What did I just witness?? IT WAS AMAZING!!!!! What a demolition!!!!

by Rasix

Holland played 5-3-2. Yes it was a very big party here i can tell. But i still feel sad for Iker :/

^the same. I felt really sad for Casillas.

what does un danacol mean

@Wolfie: Pep was given a power house of a team in Bayern. Playing tiki-taka like midgets (low center of gravity) do will not work with the team he has...clearly a wrong style suited to Bayern. Tiki taka could be played will with proper players; this Spain (Barcelona) team has been tinkered quite a bit in the last year, so they do not have a clear identity anymore.I know I will hear a lot of stick about this; but I will enjoy the Orange domination!

What denial, you think Tiki taka was a kind of black magic that makes you win games easily, there is no win if you dont want to win more than your rival, or if your 11 players are better than your rival...
Betis were playing short passes and got relegated, if you dont have good in form players, play any system you want you will loose...
I cant understand your point, Spain got their chances, it could have been 2-0 today and the punition could have been for the other side.
Netherlands took their chances and at 3-1 the game was done, the most realistic team has won, Ramos and Piqué were awful, i have never seen someone do to Ramos what Robben did to him.
The best team has won, as simple as that, some Spanish players are getting older, Xavi-Alonso shouldnt start a game when you have Koke in the bench, a transition in the team should have been done because those old players arent able to be at 100 per cent 90 min in this kind of games...

And the only conclusion you found ? The end of a style of play, the style of play never ends, he could be updated like the counter attacking of modern Football...

We only can say its an end of Era for a team, we cant say this to Barça we will have a busy transfert market, already bought Ter Stegen and Rakitic, got Rafinha Alcantara and Deulofeu back from loan and preparing the future generation with Hallilovic and Mounir Haddadi in Barça B, loaning Denis Suarez and Tello to progress...
The transfert market isnt over and Barça are attractive as hell, so keep your 7-0 stories, the real end of Era is at Milan and take my smiley too ;).

And i dont mind if Chile pass over Spain, if the Spanish dont step up their level like in 2010, they will come back home.
Del bosque has proven that he can find solutions, i believe he will do some changes to resolve the problem in defense.

For Costa : Obvious dive.

@Utrecht center (Netherlands) guys, FREAKINNNNN AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! Everyone went nuts... I dont know what to says...

WHAT AN Efreakin'PICCCC historic came back against the holding champion... sweet revenge.

"Im going shitface tonight, HAPPY NEW YEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN"

Spain is bound to Barca's style, they have had their up and down. Because of that they won the last 2 prestigious cups, and because of that they are in decline. Spain and Barca (and BM) recently play possession game, :( I feel tired to argue with people about Barca's initial tiki taka, there is no end of an era or style. They will be there and will always be the most attractive football style (again, Im not talking about possession game).

Ok, good luck Spain, wake up, refresh yourself and bounce back.

Congrats Tuan, you guys deserved it specially after Costa dive.

thanks @tiki_taka, yeahhh, we were concern but then everyone had the chance to dance, hug and kiss lolz. Sweet revenge :)

"I guess they were trolled as hell when they lost to Switzerland in 2010"
Difference in 2010 they lost by an lucky Swiss goal. In this game, The Netherland blew them out of the water and humiliated them.

Was Diego Costa playing Tiki-taka ? Of course not. So is every player who isn't in Barca.

" if you dont have good in form players, play any system you want you will loose..."

Yeah, Bayern didn't have good in form players this season, that explains it.. Who are you kidding?

Even if Silva scored that goal, I still could have seen Holland come back.

After the 2013 Confed, it was very clear that teams have learnt how to nuetralise the tiki taka model.

No "black magic" just a a tactic that is not as effective any longer.
Netherlands didn't just take there chances, they ripped Spain apart in the 2nd half. There is a difference.

If you want to sit there and tell me the best team won, took there chances it just shows everyone the fantasy World you live in and why you keep getting in these arguments all the time.

