Spain Say They Won't Change Their Style Of Play After World Cup Exit But Future Of Fernando Hierro Remains Unclear

Spain Say They Won't Change Their Style Of Play After World Cup Exit But Future Of Fernando Hierro Remains Unclear
22:30, 02 Jul 2018

Spain will stick with its possession-base style of tika-taka football, despite being eliminated from the World Cup by Russia, according to coach Fernando Hierro.

The Spanish were knocked out at the round of 16 stage by the hosts, despite dominating the match. They had a ridiculous 74% of possession, with 25 shotscompard to just six from Russia. Nine of Spain’s shots were on goal, to just one from the hosts, but the Europeans could only manage one goal, which was an own goal in the first half.

Spain had all the ball but could not break down a stubborn Russian defence. But coach believes his side should not alter its playing style in the future.

“We have our identity which is because of the type of players we have,” he said.

“We need our personality. Before we started winning titles, people said we have no identity. Like all Spaniards, we had high hopes and dreams and we are sad that we couldn't do it for the millions of people who were following the game back home.

"This was just a question of football, of winning and losing. I can safely say that we can all look each other in the eye. The players have been extraordinary for their effort, their professionalism, their solidarity.

“There is a lot of pain in the delegation, the players, the coaching staff, the workers. We had great hopes for this World Cup and it wasn't to be. But I have no complaints against anybody.”

Spain’s World Cup campaign started badly when they sacked the former head coach two days before their first group game. Hierro declined to blame that decision for the country’s early exit.

“We can't go finger pointing and laying blame,” he said.

“We need to be realistic, the situation was what it was. It's completely pointless to analyse the past, we made the decisions we made but I am not going to lay blame at the feet of other people.

"I took on this role out of a sense of responsibility and I accepted it with all its consequences. I will be honest, I am leaving resting easy. I think we all tried to give our best, the players, the staff, everyone that helped to contribute. This is football.”

It is unclear if Hierro will stay in the job after the World Cup.

“Honestly, that does not worry me, I don’t think it's important right now,” he admitted in Moscow.

“Now we need to share this difficult moment. We wanted to do great things, this is a generation of extraordinary players. This is the fruit of two years of work, of Lopetegui's work, and yet we are out despite not losing for 24 games. If anyone should shoulder this responsibility it is me. I put my reputation out there because that’s what my job required."

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