of having proved to the media that they were too quick to judge and read with great joy the mass eating of words that will now follow.
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