Someone wrote on Twitter yesterday that “Is Spain boring?” is the new “Will soccer ever make it in America?” And yes, it is, in the same way that it’s the new “Can Lampard and Gerrard play in the same midfield?” and possibly the new “Can Asians think?” It wants a word, nevertheless, if only because Spain-Germany was so divisive; and because this is the World Cup final, and a bubble of resentment against the pre-tournament favorites and anointed Best Team on Earth is one of the conditions in which history’s about to happen.
Fortunately, I’ve been understanding the “Spain is boring” contingent (let’s call them “Team Jacob”) a lot better since I realized I once made their case myself. After the first leg of the seminal 2009 Champions League semifinal between Barcelona and Chelsea, when Chelsea axed Barça down to the tune of a 0-0 draw at the Camp Nou, I started wondering whether a Barça team that had been sighed over by every fan on earth was really the historic manifestation of loveliness that everyone was saying. Here’s the meandering blockquote:
The contra case is this: That there are forms of beauty not represented on the team, and they are precisely the forms that are most capable of succeeding in the modern game. It’s not at all a stretch to view them as a team designed to annihilate Getafe but struggle against better competition. They break down weak teams like an enzyme, especially in the slow-paced Spanish league, but against strong teams they sometimes seem to play a crinkly, precious, finicky, miniature game, hoarding the ball jealously but surprisingly easy to stifle at the last moment. This isn’t quite the same criticism that’s been directed at Arsenal over the last few seasons, for instance via the charge that they want to “pass the ball into the back of the net.” For Arsenal, the problem was supposed to be that they were too committed to beauty, that they were so determined to achieve the ideal goal that they lost interest in the actual goal in front of them. For Barcelona, who don’t seem to epitomize “beauty” to themselves so much as “exhilarating success,” the problem is one of incapability, which could be described in style terms as a misplaced emphasis: they’re so committed to their patient midfield play and see it so fundamentally as the basis for their attack that when the goals don’t come they run the risk of imploding on themselves, collapsing into a sort of gentle six-yard pass between Xavi and Iniesta while the world races by around them.
Their build-up play can be absolutely wonderful to watch. The refinement of technique, the conception of complex space, the devastatingly subtle ball control utterly surpass any other team’s attainments in these areas. But then, it’s easy to be refined when you’re playing at walking pace, and La Liga is so slow that it in some ways it’s a marvel that they’re as far ahead as they are. It’s easy to be intricate if the referees always protect you, and if La Liga isn’t exactly delicate, Messi is amply rewarded for the beating that he takes. And the players clearly know that this is the case; no one seems to point this out, but in their league games Barça complain to the officials as much as any recent vintage of Chelsea.
What they lack, assuming that beauty in the modern game isn’t exclusively the province of wizened elves and saturnine exquisites, is the kind of fleet, powerful presence that Essien or Drogba usually provide (though not, oddly, against Barça) for Chelsea: the kind of player for whom the joy lies in flying rather than lockpicking, who can burn through the defense like a comet rather than undermining it with tiny jots of math. That is, for all the greatness in their lineup, there’s a dimension their game is missing, a sense of final speed and scale. Their representative player is not Yaya Touré, who’s almost capable of providing it, but Xavi, whom I love dearly, yet who seems to play the game at a constant temperature of about two degrees above zero. That’s obviously the source of his genius, but would you argue that his game represents every possibility for beauty in contemporary football?
And that’s basically the complaint about Spain—that they’re tiny jots of math, playing the game at two degrees above zero—which makes sense, since most of Barça’s first team is most of Spain’s first team and they roll out in similar tactics. (That sweet La Masia lull.) They’ve dominated games in this World Cup, attacked much more aggressively than they’ve gotten credit for doing, and blown up the stat sheet, but they’ve only scored seven in six and they’ve been precious and wasteful in the area. They’re lacking that fleet, smashing, Essien- or Drogba-like presence who could knock the back line out of shape and let the rest of the team feast on the goal.
