Joaquín Maroto
Spain were the orchestra on the Titanic against Italy in Euro 2016
AS' Joaquín Maroto performs the autopsy on the corpse of the Spanish Euro 2016 challenge, pointing to Vicente Del Bosque's failure to adapt when adaptation was essential.
Vicente del Bosque will have to forgive my dissent on this occasion. Italy gave us a basting. A battering. Tactically, physically and strategically. This national team of ours has never been able to play against three at the back with two wing-backs. Holland steamrolled us in Brazil and Italy knocked us out in France. There were a fleeting few moments in the second half when Spain actually appeared, almost tragically, like the string ensembles who kept playing while they went down with the Titanic. When you lose 2-0 and your goalkeeper is the man-of-the-match, you know you've been soundly beaten. Maybe denying the evidence helps some, but not me.
Spain leave Paris just as they left Brazil; as losers. In Brazil they were out in the group stage and here in the round of 16, not even making it to the curse of the quarters. What would you say to the team? To Pique I'd say beware the things that boredom can make a man do, and to Jordi Alba that it's the media's fault for not getting up there to take the corners. Better to tell Pedro that he's more guapo with his mouth shut and Sergio Ramos that he had a bad Euros, and we hope he gets back to his best soon. And on passing, I'd also like to wish José Claramunt a happy birthday yesterday...