Landing the top spot in the Group B of FIFA World Cup 2018, Spain seemed to be one of the favourites to fall in the semi-final set of the tournament, something which is now just a fantasy for many. Four years back, Spains terrible performance against the Netherlands in the opening fixture of Brazil 2014 saw many expect their early exit from the group stage. But fast forward to Russia 2018 when we have a much more resilient team playing again with its ever-dominating tiki-taka and pulling it off in the opening match against Portugal, the result remained almost the same against even a weak Russian side. So what pushed La Roja down in the knockouts against the host team? Or broadly speaking, how did Spain fail under Fernando Hierro, who has played every card smartly despite being hired in emergency after the sacking of Spains former coach Julen Lopetegui?
The new man in charge carried on the same 4-3-3 setup used by Lopetegui, with Diego Costa leading as the real nine contrary to Spains traditional reliance on false nine. From tiki-taka in deep regions to free flank runs down the right wing, Hierro was stuck with the already established Spanish style of play, which was decent enough indeed. But despite their revival after Brazil 2014 exit, Spain still lacked something that due to which their long stay in Russia 2018 couldnt be foreseen. These missing elements were from both defensive as well as offensive points of view.
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