EURO final - how Spain dominated England
A game analysis of Euro final Spain vs England
Spain won, and most non-England supporters thought they deserved it (some England supporters did too). As the tournament progressed until the final day, you can argue for Spain becoming a clear favourite to win the whole thing. And after the final wistle, it felt like Spain just did what was expected. They did much more than that. If we stop reading the narratives from the final day, and go back a month, Spain werent favourites. Before the toornament, France and England were both given much better chances by the bookies in front of the tournament ((BBC odds)). Considering that, Spain did exceeded the expectations. And the way they won, makes it even more impressive. Overall, Spain won all their seven games. They ended up creating a total of 12,9 expected goals. Far more than their final opponent England, who only created a cumulative total of only 6 xG through the whole tournament (Fbref). And according to The Athletic, the most politely football media nowadays Spain were [“…head and shoulders above everyone else”].(https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5637944/2024/07/15/spain-euro-2024-win-yamal-williams-de-la-fuente/) (The Athletic). I looked at the final in the data from Statsbomb, here is what I found.
Spain got most credit during the tournament because of their attack. The final was definately more busy for Jordan Pickford than Unai Simon.
England struggled to create opportunities in the box. Palmers goal was a great strike from a low chance (0,038 xG). England definately have the quality to create and take the chances, but they really did not get the ball into good positions.
Figure 2 England passes into final third (Data from Statsbomb)
Englands passes into the final third were most centrally and on the right side, mainly for Bukayo Saka. England also went for many long passes, all the way from Pickford against Kane and Bellingham. Some passes are in betweeen, into the right halfspace, which is a great area to attack from. Its obvious England really struggled to progress on their left side. And their passes are typically straight forward.
Figure 3 Spain passes into finalthird
Spain obviously had more possession, and passes into final third. England did managed to keep them away from their box most of the time, with few passes directly into the box. Spain have a lot of passes outside of the box, and a mixture of vertical and horisontal passes.
The shining stars
Figure 4. Nico Williams carries
Williams has been shining the whole tournament, so in the final. Some of his carries is long distance, shows his combination of physics and technique. His ability to run with the ball is extraordinary! He often managed to get into dangerous areas. So he did for his goal, and his finishing was brilliant.
Figure 5. Lamine Yamal carries
Yamal is the same, but different. He is, along with Williams, top for carries in the final third. Yamal is really dangerous if he gets the ball in space to either carry or pass to create a chance or even take the shot by himself (everyone still remembers that semifinal match-winning goal:)). His unpredictability makes him dangerous, and his involvement is high.
Figure 4. Nico Williams carries
Williams has been shining the whole tournament, so in the final. Some of his carries is long distance, shows his combination of physics and technique. His ability to run with the ball is extraordinary! He often managed to get into dangerous areas. So he did for his goal, and his finishing was brilliant.
Figure 5. Lamine Yamal carries
Yamal is similar, and still posess other valuable abilities. He is, along with Williams, top for carries in the final third. Yamal is really dangerous if he gets the ball in space to either carry or pass to create a chance or even take the shot by himself (everyone still remembers that semifinal match-winning goal:)). His unpredictability makes him dangerous, and his involvement is high, also inside the final third.
Figrue 4. Nico Williams carries
Williams has been shining the whole tournament, so in the final. Some of his carries is long distance, shows his combination og physics and technique. His ability to run with the ball is extrordinary! He often managed to get into dangerous areas. So he did for his goal, and his finishing was brilliant.
Figure 5 Lamine Yamal carries
Yamal is same, but different. He is along with Williams, top for carries in the final third. Yamal is really dangerous if he gets the ball in space to either carry or pass to create a chance or even take the shot by himself (everyone still remember that semifinal matchwinning goal:)). His unpredictability makes him dangerous, and his involvement is high.
Figure 6. Bukayo Saka carries
Saka is the only one close to match the Spain duo’s numbers for carries. His carries is characteristicly from the right and inside. He did mangage some, but struggled to get into the really dangerous areas where we have seen him create and score a lot for Arsenal this season.
Figure 7. Nico Williams and Bukaya Saka passes into box
Both Williams and Saka was heavily involved. England was good at keeping Spain away from getting the ball into the box and create big chances. Williams still did succeed to get ball into box every other time he tried the pass. Saka, with only three passes into the box is really low for his standard, and a sign of how England struggled to create chances. Saka was heavily involved for England, but really could not find space and teamates near the opposition box.
Spain more able get into final third
The network is based on the first half (Rodri subbed in the break). Morata often dropped deep. Williams and Yamal the most advanced players in possession. Overall, Spain were more able to create combinations close to the final third. And while doing so, they involved almost every player through different connections, which makes them unpredictable and different to defend against.
The difference compared to Spain is clear with noone close to the final third, but Bukayo Saka. England really lacked the ability to attack from both centre and left. Both Kane and Belllingham became deep, and they didnt manage to get the ball in dangerous spaces behind or in front of the defence.
To sum it up, England defended well, but Spain in the end were better. Creating lots of connections and getting the ball into dangerous areas was a key difference. And from those areas their creative players Yamal and Williams could shine with carries and passes. Credit to Statsbomb for releasing free data which makes it possible to do this analysis. And credit to Mckay Johns for sharing all his work on youtube and github!