Again, this isn’t my view—I watched Spain-Germany with my heart pounding at about 200mph, and I heard a thousand sopranos exploding when Puyol scored—but I think I can at least see where Team Jacob is coming from. I’m seeing two conclusions in the argument. First, Spain are really missing Fernando Torres. He’s never been a scoring animal for them, but at his best, he does that slicing, discombobulating stuff and makes life a lot easier for David Villa. Second, a lot of people are thinking of the Spain of this World Cup as a self-contained being that didn’t exist before June 11, or has changed fundamentally since then, where I’m seeing them as continuous with the Euro 2008 team that melted the table, won a bunch of games 4-0, and was called boring by no one in the world. (And had a healthy Torres, for what that’s worth.)
The bottom line, though, is that that post on Barcelona wasn’t about whether they were “boring,” it was about whether they were one of the greatest teams ever to lace up boots, and in the end, I think they were. And to me, the fact that we’re having the Spain debate about Aesthetic Step Zero rather than the last hoist before the mountaintop is a sign of how the World Cup messes with scale. Blackburn are “boring.” If a team that completes 80% of its passes, takes more shots than anyone else, boasts the tournament’s co-leading scorer, and runs farther with possession than any other team in the semifinals is boring, then we are doomed following this sport. Germany’s counterattacks have been very clean, I realize.
Spain aren’t a counterattacking team, at least not without Torres. They’re a slow crescendo. I don’t want to issue dry pronouncements about sophisticated palates and not everyone reading Ulysses, first because it’s a low move and second because it’s not true: Spain’s game is perfectly accessible, you just have to wait a second. It’s not a game for snobs (that would be Argentina), it’s an open treat for anyone who likes intelligence and technique, or people doing incredible things with a ball. “Slow” is misleading; at their best, if the moment arrives and you misstep, they will rip out your throat in a flurry. They haven’t been at their best in this tournament, so all we’ve gotten is lethally precise passing, probing runs, wicked pressing on defense, and a constant, relentless focus that knows the instant you’re off-balance and coldly slips the knife in at that spot. Yeah, their opponents, Chile excepted, have clogged their own area and not closed down at all. Since when was that the fault of the attacking team? If Spain were boring in the match against Germany, what did that make Germany? Exciting when they managed to get the ball into 40 yards of open space?
Xavi may play like he doesn’t have a pulse, but that’s the whole key to his excellence. He is cold like silk, and instead of blasting out the occasional moment of Ronaldo-like dazzle, he makes extraordinary play look like habit. Iniesta’s the same way, but with less flow and more syncopation. Sergio Ramos is quietly becoming the most dangerous non-Brazilian right back in the world. As Elliott said in a comment, I wish they’d set one of their holding midfielders free, but the build-up between Busquets, Alonso, and Xavi is like watching trigonometry solve itself.
Since 2008, Spain have lost twice. They’re the champions of Europe, and have a chance to be only the third team ever to hold both that title and the World Cup. Because Brazil (barely) won the Confederations Cup, you can’t quite say that they’ve been the top of the heap for all that time, but they’ve been one of the standards people have looked to. They’ve meant something for two years, and really meaning something is a pretty rare accomplishment in this game. (Of every other team in the world right now, Germany seem the most likely to get there, to me.) Some people who read my Slate piece got the impression that I don’t like Holland, or that I think they deserve to be punished. That’s not it at all; year by year, they’re one of my favorite teams in the world, and I can’t blame them for playing in a relatively unremarkable style and making the choices that win games. I hear Wesley Sneijder when the wind blows through the trees. But the World Cup is only going to validate one approach, and if my choice is between a Generic European 4-2-3-1 and one of the most original sides in the recent history of football, how is that a choice?
Well, I’m overstating the case, because I don’t really think who you cheer for, if even anyone, is a moral issue, or that it’s the most interesting question, most of the time. Almost everyone I know is rooting for Holland, and that’s fine. If they win, it will be a wonderful moment and a large part of me will be glad. But please, some respect for a team that’s earned it. David Villa is amazing. I love this branching, gliding, frictionless ballet of frost.
by Brian Phillips · July 10, 2010
” David Villa is amazing”
Yes he is, and his brilliance is primary reason Spain got past the group stage.
