On the 13th of June, the day before the World Cup started, Spain’s footballing public woke up to troubling headlines: Real Madrid had announced the day before that Julen Lopetegui, the manager of the Spain national team, would be the club’s new coach, following the departure of Zinedine Zidane a couple of weeks earlier. Following the announcement, Rubiales met with senior Spain team players, including Ramos, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique and David Silva, per El Mundo. They urged him to retain Lopetegui for the tournament, but Rubiales felt he had to sack him.

“I understand the anger of Rubiales and his decision,” Bruna said. “But if players who are the ones at the end of the day who play on the pitch and take you to the top — or not — tell you to keep Lopetegui, maybe you should listen to them.”

Rubiales saw this in ethical terms, the idea that you don’t go after getting another job when you already have one. During the press conference, in which Rubiales announced his decision to fire Lopetegui, Rubiales explained that he felt Real Madrid’s behaviour had been unacceptable. He only found out from Real Madrid about the club’s appointment of Lopetegui five minutes before it went public. Not only that, but when Rubiales was trying to contact Lopetegui, he was breaking the news to the players. All of a sudden, Rubiales felt left out, and in fear of being embarrassed and undermined by Lopetegui and others, he sacked him.

“Rubiales should have said, ‘We will continue and wish Lopetegui the best. That’s it. And after the World Cup, he goes to Real Madrid.’ But Rubiales put his pride before the wellbeing of the team. He’s a very proud man, and sometimes that is good in a person, but not this time. He has shown, as we say in Spain, a lack of the left hand, a lack of tact. He has no political or diplomatic skills, and in this kind of situation, that is very noticeable.”- Bleacher Report

“Two days before the debut of the team in the World Cup, the last thing you should do is to break the peace of the team and [their] focus,” Bruna said. “It’s even worse because in theory, Spain [are] one of the favourites. Now I am not sure if [they are] still a favourite.” Spain do have fantastic players, but it came to the point that Ramos and Rubiales had to be separated to stop tempers flaring. Rubiales acted in the best interests of himself and his pride instead of the best interests of the national team, the players, and Spain’s World Cup chances.

“You can see the confidence that the coach is giving me and I am very happy. Everything is moving in a positive direction and that is being seen on the pitch. I hope we can keep up this high level.”- David Silva on Julien Lopetegui

Given that the Spanish side is built around Barcelona’s model, possession is always a big aim. But what Spain never managed to understand or replicate is that what made the Blaugrana system so good wasn’t just possession but pace and dribbling in attack. However, under Lopetegui they had that pace and dribbling in attack. Alvaro Morata’s goal vs Italy at the Santiago Bernabeu was the perfect epitome of possession with progression and intensity. Spain quickly countered against a very exposed Italian team, with Alvaro Morata completing the move. Although the midfield lacks that supernatural air, thankfully with the likes of Marco Asensio, Lucas Vázquez and Costa, as well as Koke and Thiago’s confidence in playing a more direct style of football — they have players capable of providing it.

“Lopetegui rewards the players without looking at their team they play for. He proved it with me and it didn’t matter to the mister.”- Iago Aspas

What Julen Lopetegui did as Spanish manager was to rebuild a possession-heavy style yet with a focus on flexibility, placing heavy emphasis on making the team tough to beat and also more direct. One thing that stood out since he has named his World Cup squad and after the Switzerland game on Sunday night is that he values diversity over dogma. He’s looking to make his Spain side as multi-dimensional as possible, finding different methods to reach the same outcome.

The rock n’roll Saúl Niguez complimented by the smooth Thiago Alcantara. The endlessly creative David Silva juxtaposed by the obsessive work-rate of Koke. The speed and splendour of Marco Asensio offset by the pensive and methodical Andres Iniesta.- (AS)

The manager

Now the Spanish managerial position was all of a sudden vacant ahead of a crucial match against Portugal, and so up stepped Fernando Hierro. Unfortunately for Fernando Hierro, he isn’t as good as a manager as he was as a player. His only previous managerial experience was at Real Oviedo, with a 39.53% win rate, yet the issue with Hierro is that he isn’t good as Julen Lopetegui in terms of getting the best out of this Spanish team.

According to media leaks, Hierro to maintain things the way they were under Lopetegui, with “playing fast” being emphasised. Even though Spain were 1–0 down early, Spain played with intensity and an urgency to win this game, as though the departure of Lopetegui had hardly had an affect on the players. Against Iran, they managed to break down Iran’s bus, through a Diego Costa goal, but more issues started to mount against Morocco. Thanks to a late Iago Aspas goal, Spain managed to finish top of the group and get a point out of a poor performance, with Fernando Hierro even admitting that “Spain rode their luck.” On paper, Spain were doing well, but something was missing, and that was intensity and urgency that they had under Lopetegui. Not only that, but Lopetegui selected his team based on merit and hardwork, whereas Hierro selected his team based on reputation and names.

Spain only had 1 goal to show for their 79% possession and 24 shots

There was significant surprise when neither Saul Niguez nor Alvaro Odriozola were given a single minute of action. The latter was a definite option for the clash against Russia, however the Spanish FAs technical director instead decided to start Nacho Fernandez before bringing on Dani Carvajal who was struggling for fitness.

“Lopetegui was our leader. Hierro did the best he could.”- Koke

Cesar Azpilicueta had a strong season in the Premier League with Chelsea and is also a capable full-back, but again he didn’t play any football in Russia this summer, neither did Nacho Monreal. Saul has excelled whenever he’s represented his country, at any age level, and following another exceptional year with Atletico Madrid it seems astonishing that he didn’t get on the pitch. Even when Pique and Ramos made errors, Hierro never had the “cojones” to drop them and put someone one like Azpilicueta instead.

What now?

The talent is undoubtedly there and they can win when it matters, but it seems that a new manager is needed for the Spain national team. Firing Julien Lopetegui right before their crucial match against Portugal was an obvious mistake, and Hierro as Spanish manager has been unconvincing. In order to address Spain’s failures at this year’s World Cup finals, everything needs to be sorted out from top to bottom. The federation need to select a manager that can bring a sense to directness to this Spanish national team, and a manager that isn’t afraid to drop the big names.

“There was a lot of hope for this generation…. Everyone was expecting at least a semi-final.”- Césc Fabregas

Obviously they can’t go and get Lopetegui again, but they certainly need a fresh pair of eyes at the touchline that will make Spain more effective and ruthless. The players need to know that they simply won’t be in the team because of reputation, but rather of hard work, merit, and their efforts for the team.