Look at the Spain squad with all their quality vs The Dutch squad. The result of the game can only be down to the tactics implemented because Spain have a much stronger squad. This is a huge upset that no one could have predicted so for you to say best team won proves my point that you are in denial. You just can't accept it, you just have to argue and argue with everyone all the time instead of trying to see things from an unbiased perspective.

The result had nothing to do with the players age or what % they could give. The way Del Bosque set them up is the same way he has done it in the past 3 competitions with the exception of Costa who is actually a striker instead of the way they played with a false 9.

End of an era of a team and it's playing style. The 7-0 stories, those events you'd like to block out like they didn't exist. You're larger than life team that played perfect football that could do no wrong got torn to shreds. Tika-taka is a philosophy taught from the La masia, a model introduced by Cruyff. So i'd imagine for you to see it so ineffective can be quite hard to take.

Saying tiki-taka is no longer effective means your entire system from academy all the way to the 1st team needs to be reevaluated. A daunting task. So it's much easier for you to remain in denial.

You know nothing about Italian football or what Era's the Milan teams are in presently. If you want to live in that bubble of yours that's fine, just don't drag Italian teams into this discussion to try and vindicate your delusions.

I will not be surprised if Spain fail to qualify out the group. I feel it's too late for Del Bosque to try and change the system which he was been using since 2009.

best gif edit ever, follow this link :

https://mediacru.sh/JWxTlaRoSSqN

Spain were not prepared mentally and physically for this game, maybe what they say is true, after having won everything, you lose your apetite for winning. I'm glad personnaly, because I can't stand tiki taka, and spain winning all their games 1-0 in 2010 was reeeeeally boring. Most boring world cup I remember that one. And like many others, I'm tired of spain winning everything, and a breath of fresh air would be nice to football in general.

Spain must learn different styles of play. I mean, there are other effective tactics other than tiki-taka.

guys please stay on topic. Italian football has nothing to do with the topic.

quoted myself there, Spain had to change their game, they didn't, they payed the consequences. Costa was an heterogeneous element yesterday.

Well, that certainly opened some eyes.

Spain were just out-classed, plain and simple. They came off second-best in every single department, from goalkeeping, through defense, into midfield, and most especially up front. The Dutch put into practice every trick that every team which has been playing (and beating) Barcelona have learned over the last 6 years.

Namely: defend deep and patiently, thus taking away Spain's chance to cut you open. Use pace and physicality to simply out-perform the more delicate and diminutive Spanish players as athletes. Let the Spanish have possession, and then force them to waste it, catching them on the counter.

It was just a masterclass from a team who showed that tiki-taka is far from being the only (or even the superior, currently) model of technical football. It was Bayern. It was Chelsea. It was Dortmund. It was Brazil, last year. It was 'long-ball', a-la Premier League.

It was an exhibition of every way in which Barcelona have been neutralized by top clubs from England, Germany, and even Italy when we include Inter.

Tiki-taka is not dead. But it is no longer the king of football. In order to remain competitive, Spain are going to have to rip up their old ryule-book, and start making some changes to their starting XI and the philosophy of those starters.

First up: Busquets. Had a decent first half, but was simply taken out of the game by Holland's midfield in the second. He just didn't know what to do. Finally we had the clearest evidence yet that, no, Busquets is not 'underrated' outside of Barcelona (and La Liga), but is merely overrated within Barcelona (and La Liga). He vanished from the game the moment De Jong and Sneijder figured out how to run circles around him. It's time he was replaced by someone new, with a better, more current view of the game. The only problem? Del Bosque hasn't brought anyone else for a DM role, except possibly Xabi Alonso, who would do a better job of it, quite frankly.

