Mainly on the plane

The day after the Euro 2012 final, I wrote this.

Let's use the Spanish second goal to illustrate the gap between [England] and [Spain]. Imagine if you will a small rectangular savannah filled with mutually hostile gangs of primitive creatures, half ape half footballer. They call to each other in grunts and glottal stops, and one gang has crudely daubed three lions on their chests in charcoal.

The tallest of the these, let's call him Andy Carroll, is bashing a defender's skull in with a thighbone. We see him throw it triumphantly but aimlessly into the sky, and suddenly Xavi is launching it precisely into Jordi Alba's orbit to the tune of the Blue Danube. Alba's turbocharged shot fires it under the keeper, it docks seamlessly with the net and Spain are two up. My god, they're full of stars.


England had just lost a quarter final against Italy. Pirlo bossed the game from the start, and although it finished 0-0 Italy's victory in the penalty shootout was widely regarded as no more than a formality, endorsing the superiority they'd not managed to display through the medium of goals.

After seeing us off, they then beat the favourites Germany in the semi-final, before coming up against Spain, who demolished them 4-0. To watch Spain in that game was to watch a team light years ahead of the team that was light years ahead of us. Which is at least four light years in total, putting them about as far away as Alpha Centauri. It was perhaps the astronomical size of the gap which gave me the metaphor for the paragraphs quoted above.

And today? Today Spain look more like the Nostromo, old, slow and leaky. Which of their Dutch and Chilean tormentors best fits the role of predatory alien is a matter of debate, but personally I'd go for van Persie. No-one gets to be Ripley.

There's a nice graphic on Eurosport's Twitter feed (which Spanish players have been involved in which tournaments?). It shows which Spanish players have been involved in which of the last four major tournaments - the three they won, plus this one. Revealingly, only one player, Arbeloa, played in all the first three but wasn't selected for Brazil. Del Bosque went with his trusted players, expecting them to do the same again.

But wouldn't you? If you had Casillas, Alonso and Silva in your squad, wouldn't you play them? There's been a lot of column inches expended on del Bosque trusting too much to age and experience, but speaking as someone with plenty of age and some highly instructive experiences under his belt I think there's a lot to be said for both.

Here's an alternative theory. I think Spain's problems might be partly down to changes at the top of the Spanish domestic league, especially with the Madrid clubs.

Let's consider the case of Real Madrid. Their star players right now are Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale, who are Portuguese, French and Welsh respectively. This is a change since Euro 2008. It's less of an issue with Barcelona, whose star players are Messi, Messi and Messi. None of them are Spanish either, but the rest of the squad mainly is.

The real change, though, is that it wasn't either of them who actually won the Spanish league. It was Atletico Madrid, who went to Barcelona on the last day of the season and got the draw they needed to take the title. Only four Atletico players got into the Spanish squad (watch out for their Uruguayan players later today), but was that enough to upset the careful balance of Barcelona and Real that had taken Spain to their success?

The crucial figure here is Diego Costa, dynamic and vital for Atletico but ineffective in this tournament. He's had something of a chequered career, has Diego. Born in Brazil, he played twice for them in friendlies before transferring his allegiance to Spain, based purely on the fact that he's lived there more than five years.

He was injured during the Barcelona match, and had to be substituted. He started the Champions League final between Atletico and Real, but the injury flared up again and he had to leave after 8 minutes. Ineffectual in this tournament and constantly booed by the Brazilians in each stadium, he must be baffled by the turn of events since he strode so hopefully out onto the Nou Camp. A victory in the League, a failure in the Champions League, the undying loathing of the Brazilian nation and now a distinct froideur from the Spanish one. Although unpopularity clearly doesn't trouble him that much, as he's apparently agreed terms to move to Chelsea.

And it wasn't just him. 14 players appeared for Spain in the Chile game, and they play for 7 different clubs. In the 2012 final, 9 of the starters played for Barcelona or Real. Is this what's changed?

Now you could criticise my analysis in several ways. You could point out my previous piece (Inches), in which I pointed out that if Silva's shot had gone in the Holland game would most likely have gone in an entirely different direction. You could notice my failure to identify this problem in my pre-tournament analysis. You could cite the XKCD cartoon on sports commentary generally.

But why would I care? As far as I can see, if I talk shit and you get to point it out we're both happy. And in the buildup to an England match any comfort that can be found is a bonus.