Spain’s players are European champions after defeating England late into regular time. And, Luis de la Fuente’s tactics, as expected played a key role in how the match was played out.
Here are five key tactical battles fought out between England and Spain during the final. In the end, tactics, not individual skill, won Spain the trophy.
Five Key Tactical Battles of the Euro 2024 Final
Southgate tried to match Spain’s formation
Gareth Southgate never seemed to find quite the ideal formation or line-up for this England team. Sure, he kept the same core throughout Euro 2024. However, relatively poor performances and the wave of criticism after these forced the former England boss to make changes from one game to another.
While England played in a 3-4-2-1 against The Netherlands and did it well, Southgate opted to change the formation for the final. England, for the most part, matched Spain’s 4-2-3-1 formation.
Of course, this doesn’t mean teams rigidly maintained this shape all the way through. Toward the end, England had moved to a 4-4-2 formation. Still, these changes never seemed to help England lead the game; rather, the team always chased after Spain.
Zubimendi adds defensive strength
Rodri won the Player of the Tournament award at the end of Euro 2024. It’s no wonder that his injury after the first half made plenty of Spanish fans feel nervous about the team’s chances.
Luis de la Fuente opted for an unusual replacement choice, Martin Zubimendi. The Real Sociedad player joined in a pivot role alongside the otherwise highly technical Fabian Ruiz. This gave more creative freedom to Dani Olmo which England’s defensive midfielders, Declan Rice and Kobie Mainoo, were generally unable to handle.
This also meant that Phil Foden, who took on the role of a playmaker for England, at times, needed to escape the pressing of both Zubimendi and Ruiz and left the Manchester City player unable to contribute offensively as well as he would have liked.
England’s mid-block worked well…for a while
England, to be fair, managed to neutralize Spain’s high-flying attacking players for the first half. While Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams looked to find space, they were largely kept quiet for the first 45 minutes.
Where did things fail?
For one thing, Zubimendi’s introduction allowed Olmo greater freedom. The attacking midfielder tended to drop toward the flank, doubling Nico Williams’ efforts and putting Kyle Walker under a lot of pressure.
Another issue was the relative lack of energy of some of England’s players. In the first half, England pressed from the front through Harry Kane. Furthermore, the defenders tracked Williams and Alvaro Morata almost perfectly. The Three Lions could not sustain that pace.
Lastly, once Spain began attacking the left flank and eventually scored, England wasn’t able to respond immediately. They did eventually equalize, but the gaps remained there.
Bellingham kept quiet by pivots and by Carvajal
Jude Bellingham was, in many ways, the player for which Southgate created England’s tactics for Euro 2024. While it is true that the manager also tried to force Kane and Foden into the lineup, Bellingham was the creative focus of this setup.
Bellingham was involved in most of England’s attacking chances. But apart from a few opportunities, he was kept in check. This happened, especially when he drifted down the left flank and came against his Real Madrid teammate, Dani Carvajal.
While some battles were close, it’s beyond doubt that Carvajal won the war. He made 4 successful tackles, advanced with the ball often and had 91% passing success rate, and gave his teammates needed confidence.
Cucurella outmaneuvered Saka
England may have also suffered because of the team’s overconfidence. The English press was quick to single out Marc Cucurella as Spain’s weakest link. Was this an effect to destabilize the Chelsea defender ahead of the final?
If so, it certainly didn’t work. Cucurella was one of Spain’s best players. Not only did he provide assistance for Mikel Oyarzabal’s game-winning goal.
Cucurella was also tasked with marking Bukayo Saka and forced the Arsenal winger into a very poor performance. Saka was England’s most advanced player on the right flank but was unable to create anything of great note despite 44% of attacks being led down his flank.
Conclusion: Collective strength defeats individual skill
England, on paper, had the better starting eleven. Kane is the Bundesliga’s top scorer. Bellingham holds the same record last season in La Liga. Foden was the best player in the EPL. Gareth Southgate also had great players on the bench that could add vitality to this England side.
But this didn’t matter. Spain showed they had great collective strength. They defeated all of their seven opponents. While De la Fuente had a clear starting line-up in mind, he often brought on supporting players and trusted them with the team’s fortunes.
Zubimendi’s successful replacement of Rodri was nothing new for this Spain side. Neither was Oyarzabal’s goal such a surprise. This team is a mix of young and experienced players, stars, and hard workers, and throughout, they gelled.
De la Fuente and Spain also helped to destroy a very dangerous myth – the need to play simple, defensive football because an attacking style can’t be coached for an international tournament. France, Portugal, and, now, England believed in this myth and came back empty-handed.
Tactics and old-school football romanticism won out!
