Wednesday 22 June 2016 18:42, UK
It's been a busy few days for Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague, and here he gives us his thoughts on Spain, England, the Euro 2016 format and more.
Spain threw away a 1-0 lead in Bordeaux against Croatia, losing 2-1 to finish second in Group D, meaning a clash with Italy in the last 16 in a repeat of the 2012 final.
Balague discusses that loss, analyses England's chances after the 0-0 draw against Slovakia left them second in Group B, and has some support for the new 24-team format for this year's competition...
What has been the reaction back in Spain to their loss to Croatia and their failure to win the group? (@DerekPriestley)
It was a sign of arrogance, I felt, the way Spain played. We felt we had the game won, and to be honest it was going our way in the first half. It was excellent, everyone was moving off the ball, everyone wanted the ball, and the defensive line was exactly where it had to be - high.
Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas were running the midfield, but were patient receiving the ball in the last third. David Silva was excellent too, and produced a great pass for Cesc for the goal, so everything was working really well.
With regards to the penalty - Vicente del Bosque has a list of penalty takers, and then they choose who is taking it. It should have been Iniesta or Cesc, but it is about confidence, and Sergio Ramos felt confident.
In fact, Cesc had initially taken the ball to take the penalty but Ramos, the captain, asked him to let him take it as he had not scored for a while.
Sometimes it feels like Ramos wants the glory; he's a good centre-back and works hard for the team, but sometimes these gestures are unnecessary I feel. He took it badly. I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing too.
What's interesting is that 47 per cent of penalties under Del Bosque have been missed, something they might want to look into.
For the first time in a tournament under Del Bosque, he played the same XI in the three group games. They started to look tired after half an hour.
The game has produced three reactions in Spain. 1) Why didn't he make changes to refresh the side? 2) Criticisms over Ramos taking the penalty and his poor game by his standards. And 3) There is criticism over David de Gea for the second goal especially.
There is a slight deflection from Gerard Pique's foot, but he had gone down low to save with his feet. I have discussed this with him at times; he thinks that when the ball is low it is easier to save it with the foot, but I feel that there is less room for correction when he goes down to his feet compared to when he stands and uses his hands. The deflection beat him.
The team seemed tired and were happy with the draw, so lost a bit of focus, and the proof of it was the second goal, where at the point Nikola Kalinic receives the ball, the centre-backs are three or four metres away from him, a sign of a team that felt the game was over. It's a lesson to Spain, the game is not over until it is over.
How far do you think Croatia can now go after beating Spain? (@14_andrews)
I feel that without Mario Mandzukic and Luka Modric they were still very solid. Ivan Perisic looks good, the midfield looked solid and so did the centre-backs.
All in all, it's a very good team. I predicted a Germany v Croatia final after the first couple of days of the tournament, and I wouldn't back up from that, I still think it's a possibility. They're getting better, as are Germany.
I feel that Spain have always had question marks around our necks, and it is to do with the fact we have to be good all of the time. If we lose our intensity, and stop our work without the ball, we can be beaten.
Will Spain be concerned about playing Italy in the round of 16? (Mike)
Italy were Spain's black beast for a while, but not recently. We had a draw against them and then beat them in the final of Euro 2012. We can beat them, and I know this is one of the least-talented Italy side in terms of quality of players, but as a unit they are as cohesive as they have always been.
I predict a game similar to the Croatia one, where we will have the initiative, but if we lose focus in one minute, we could concede and Italy could go through.
I do feel that against bigger sides Spain can raise their level, and we should be able to beat them, but we don't score very freely, Turkey being the exception. I see us needing a clean sheet to go through as I don't see us scoring more than one goal in that game.
Do you think Roy Hodgson was right to make so many changes against Slovakia? (Claire)
Croatia made five changes and beat Spain. Spain made zero changes and lost. It's not as clear cut as it seems.
But think of this way: England drew after making six changes, if Jamie Vardy's chance had gone in, if his feet had moved an angle by 10 degrees and it had gone in, what would people have said about the changes? Does that little bit of effectiveness have to do with changes in the line up?
My worry was not so much the changes, more that they do not have an absolute clear idea of what they want to do. It's about dominating the game, yes, but you can see that there is a lack of response to the situations they were creating.
That's not just a problem with the national side alone, but with English players in general. They take a while to adapt to situations in games, so perhaps they would have needed a better response from the bench, maybe trying to do something different, maybe bringing on another midfielder rather than just putting forwards in. Something to surprise.
They have played 50 minutes of very good football in each game, and England have not lost yet, so I don't fully understand the criticisms. Or I do if I remember how people tend to react in international tournaments.
How well do you see England doing in the tournament? (Jack)
They are in the difficult side of the draw and are not as god as three of four of the sides in that half of the draw, so it's going to be very difficult.
What do you make of the new format at the Euros, with some teams getting through to the knockout phase on the back of just one win? (Paul)
Seeing the reaction of the Northern Irish fans, the Irish fans, the Albanian fans, has been one of the highlights of the tournament.
It means a lot of the fans have had to wait to find out their fate, meaning another few days of partying and being involved in this festival of football.
Yes, the fact that so many can go through, and that most of them haven't got a lot of quality, means it has become quite a conservative tournament with not many goals scored. The average is quite low compared to other years.
But, in terms of the enjoyment of fans, it has been fantastic, and we keep saying how fans don't count anymore in football, but they do in this format.
What do you think of Wayne Rooney's performances so far in midfield for England? (@SalazerJosh)
I wouldn't have rested Rooney for the final game of the group, because he is the only player that guarantees a certain tempo.
He is not consistent for 90 minutes, and maybe he hasn't got 90 minutes in him, but when the opponents are sitting so deep you need somebody like him moving the ball around and leading in that way. I've enjoyed seeing him play. I remember him telling me he was watching carefully DVDs of Xavi, and we know why now.
Are people in Spain wary of England and do they see them as a major threat? (@fiat_fish13)
There has been more focus on the fact we could play Italy, Germany or France, and then who we could meet in the final.
England hasn't been mentioned as one of the major threats because people consider the above to be the bigger threats.
Is Andres Iniesta Spain's greatest-ever player? (@AJTRIGGS)
I wouldn't dispute that. I think Xavi would have to be considered as well, but in terms of talent Iniesta is certainly up there. Xavi and Iniesta are for me the two greatest players in Spain's history.
