Tactical Analysis of Spain vs. England: Spain Secures Fourth Euro 2024 Trophy

The Euro 2024 final showcased two European football powerhouses, Spain and England. Spain had been one of the best teams since the group stage. England started off disappointingly but improved as the tournament progressed. Luis de la Fuente adopted a modern and direct style, securing Spain’s fourth European trophy.

Starting Lineups

Since there are no suspensions in the Euro 2024 final for yellow cards received in the semifinal, the only notable absence is Pedri, who was injured in the quarterfinals. In the defensive line, Daniel Carvajal returns alongside Robin Le Normand, Aymeric Laporte, and Marc Cucurella. Rodri and Fabian Ruiz control the game from the midfield, behind Nico Williams, Dani Olmo, and Lamine Yamal, with Morata playing as the forward.

For Gareth Southgate’s side, Luke Shaw makes his debut as a starter in this European Championship edition, replacing Kieran Trippier, and forms the defensive line with Marc Guehi, John Stones, and Kyle Walker. Kobbie Mainoo and Declan Rice play as pivots, with Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, and Jude Bellingham in the midfield. Harry Kane is the striker for the “Three Lions.”

Match Report

The first half was dominated by “La Furia Roja,” who held 69% possession but lacked creativity in the final third. Each team had only one shot on target, with Unai Simon and Jordan Pickford handling them easily. Despite Spain generating more chances, with an xG of 0.29 compared to England’s 0.15, the first half ended goalless and without any significant opportunities.

Spain emerged from the locker room with energy and inspiration, opening the scoring through Nico Williams in the 47th minute. Daniel Carvajal sent a first-time pass down the right flank to Lamine Yamal, who drove towards the center and found Nico Williams cutting in from the left. Williams beat Pickford with a low shot to the far corner. Less than a minute later, Spain had a great chance to double their lead through Dani Olmo, but he missed the target.

England responded in the 73rd minute when Bukayo Saka took advantage of Marc Cucurella’s advanced position and found space on the flank. Saka crossed for Bellingham in the box, who laid the ball off to Cole Palmer just outside the area. Palmer fired a powerful shot to the far corner, beating Unai Simon and leveling the score.

Oyarzabal scored the winning goal in the 87th minute after combining with Marc Cucurella on the left flank. Cucurella crossed to Oyarzabal, who managed to get past Guehi and slot the ball into the net. Dani Olmo saved Spain from extra time in the 90th minute. Cole Palmer perfectly executed a corner kick, Declan Rice sent a powerful shot on target, but Unai Simon punched it away. Guehi headed the rebound, but Dani Olmo cleared it off the line, securing Spain’s fourth European Championship trophy.

England’s Formation Adjustment and the Left Flank

The left flank was key in this match, as all three goals came from that side. Southgate decided to switch back to a four-defender line instead of the three-defender setup used in the last two matches, where Bukayo Saka and Kieran Trippier played as wing-backs. The 4-2-3-1 formation adopted for this match offers less protection on the flanks compared to the 3-4-2-1 formation used previously.

A perfect example illustrating this is the first goal scored by Nico Williams. Spain built up play on the right flank, and Daniel Carvajal sent a first-time outside pass to Lamine Yamal, who managed to get ahead of Luke Shaw. This forced Marc Guehi to cover Yamal, John Stones to mark Morata, and Kyle Walker to cover Dani Olmo’s move towards the center. This left the left flank completely open for Nico Williams. In a 3-4-2-1 formation, Saka would have covered that space. Additionally, Jude Bellingham made an error by leaving Daniel Carvajal too free, allowing him to launch Lamine Yamal.

The same story repeated for Spain’s second goal, where Kyle Walker pushed high up in pressing, leaving Marc Cucurella with plenty of space to advance with the ball. Oyarzabal received the ball, closely marked by Guehi, but he spotted Cucurella and the space left open by Walker. Oyarzabal passed to Cucurella, managed to get past Guehi, received the ball at the offside line, and scored the winning goal.

Adjustments Made by Southgate

In the first half, England’s defense often had all players in their own half. This allowed the Spanish defenders to push up significantly, as even if they lost possession, England had no one to counterattack with. Harry Kane was quite absent in this match, with only 13 touches, one blocked shot, and 5 out of 10 passes completed. This also contributed to the Spanish defenders being able to advance confidently, knowing there was no threat of Harry Kane being launched behind them.

In the 61st minute, Southgate substituted Harry Kane with Ollie Watkins, the player who scored the last-minute goal that brought England to the Euro 2024 final. While the substitution itself was not surprising, as we discussed in the pre-match analysis, the timing of Southgate’s decision was unexpected.

Southgate showed bravery by introducing Ollie Watkins at that moment, acknowledging that the current setup with Harry Kane as the lone forward was not working. However, while Southgate demonstrated courage, he failed to recognize that the issue was not Harry Kane but the lack of creativity in the team. I would have liked to see a formation with both Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins playing together up front. Harry Kane is a highly creative player, and Ollie Watkins thrives on incisive passes behind the defensive line. The two could have formed an exceptional partnership.

On the other hand, a move that consistently worked for Southgate was bringing on Cole Palmer. Palmer had an assist in the previous match with a perfect pass to Ollie Watkins. Similar to his role at Chelsea, Palmer positioned himself perfectly outside the box when the Spanish defense was drawn towards Saka’s run (again, the left flank theme). Jude Bellingham laid off the ball, and Palmer executed a perfect shot.

Dani Olmo: Another Notable Performance

Although Dani Olmo didn’t score, his contribution was equivalent to at least one goal. Besides clearing the ball off the line in the last minute from Cole Palmer’s corner, he demonstrated immense vision and creativity in Oyarzabal’s goal.

Dani Olmo received the ball in the center of the field, facing Kyle Walker, with the left flank completely open. Marc Cucurella sprinted into that space. The obvious choice would be to pass the ball to Cucurella on the left. However, doing so would give Walker enough time to recover, preventing Cucurella from advancing significantly. Instead, Olmo used Oyarzabal as an intermediary point, giving Cucurella more time to move forward and creating confusion in England’s defensive line.

Of course, we must also mention the huge chance he had right after Nico Williams’ goal, his 2 key passes, and a 90% pass accuracy. Therefore, Dani Olmo once again made a significant contribution to the offense for Luis de la Fuente’s team.

Conclusions

Spain was the best team in the Euro 2024 final tournament, delivering solid performances since the group stage. They overcame major teams like Germany and France, playing beautiful, fluid, and direct football. Luis de la Fuente did an outstanding job tactically, transforming Spain from the classic Tiki-Taka style to modern, direct football with quick vertical plays. England had mixed performances in this tournament but improved as they progressed. However, Spain thoroughly deserved this trophy, becoming the team with the most European titles.