I appreciate the article, and I’m partially on Team Jacob’s side. I loved Spain in euro 2008, but I felt they’ve lacked the ability to make ‘real’ goal scoring opportunities this cup (whatever that means…). They’ve seemed clinical, yet without any bite other than Villa. Spain dominated the Germany game, yet relied on an amazing individual effort by Puyol that came not as a result of the crescendo of tiki-taka but simply a free kick. Much of their most threatening moments came off of counter-attacks and roars down the field, rather than a build up of play.
As beautiful as Spain can be when firing on all cylinders, they can look awfully harmless after passing thirty times and with no ‘chances’. Spain is really missing Torres. His pace and touch up front is what gives this Spanish squad a bite that it is sorely missing now.
Barcalona is one of my favorite teams to watch, and I’m hoping that Spain plays against Holland like it did against Germany. The squad hit its peak during the game (IMO, despite the lack of goals–Villa looked harmless during that game, didn’t he?). Holland also played much better against Uruguay despite the scoreline. Hitting both teams at their peak during the finals will result in a marvelous display.
I am looking forward to seeing the tactics that Holland deploys in order to counteract the Spanish high press and possession game. If Holland attacks like Chile did during the first thirty minutes, this could be quite an exciting final. If not, it might be another Germany-Spain game that lacks the attacking ‘chances’ that I enjoy watching. I would enjoy a game like the routing Spain had against Poland before the tourny started…
I pondered this subject in my own latest, less eloquent, post.
My conclusion was that it is a little akin to taste in music. If you are used to Arctic Monkeys, Vivaldi might seem boring. It all depends upon how you listen – “you just have to wait a second”.
The verse-chorus-verse of Blackburn-Stoke has it’s instant gratification, which is fine if that is all you look for from football, but there is so much more fulfillment to be found in watching Xavi conducting the orchestra.
Spain haven’t been at their best this World Cup, yet they have still dominated every opponent, even Switzerland. Their greatness is such that they have won every game in which they have scored first since a defeat to Northern Ireland in 2006. That’s more than 40 victories of crushing superiority.
Perhaps it is the consistency of performance and the inevitability of outcome that so upsets Team Jacob.
I don’t think this Spain team is boring, but they have sometimes been a bit boring at this World Cup.
Xavi is one of the great players of our time and he is the personification of this team’s way of playing, but a team of eleven Xavis would be one-dimensional — and at times Spain do seem to aspire to being a whole team of Xavis. In the first half against Germany, their style of play was so unvarying for long stretches that it seemed like their great achievement was to find a whole new way of playing boring football.
And I thought that one of the reasons that they were more enjoyable to watch in the second half is that Iniesta stopped being a second Xavi and started playing more like himself: there was a bit of contrast, a bit of light and shade.
I suspect personally that Spain are feeling the pressure and that’s why they haven’t been quite at their sparkliest: to go into the World Cup as favourites despite never having won it before is scary stuff. They are playing brilliantly but it’s just a bit self-conscious at the moment.
First of all, thanks for all the good writing and analysis. With your help I’ve been able to show people that futbol and intelligence can actually coexist.
As for Spain, saying they’re boring is like complaining about José Tomas, and not because you’re against bullfighting. (I love JT.)
Maybe the 08 version contained the attributes you are claiming they possess, but this version is all build up and no end result. Their games have been one long exercise consisting of a generally long and ineffective buildup that usually ends with a Sergio Ramos bit off ineffectiveness, be it a cross or a shot. Their actual scoring has come more from individual moments of brilliance from Villa or from set pieces.
So while we can speak to the magnificence of their possession and the beauty of their midfield control, it has done little other than to hide the ball from the opponent, and from an offensive perspective has been less effective than just turning the ball over and hoping to counter probably would have been. In my mind that wastefulness and tedium is not the apex of the game’s brilliance, and I think we in “Team Jacob” simply are underwhelmed by the performance of a side who has been heaped with such adulation.
as a staunch member of team spain-sucks-in-the-2010, you’re really insulting our intelligence on this one. face it, people think spain is boring primarily because spain has sucked in this tournament. sure they ‘dominate’ games, but they don’t set out to win 1-0 on a header from puyol outside the run of play. spain have failed to live up to expectations, and people are hating on them for it.
trust me, man. i listen to the disintegration loops and enjoy it. this is not just a matter of waiting.
still, i will put forth the notion that spain is not boring when cesc fabregas is on the field.
