Group C - Busquets vs De Rossi; Anchor vs Libero

Group C - Busquets vs De Rossi; Anchor vs Libero

You could be forgiven for thinking this would be a stuffy match. Spain's consistent, repetitive short passing movements against Italy's latest form of catenaccio. It was anything but and produced the most interesting and entertaining match of the Euro's so far.

Italy came into the match rocked by yet another scandal (betting this time) and took the remarkably brave step of lining up in a 3-5-2 with De Rossi playing as a libero/sweeper. Looking at Spains squad (which I blogged about last week) it was obvious that something was going to change. The loss of Villa, the loss of form of Torres and loss of fitness of Llorente meant that pure striking options for Spain are practically non existent. To that end, Del Bosque lined up with 6 proper midfielders in a 4-6-0. This is not a new formation however this was the first time it had been seen by Spain on such a big occasion. Everton have used this several times over the last 2 seasons with Osman, Fellaini and Cahill each playing some variation of a false 9. Scotland of course used this against Czech Republic at the start of Euro 2012 qualifying to disastrous effect both in terms of the match and the media fall out.

The match started off with Spain probing as ever and Italy looking to contain where possible. As the half wore on Italy started becoming more adventurous. Giaccherini and Maggio were getting forward to great effect and the fantastic long passes of De Rossi and Pirlo were consistently finding Cassano in the channel between Arbeloa and Ramos. A wonderful goal by the evergreen Di Natale 3 minutes after coming on as a sub looked to have put Italy in the driving seat however 3 minutes later Fabregas equalised thanks to some smart play by Iniesta and a fantastic round the corner flick by Silva. Had Italy hung on for a couple of minutes longer and regrouped then I don't think Spain would have been able to recover. Testament to Del Bosque for changing things shortly after bringing on the pacy direct Jesus Navas and Torres to stretch Italy's back line but it was to no avail.

Busquets vs De Rossi

Sergio Busquets

The most intriguing aspect of this match for me centre around the No 16 for both teams. Daniele De Rossi, playing in a brand new position (libero) and a brand new formation 3-5-2, and Sergio Busquets playing in his usual Barca anchorman position with a slight twist. It was interesting to note that while they were playing in entirely different formations and tactical frameworks, their roles were incredibly similar. Both players were required to be the spare man to allow their respective wing backs to bomb forward, De Rossi from his starting position and Busquets performing his now almost telepathic secondary role of splitting the centre backs to cover strikers.  Luis Enrique has tried, with some success, to get De Rossi to play what is now known as 'the Busquets role' last season with Roma so it was very interesting to see his take on it in an even more withdrawn role. He did not disappoint.

The image above shows each players attempted passes during the game. As is expected from a La Masia graduate, Busquets attempted 101 passes with a 92% completion rate. De Rossi on the other hand, attempted just over half the number of passes Busquets did with an 85% success rate. Not bad by anything other than Barcelona standards. The difference as you can see is the number of long passes De Rossi attempted. Some came off, some didn't however they were a vital attacking weapon for Prandelli's team and they could and should have made more of them.

Above you can see the difference between De Rossi and Busquets and Italy and Spains mentality. All of De Rossi's tackles (100% success rate) were made within 20 yards of his own goal and were crucial in preventing certain goal scoring opportunities. Busquets traditionally breaks up play and distributes to the runners quickly as you can see by all of his attempted tackles taking place in the midzone or the edge of the opponents box. Ordinarily Busquets could be expected to get a nosebleed this close to the opposition goal however it shows effectively how much faith Spain put in high pressing. Below you can also see the difference between their interceptions which again illustrates how high up the park Busquets is asked to press (despite being the holding midfielder) compared to De Rossi.

De Rossi, displaying his tackling tattoo

De Rossi was imperious throughout, consistently sweeping up and one tackle in particular, although he didn't actually intercept the ball, put Iniesta off enough to ensure his shot was screwed just wide (with a slight finger tip save from Buffon). Busquets, on the other hand was uncharacteristically ruffled by the pressing and power of Marchisio and Motta to the extent that I was surprised that his pass completion rate is so high.

It looks like this group may come down to how much each team can score against the other two teams. Neither are traditionally high scoring in tournament football but with a quarter final place against France or England (assuming there are no upsets!) awaiting the group winners, perhaps this may change.

 

Player of this game and any game lucky enough to have him in it: Andres Iniesta

Andresito winning the World Cup for Spain