Xavi was just ineffectual. Again, in the first half he and Busquets did their usual job of pulling the strings and releasing Iniesta (who shone, today, even if Spain stunk), but again was just out-muscled and out-thought by the Dutch midfield after (and leading up to) the break at half-time. He's a reliable stand-by in a pinch, but Del Bosque needs to find a new architect; someone who embodies where Spain is going, not where it's been. I'd go for Koke, myself, but that's just opinion.

Silva was okay, but needs to have more cover. Iniesta and Silva worked together quite beautifully eary on, but once the Spanish heads started dropping, he just stopped getting service, and eventually stopped looking for it. I think it's harsh that he had to be the one making room for Cesc, but, it's not like anyone was expecting Cesc to change the result much by that point.

The midfield is just too 'Barcelona', and therefore too predictable, and nowadays too easy to deal with. Spain need to find that element of unpredictablity in midfield, and going forward. It's time they adopted the Atletico style, which has been derived from Mourinho's Madrid and the PL instead of being derived from Barcelona, who were beaten by Spanish opposition in every competition this year.

Unfortunately, Spain's Barcelona-based midfield is simply no longer the best in the world, any longer. Brazil humbled them last summer, and now Holland have done the same.

Forwards? Well, there's only Costa to really speak of, and he should have been sent off. Before that, his dubious penalty was the only impact he made on the entire game. Either Chelsea have bought a player not as good as his billing, or, Spain's Barcelona style is just not what Costa needs in order to flourish. More reasons to change it.

In defense, Ramos showed why he's a great player, but not that great, and Pique seemed there simply to make up the numbers. Alba? Good grief, he was destroyed by Robben; he simply isn't a good enough defender to be taking up that spot, no matter how many jinking runs he might make up front (which you'll notice was ZERO, in this match). Azpilicueta should be slotted in at LB, where he's more natural, and put Juanfran in at RB, to give the team an actual defense worth having. Even so, Azpi completely failed to stop Blind from dictating the game, so, it's not like Spain's squad is filled to the brim with excellent defenders.

Even more reason to change the midfield, since it clearly can't keep the defense safe in its current form.

Torres came on and at least worked hard. Cesc didn't achieve much, but, what could he have done by that point. Pedro had two minutes of glory when he created that offside chance for Silva, but otherwise did nothing at all.

Del Bosque needs to have a serious think about this, because after today? No-one is going to be scared to take the game to Spain, and that reputation, that aura of intimidation is half the reason Spain's midfield gets to boss their games in the first place.

As of precisely now, Xavi and Busquets are obsolete, compared to their rivals on other squads. Their time at the top is done. Iniesta is still amazing, and he and Silva could really create some beauty (along with Mata and Koke), but, the tiki-taka playbook needs to be scrapped if Spain want to even get close to the semi-finals. They may well still get to the second-round, since their group is otherwise easy for them, but unless they change their ways?

They'll get knocked out by a heavyweight (likely Brazil) the moment they make the step up.

End of an era? Yes, if that era is the era when Guardiola's system ruled the world.

The world, and the game, moves on. Well done, Oranje.

Shocked. They will porbably still quialify though

@Lodatz

exactly. we one talks about changing, make fluorish the game around Costa (a no9, in general), doesn't just mean to throw him into the game, but into an old system. that is the impression i had. playing a 9 involves serie of things, movements etc, stuff which i didn't see yesterday. it was same old soup + Costa. no depth.

what about 451 and bringing Navas into the game? del Bosque left him at home. great move.

@shpalman:

"but into an old system. that is the impression i had."

I agree. Let Koke and Silva, both of whom are well-used to finding lone-strikers, supply him, with Iniesta pulling the strings from deep. ANother route is definitely to put Navas on a wing and try to get in behind opposition defenses. Either way, I still stand by this, as an improvement:

http://footyroom.com/forum/football-talk/spain-world-cup-squad-58744/3/

Felt sorry for Casilias...he almost cried :(

@Lodatz

Play Reina instead of Casillas.

I thought that Alba did well today

Fabregas ahead of Silva/Alonso/Villa