Spain v. Mexico: Breaking down La Roja's performance and coaching approach

Spain was trying to implement the aspects that Coach David Gordo had addressed in the pre-match meeting from the beginning. In the first half, Spain lined up in their customary 4-3-3 formation and sought to make the pitch as big as possible when attacking and to reduce the space when defending.

• Mexico’s high press and 4‑4‑2 diamond created problems for Spain when trying to build possession. Unable to beat the press, Spain regularly turned the ball over to their opponents, who attacked dangerously through their two powerful forwards.

• Spain’s defensive line came under significant threat in the early stages of the game, and they continually had to deal with long balls over the top and balls in behind.

• As the half wore on, Spain grew into the game by putting into practice their renowned possession-based model. They eventually broke through the Mexican press, moving the ball quickly and creating 1v1 situations out wide. 

• Spain opened the scoring from a short-corner routine and then clinched a second goal from the penalty spot. Their third goal was a picture-perfect example of their philosophy being executed to a tee: showing confidence on the ball, playing through the lines, creating an overload out wide and then pulling the ball back for an oncoming runner to finish.

Coach Gordo took advantage of half-time to make a few adjustments and reiterate a number of key points from the pre-match team talk.

• Having seen his side struggle to deal with the balls played in behind, he reminded his defenders to stay alert, show greater anticipation and compete physically. He also noted that his side were finding it difficult when Mexico played out from the back, with three players as opposed to four. He asked his wingers to drop a little deeper to occupy Mexico’s full-backs and stressed that they should keep an advantageous position to defend.

• Gordo bemoaned the team’s lack of creativity and composure in possession. He asked his team to move more and offer more passing options for the player on the ball. He also stressed that the team had the quality to deal with Mexico’s press, but that they needed to remain calm. To deal with the press, he asked his centre-backs to pull out towards the touchlines to open passing lanes and asked the goalkeeper to play wide to them or, alternatively, into the number 8 or number 10 in midfield. 

In the second half, Spain was trying to implement the key aspects brought up at halftime, focusing on maintaining possession, increasing the tempo of their passes, and exploiting the flanks to stretch Mexico's defense.

• Spain dominated possession, with their wingers taking up threatening positions.They increased the tempo, finding success through wingers and passing combinations.

• Defensively, Gordo reinforced the team’s philosophy to counter-press after losing possession, which made it difficult for the opposition to build up from the back. 

• Spain scored a fourth goal but missed several other opportunities.

After the game, Gordo was pleased with his side’s performance. Despite the team having made mistakes, he felt assured that his players had learnt and benefited from such an intense contest. Spain had found particular difficulty in dealing with Mexico’s press from their two centre-forwards. It posed new problems for their defenders and forced them to find alternative solutions, like playing wide to the full-backs or into the midfielders who would have to drop deep to receive the ball. Gordo was pleased to have seen his players find solutions during the game, like using their goalkeeper to create a 3v2 and outnumber the Mexican press. Imprecise passing had led to errors and drawn pressure, but Gordo felt that his players would benefit from problem-solving in those scenarios.