http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27916175 Thought this was good.................. "Disaster", "failure" and "humiliation" were among the words used by the Spanish press after their side's World Cup title defence began with a heavy loss to the Netherlands. Yet there is only one way to describe Wednesday's defeat at the hands of Chile, which sees Vicente Del Bosque's team eliminated with a game of the group stage still to play: the end. The end of an unprecedented era of dominance that so captivated the global game, the end of a golden generation of players who dared, succeeded, thrilled and inspired. Cesc Fabregas had called the Chile match "life or death" and it proved the latter. This night will go down in football history as the night the tiki-taka trailblazers bade farewell. The denouement was always going to arrive at some point, but few expected it to come with such alarming speed and in such unceremonious fashion. First-round knockout. Reigning champions have, of course, succumbed early before - Italy in 1950 and 2010, Brazil in 1966 and France in 2002 - and losing to the Dutch and Chileans on current form is no disgrace. The Netherlands possess attacking weapons to trouble anyone and Chile, for whom all 10 outfield starters were under the age of 30, have been tipped as dark horses for the title. However, we are talking about Spain, the winners of the last three major international trophies; the first team to lift two European Championships and a World Cup in succession. Alarm bells started to ring when they were beaten by Brazil in the Confederations Cup final a year ago, also here in the Maracana. Explanations were given, judgments reserved. Then came a friendly with Chile in September that needed a stoppage-time equaliser to earn a draw. Nor did Barcelona's poor season bode well; this is the club from where Spain take their stylistic lead, with seven of Barca's stars included in the 23-man squad and all of them featuring against the Netherlands. Another seven came from Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid; both had impressive campaigns, but their involvement in the Champions League final made for weary legs. "How many of the Spain players have lived up to who they are and played to their top form?" asked Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis on BBC Radio 5 live. "Whether that was because their season has finished later than most I'm not sure. I really wanted them to do well at this World Cup. I feel for Del Bosque - one of the great managers." We knew when Spain landed in Brazil that they were nearing the end of a cycle and faced an incredibly difficult task to be become the first Europeans to win a World Cup in South America. What we did not anticipate was the Dutch handing out a 5-1 drubbing, the heaviest defeat suffered by World Cup winners at the following tournament, or the Chileans dispatching them so clinically. How different it might have been had David Silva not wasted a glorious chance to make it 2-0 on Friday and Sergio Busquets managed to prod into an empty net at 0-2 on Wednesday. In all, except brief periods of the first half versus the Netherlands, Spain have looked a shadow of their old self - their control, movement and passing unrecognisable from the not too distant past. Against Chile, they posted their lowest passing accuracy in a World Cup game (81.7%) since a quarter-final loss to South Korea in 2002 and Andres Iniesta attempted the fewest passes (52) in the eight World Cup matches in which he has played a full 90 minutes. Spain lost 152 balls to Chile's 141, making 62 recoveries compared to 71, and despite attempting five more tackles than Jorge Sampaoli's men their success rate was 13% lower. To watch Xabi Alonso - someone who has been at the heart of Spain's glory - resort to hacking at opponents in frustration as Ls Roja failed to establish any sort of rhythm was sad. Pre-match, the midfielder claimed the criticism of his side was "exaggerated", adding: "I don't think you can conclude that this generation is finished, we're still alive." But those words now carry a hollow ring and as Spain walked off the pitch at full-time there was little sense of shock. They looked disappointed but not distraught, more resigned to the inevitable. There was even restraint about Chile's celebrations; they triumphed with plenty left in the tank. "What is painfully obvious watching them live is the lack of pace in the last third," said former England midfielder Danny Murphy on BBC Radio 5 live. Del Bosque's charges have nothing to play for against Australia on 23 June and it will be interesting to see whether he makes the sort of changes that will be necessary going forward. Iker Casillas, goalkeeper and captain, barely played for Real Madrid last season and endured a forgettable, error-ridden World Cup. Will David De Gea, 23, replace the 33-year-old? Xavi, the symbol of Spain's rise and the heartbeat of their midfield for so long, was dropped for the Chile game and at 34 might never pull on the red shirt again. Koke, 22, waits in the wings as a quicker, more dynamic option with a better engine than the fading legend. Iniesta, Xavi's partner in crime, still has a lot to give but is nowhere near top form, defender Gerard Pique was replaced by Martinez in what may be a sign of things to come, and this looks to be the end of the international road for Alonso and Villa at 32, possibly even Fernando Torres at 30. Some potential successors await in the current squad and others outside. Spain claimed the 2013 European Under-21 Championship - the likes of Jese, Alvaro Morata, Gerard Deulofeu, Isco and Daniel Carvajal coming to the fore. Two years ago, they took a second consecutive Under-19 title. "Villa, Xavi, Torres, you look at the Spain team and you think there are six or seven players who could all step down," said former England defender and 5 live summariser Danny Mills. "In players like Isco, Juan Mata and Fabregas there are still a lot of players coming through at the top level, and you also expect De Gea to be around for a long time. So Spain will come strong again but it's a big ask for the youngsters to come in and replace what was maybe an ageing squad with a little bit of complacency and a lack of desire." From speaking to Spanish journalists, it is clear they are looking forward to a fresh start, optimistic about the future, but there is also unhappiness that the present team did not