What a hilarious load of puffery and nonsense. I found myself wanting to believe in you but it’s a bit like listening to a Williamburger explain his senior project.
As Gio said, the Spanish team plays with the Dutch influence at Barcelona. Tomorrow’s final will be Dutch football all over the pitch. There’s no need to engage the hyper-rationalized rhetoric to poeticize your team preference.
In my opinion, Spain is boring. All build up, no Torres at the end of it. It’s not because I don’t understand it, it’s because I like exciting football.
I feel like everyone was watching a different game to me. I thought Spain had 3 clear chances (villa, puyol, villa) to germany’s one(kroos) before the goal…and a two more after.
@DH Look, at least come down to Smitty’s and drink a Pabst. Let’s talk this thing out!
Loved the line ‘That sweet La Masia lull.’
This NY Times sums things up pretty nicely too about Spain’s style.
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/the-spanish-game-of-keepaway/
The Spanish players are artists. That’s it.
The game changed quite a bit once Spain scored, all of a sudden Pedro’s on the break and forgets about Torres for some crazy reason. The Germans were worn out by chasing Spain around all day long. Then they had to push forward and it was a more open game.
@john That’s a good article. If Spain are Oscar Wilde, then who will be its GB Shaw or GK Chesterton? Russia almost did that at the Euros, with full attacking wit and panache.
I loved the line where you said Sergio Ramos is establishing himself as the best non-Brazillian right back… he has been superb going forward… I think if there is the extra degree of caution from Spain in this World Cup, the one extra defensive midfielder than what some may like, it might be because it is THE WORLD CUP, and Del Bosque would prefer to err on the side of caution…
I also feel both Holland and Spain (along with say Brazil) have been somewhat handicapped by the slow pitches in South Africa. It takes that extra second to move the ball along the carpet there, thereby allowing defenders to get closer….
Great post… Cheers !
Good post.
I do think you were a bit harsh on LaLiga. It’s definitely a worse league than the PL, the defending is often outrageously bad, the referees all suffer from one or other impulse control disorder and Spanish people are (if we’re honest) a bit crazy – the bull-run, for instance. But I haven’t experienced it as particularly slow. Often the games seem frantically open because of the poor defense, ans since everyone looks to look Madrid and Barca on the counter, it often has the ‘Germanic’ touch people so enjoyed in this World Cup.
Barca do play a slow game in La Liga, but not particularly slow. When Messi, Pedro, Bojan, Alves get added to the Spanish midfield there is a lot more zip, a lot more chances and a lot more goals. Their patience in the buildup isn’t all that different from ManU at home, where they sometime just wear teams out, with their patience usually paying of.
From your posts I see you really appreciate (or love rather!) Spain and Barcelona, but sometimes I get the idea your describing a bit of a straw man of Barcelona (the Madrid vs Barca piece, for instance). It could be that I’m taking very clever tongue in cheek comments as serious opinions, of course…
(PS – I should point out that I only watch Premier League and the local cups in England, and LaLiga with their cups, and then Champions League. It might well be that the leagues in Germany, Portugal, France etc are quite a lot faster than Spain…I’m afraid I just don’t have that broad a reference framework!)
“They’re lacking that fleet, smashing, Essien- or Drogba-like presence who could knock the back line out of shape and let the rest of the team feast on the goal.”
Rugby is an exciting sport also. No place for passing sleeping pills around either, that’s why they decided to use hands from the start … and not call it football is credit to them.
Increadible are those who spot the numbers right, though through other people’s eyes (who are probably not enjoying the game so much as they jot down numbers like trainspotters, oh, how I wish to shake their hands and hug them bearlike for zdarovya’s sake. Live long statisticians).
Increadible are those who fail to realise that the boredom are caused not by Spain, but by the fearful opponents of Spain, for lacking the belief in their own passing abilities and defensive frailties. Boredom is when two desperate sides know nothing better. Forgive them, Increadibles.
