Spain have been a sorry mess at the World Cup, lack leaders and Vicente Del Bosque has to go after Group B elimination
- The world champions lost 2-0 against Chile at the Maracana
- Iker Casillas was again singled out for criticism in goal
- Xavi could on watch from the bench with Sergio Ramos the only player to visibly urge La Roja on
- They have been eliminated from Brazil after just two matches
All he could do was watch. Vicente Del Bosque stood on the Maracana touchline - grim-faced, hands in pockets and moustache somehow bowed - presumably wondering how it came to this. Humiliated in the most embarrassing way possible, it is the end for Spain.
For six years they have been the most proactive, visionary side in the world but on the eastern coast of Brazil on Wednesday night they lacked cohesion, fight and a basic plan.
As the whistle was blown on their World Cup defence, the coach’s head dropped before he arched back inside having long since accepted that the lights are probably out on his managerial career.
VIDEO Scroll down to watch Vincente Del Bosque gets on wrong bus after Spain lose to Chile
Shock: The world champions are out of the 2014 World Cup after two consecutive defeats
Won't need these again: Iker Casillas throws his gloves to fans after a poor display at the Maracana
Head bowed: Vicente Del Bosque got major decisions wrong throughout a dismal campaign for Spain
The statistics don't lie, either.
They have conceded more goals (seven) this time around than they did in winning the the last three major competitions over the last six years, and the 14 shots they've allowed on target is eight more than were afforded four years ago.
Against Chile only Sergio Ramos and Santi Cazorla sent more than one shot on goal. Diego Costa didn't manage any.
David Silva lost the ball a staggering 22 times. Their pass completion percentage was at its lowest since a quarter-final defeat against South Korea in 2002, while Andres Iniesta attempted fewer passes than ever before.
The front four made four challenges between them, the side's overall tackling success was down by 11 per cent compared to South Africa 2010 and their time in possession is now more passive. The list goes on: this was a side happy to stand and stare blankly as they were chastened.
It means Spain are now the third holders in the last four tournaments - following France (2002) and Italy (2010) - to be dumped out in the first round.
The South Americans were excellent, thoroughly deserving of progressing from Group B alongside Holland, but the ease in which the champions were dispensed with was difficult viewing. So too was their lack of urgency and stomach to coherse themselves out of a hole.
Decisions from the top have been constantly curious and proven as badly wrong from start to finish. They have remained fiercely loyal to some – Iker Casillas in particular – and decided to dump more deserving others.
Xavi was unused on the bench. So too was Gerard Pique. Meanwhile Del Bosque plumped for the castigated goalkeeper and an unfit Diego Costa.
Casillas’ flapping has cost them the chance to at least take this to the final group game; hardly surprising given he’s turned out just twice for Real Madrid in La Liga since January 2013. Maybe Jose Mourinho was right after all – he saw this two years ago.
Horror: Casillas has been a walking mistake this tournament and was consoled by Sergio Ramos against Chile
Awful: Brazilian-born Diego Costa has been a huge disappointment for Spain in the first two games
It isn’t just his gaffes that are the problem for Spain though. Is it too straightforward to ponder the legitimacy of a captain having to be comforted by Sergio Ramos after yet another mistake? What sort of message does that give off? And what does Casillas say to his team-mates at half-time, staring down the barrel without the guts to fight on?
Their leaders have vanished. Ramos appears to be the sole figure willing to send rockets up behinds, to cajole, to care. They lack a man to put it about, mix things up and upset the bodies within the camp that have been engulfed by the sycophancy surrounding their six-year domination.
Carles Puyol’s absence is hitting La Roja harder than was initially anticipated.
They are a sorry mess, not even a shadow of former selves, with Casillas the pin-up and only wearing the armband by design.
While his international demise is sad to see, it’s nothing compared to Xavi. Having to watch Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso make a dog’s dinner of shepherding Arturo Vidal – for a man of his guile – must have been tortuous. The pictures of the Barcelona midfielder on the bench were painful.
Busquets failed to win a single tackle all night.
Trouble: Fernando Torres looked more threatening than Costa despite struggling for form in recent years
Then there is Costa. Chelsea are, for some unbeknown reason, spending £32million on a striker whose two shots off target are the only contributions to a dismal week. Yes, he lacks match practice – much like Casillas – but if the Brazilian-born forward was deemed sharp enough to start then questions must be asked about what he actually brings. His first touch was heavy, body language non-existent and pace laughable.
Twenty-one touches all evening and not a single one in the six-yard box; Fernando Torres replaced him in the 64th minute and managed just two fewer. There is more than a slight argument for Del Bosque repaying some faith in Torres, who – while awful at Stamford Bridge - has played his best football at major tournaments.
Eighteen-goal Fernando Llorente missed out on the 23-man squad and they’ve gone into it without a striker capable of finding the net.
And having players going into the tournament in indifferent form, with fitness issues or just a poor season has been right at the heart of their problems. That, coupled with the fact that plan B was to continue with A. The like-for-like substitutions in both defeats were bizarre and had no impact on changing the course of the games.
Glum: Xavi (centre) could only watch on as his Spain side were utterly humiliated at the Maracana
They can't believe it! Spanish supporters watched on distraught as they were taught a footballing lesson
Tiki-taka wasn’t their eventual undoing, far from it. No matter what Spain played this summer - 4-4-2, 3-4-3, 4-6-0 - they’d have gone out. They weren’t good enough in possession, were disgustingly fragile without it and had no inclination to battle for the cause. The shrugs after defeat against Holland were testament to that.
These giants of the game are now growing used to not winning games. Of Barcelona and Real Madrid’s combined final 20 games of the league season, eight of them ended in draw or defeat.
Even though there were only two players over the age of 30 in their starting XI against Chile, the perception is that they are now finished. Del Bosque - while not ruling out staying in charge – definitely is. This is the end, my friend.
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