The Spanish team is in crisis. The two draws harvested in the first two days of the Eurocup have caused doubts to surround a team that is obliged to beat Slovakia if it wants to reach the round of 16 of the tournament. Beyond the results, the game of the Spanish team is not convincing. All this is recorded in the ‘big data’. Is it true that Spain plays badly? Can Luis Enrique be satisfied with what has been done? Where is the problem? The data does not lie.
After the dispute of all the matches of the first two days, the official statistics of the tournament allow an X-ray of the Spanish team that, although it can boast of leading certain sections, must also be covered with other figures that reveal some of the shortcomings of the team.
Many shots … and only one goal
Let’s start with attack. Spain is the fifth team that shoots the most (28). Only Denmark (45), Italy (37), Scotland (30) and Holland (29) have shot more to the rival goal than those of Luis Enrique . Of those attempts, La Roja is also fifth in marksmanship between clubs. 10 of the 28 have been well directed, although only one has been able to finish in a goal. Because we are also one of the teams that top the list of those that shoot the most outside (14). Only Italy (18) and Denmark (17) beat us in this section.
A fact related to these non-materialized occasions is that of the corners in favor. Spain is the second team in the entire European Championship to kick the most corner kicks (13). Only Switzerland is ahead (14). In the last game against Poloni, it was possible to see Luis Enrique’s men take many of them short, a sign that the coaching staff is aware of this data and that the board is very important.
Pass, pass and more pass
One fact that can be presumed is that Spain is the team that attacks the most in the Eurocup with up to 151 arrivals with danger to the rival goal registered. Spain is the one that clearly dominates this record. Denmark (122), Italy (112), Portugal (105) or Germany (101) are far behind. It is also the one that creates the most clear opportunities with an average of 3 per game. The problem with all this you already know: the aim.
When it comes to passes, Spain is unrivaled in the European Championship . The national team is the one that has attempted the most passes (1712) and the one that has completed the most (1513), with an average of 756 per game. The precision of all of them is very high, 88%. Only Germany (90%) and Belgium (88.5) are slightly higher than Red .
The number of passes attempted by Spain make it the team with the most possession in the tournament by an abysmal difference with 72%. Both Poland and Sweden were outmatched in this regard. Belgium (57.5%) and Germany (57%) are very far behind ours in this statistic that generates so much debt. Does it help?
Queue for recoveries
When we look at the way Spain has reached the rival area, it can be surprising to see that it is the team that most centers the area of the entire European Championship . Up to 58 times the ball has been hung in search of strikers who are not specialists in this type of action. Denmark (52), Germany (48) and Portugal (41) follow the Red in this section.
Spain is in the queue if we look at the recovered balls. It is the fourth selection in the entire tournament that steals the fewest balls during matches. The data says that there are 69 (34.5 per game) and that only Italy , Croatia and England steal less.
More striking defensive aspects that leave doubts are those data that say that Spain is the one that wins the fewest individual duels (12) and also the one that makes the fewest successful tackles (3). The National Team is also the second with the fewest clearances (16), it is in the middle of the table in fouls committed (23) and it is the fourth that suffers the most fouls (29).
Jordi Alba the most ‘sucker’
If you look at the individual statistics of the players in Spain, it can be noted that Marcos Llorente is the footballer who has recorded the highest top speed during the dispute of the matches. The one from Atlético has marked 33.3 km / h and has only been surpassed by the records of the Italian Leonardo Spinazzola (33.8%), the Hungarian Loïc Nego (33.8) and the Welshman Daniel James (33.5).
Spanish footballers monopolize the data when it comes to passes made. Jordi Alba (226), Llorente (214), Pau Torres (202) lead this section. Only Kroos (202) and Alaba (190) make a list, followed by Pedri (187), Koke (187) and Laporte (181). Clear signal is that the Spanish possession is made in the rear and that many of the passes are between the defenders.
Jordi Alba , chosen MVP by UEFA against Poland, is precisely the player with the most time in possession of the ball in the entire tournament. Marcos Llorente is the second. The full-backs are important in the conception of Luis Enrique and their arrivals can be decisive, but the fact that they have so much the ball can generate the debate as to whether it is really effective.