“it’s a bit like listening to a Williamburger explain his senior project.”
One for the testimonials!
Brian, this was perfect: “If Spain were boring in the match against Germany, what did that make Germany? Exciting when they managed to get the ball into 40 yards of open space?”
And Dmitri completed you very well when he said: “Increadible are those who fail to realise that the boredom are caused not by Spain, but by the fearful opponents of Spain, for lacking the belief in their own passing abilities and defensive frailties. Boredom is when two desperate sides know nothing better. Forgive them, Increadibles.”
Most teams fear Spain and so they try to defend with 11 men in thei own half. Spain’s answer to that style of play is the tiki-taka. It’s like they say “if you refuse to come out of your half and play football, we will keep the ball until we find a way to break your defence”. If a Spain vs Spain match was possible, that would be the most exciting thing because both teams would try to play football and not park the bus in front of their penalty area. If Holland will play open attacking football, then we will have a very entertaining final. If not, we will have another Germany – Spain ending 0-1 or maybe 1-2. It’s as simple as that.
@Brian Phillips Of course we can meet and hug it out.
Truth be told, as a fan of an Evil Empire team, I’m just so bored of being inculcated with the cult of Barcelona. Only last week I read an article by some Guardian writer that droned on about football being a socialist sport. The article included the line “sure he [some player] drove a Mercedes, but he wanted everyone to be able to drive a Mercedes.”
Of course, football is always political, but it’s easy to get lost in the narrative. At any moment I expect the entire Camp Nou to stand up and in Catalan just start chanting “One of Us, One of Us.” They aren’t a socialist team no matter how many votes they hold and they’re no more a ‘people’s team’ than was Man United when it was operated as a PLC. They play pretty football sometimes, but (even though I hate them, for various reasons) Arsenal and Ajax do it better and with less focus on buying up stars. I don’t hate Barcelona but they certainly are not poetic and, frankly, I think that they will struggle against a Mourinho-driven juggernaut.
But no worries, Brian. I will love you through your Spanish-swoon induced version of ‘Alejandro.’ They are likely to win today. I just hope it’s not a game where both teams sit back and wait for a winner to show up.
Y’know, after this year’s Champions League quarterfinal, I’m not sure even staunch Arsenal fans (of whom I am one) would say that Arsenal does pretty passing football better than Barca.
@Mark
Ha ha, so true Mark. Still, Arsenal is a team that was in the semifinals of the CL in 2009 but comparing Barca to the current Ajax is like comparing a rotweiller with a chihuahua, the two teams hang around in different circles at the moment.
It almost seems like as this conversation gets further and further distilled, it’s becoming more “Is perfection boring?” than anything else.
Excuse the generalization, but my impression is that “exciting football” is increasingly equated to a stretched game (tactical imperfection) with lots of goalmouth action (defensive imperfection).
Take for example, the completed passes stat: It might be more correct to consider it a proof point of offensive perfection than “excitement”… in fact, I’d assert that a game in which there are a few more (though still a minority of) incomplete passes is more likely to end up exciting for the thrill-seeking football fan (sidebar: results aren’t thrilling enough?). After all, don’t midfield turnovers account for a disproportionate amount of offensive chances these days?
In conclusion: What we’re seeing from Spain appears to be about as close to football perfection as humans get (assuming the results keep coming through), and should be appreciated as well as enjoyed. But no more or less than yesterday’s ice-hockey-on-grass slugfest (punctuated with plenty of errors as well as moments of brilliance). So let’s all relax and enjoy watching the pursuit of perfection.
@Mark Fine, I’ll relent, Mark, and agree. Arsenal are shit.
“[…]but the build-up between Busquets, Alonso, and Xavi is like watching trigonometry solve itself.”
mad props. watching espain weave it’s way around holland/anybody’s defense IS like a proof of the pythagorean theorem. i’d have thrown iniesta’s name in there over alonso’s but, pretty swell likening.
Brian,
For the past month, I’ve been scouring endless media outlets in an attempt to find “my” perspective of this Spanish team defended. You’ve done it. Thanks.