show the necessary hunger and application to make Spain's proven philosophy click as it has previously. For Spain's approach to bear fruit, they need an impregnable defence, tireless runners and relentless hard work. None of those boxes have been ticked in Brazil. They conceded seven goals in two games compared to just two in seven four years ago, which when you do not score many goals - another problem that requires solving - means trouble. Del Bosque was always going to pin his hopes on this crop for one final hurrah - there is an argument that exposing youngsters to a disastrous title defence would have caused more harm than good - but why did he not shuffle the 23 more ambitiously once selected? "It's difficult when the coach isn't able to perceive that the team is changing and the generation is slowing down," said Ernest Macia of Radio Catalunya. "To many people, Del Bosque was not cunning enough to retire after the last World Cup. "He's a good manager but maybe not a good coach. He knows how to deal with egos but when the players doesn't respond you need someone who can make changes to a team that normally plays on memory. It was probably necessary to lose like this to close this beautiful and glorious era." While speculation is sure to rage over which players will retire or be cast aside, Del Bosque's achievements since being appointed in 2008 are said to guarantee his position - so any decision would come down to the 53-year-old, whose contract expires after Euro 2016. If he does leave, there is concern over who would be available and appropriate to take over. They would have to embrace a method that is non-negotiable but must evolve because Spain have become predictable. The Dutch and Chile knew how to beat them and La Roja couldn't adapt. Former England winger Chris Waddle explained: "They were two hard games for Spain and that is because teams have changed the way they play against them. "Before, teams used to sit back and play on the counter-attack but now they play quicker than Spain, they press high up the pitch and nick the ball off them. Because Spain are not used to that, and they leave space behind with their full-backs coming on, teams are having success." Rather than a big-name Spaniard such as Rafael Benitez, they could opt for a former player in whom Spain's chosen gameplan is engrained. The likes of Under-21 coach Albert Celades, Recreativo de Huelva boss Sergi Barjuan, Olympiacos manager Michel and Sporting Gijon's Abelardo Fernandez are all highly thought of. But for the time being the responsibility still lies with Del Bosque. On the morning after losing to the Netherlands, the front cover of Spanish newspaper Marca was a funereal black with the headline: "Fix this". Thursday's simply said: "The End".
when i was watching them i was thing why the **** isnt Fabregas or Mata on the pitch, as they would have offered more in both midfield and attack than what played, also playing 2 def midfield players as well ffs. still think there is some more to come from them and not the end just yet, but they need to sort out their formation and how they want to play ie trying to fit in Costa.
New manager and use the younger players and they are back in business imo, maybe not winning things just yet but doing well.
its all about legs... the manager picked the old gaurd. simple as... they needed to freshen. a managers job is to do that. This is what separates good from great. the ability to just ruthlessly get shut when the time is right.
So Costa will be feeling like he shouldn't have switched sides. Must say wasn't very impressed but it's the WC and while some players play out of their skin, get snapped up only to never repeat it at club level, others can't seem to do on the world stage what they do at club level. It's a funny old game.
Spain's ignominious exit will be heralded as a significant 'milestone' in the game, by hacks and pundits, as it makes good copy. The reality is that Del Bosque just got it wrong - in both games. Tactically they were ****ing awful. I don't think it was anything to do with 'legs' as they were hardly a geriatric side ffs.
Barcelona 2013 Bayern Munich 2014 Spain 2014 Wasnt anything new. Tika taka is over. Spain need to adapt, their bench yesterday suggests they will be back but a very different kind of spain.
Chile were very good and ran the bloody bollocks off too. Maybe the climate had a bigger say than people are giving credit for? But yeah, Spain were **** too.
Yeah absolutely. I thought they were brilliant, but Spain were all over the place and his substitutions were totally ineffective.
Toblerone is wrong, as per usual. It wasn't a matter a tactics. Cristiano is wrong, as per usual. It wasn't a matter of tiki-taka being found out. Mito is right. It signals the end of ... wanting to sit on your ass for a couple of years and expecting to reap rewards. It happened to France in 2002, Brazil in 2006, Italy&France in 2010, Germany in 1994. It seems Uruguay is heading that way as well.
Mito said it was legs you dolt. When the reality is that the average age of their starting XI last night was 27 ffs.
mito is right - it was a lazy and slow Spain we saw yesterday. Wrong personnel choice by Del Bosque and poor substitutions. It's not the end of tiki taka, just the end of this Spain teams brand of tiki taka.
I was right #getting worried i might get sucked into paying any attention to wc before end of group phase.
makes a change should add it to your sig lol. don't think its the end of ticka tacka, but Spain set up and played wrong tactics, also not sure why cassilais was even playing, riena would have been a better option or de gea if fit. its the end of cassilais for me, but not spain, even alba was ****e, and i quite rate him and he is young.
I felt particularly sorry for Alonso as this has clearly been a tournament too far for him. A great, great player and to watch him play past his pomp was very cruel.
i think its del bosque out and iniesta etc and then we'll see.... we must recognize that this historic period for spain was preceeded by decades of infighting, lack of care and regional distrust so for me its not tic tacs that are dead but perhaps spain as a force might be for quite a while. its not style its team ethic, togetherness and work ethic... for england its all about confidence and fitness. we have seldom if ever picked the best players nott he big name ones and seldom if ever had actual confidence in ourselves. imo...
