Spain vs England TACTICS Euro 2024 Final

Spain and England have reached the Euro 2024 final. Two contradictory styles of play, until now, got to the final of the tournament facing a wide array of opponents and playing styles.

Spain have been consistent throughout the tournament, playing with the same tactical setup. Ok, maybe against France they started in a formation closer to a 4-2-3-1, but they ended up in the same 4-3-3 we got used to by now.

Spain has surprised their opponents with players that got into unusual positions. Like the left full back – Marc Cucurella – who often drifted inside, pushing the left central midfielder onto the flank and the left winger more centrally.

When Rodrid got up in possession as well, this created an overload on the left flank. Which prompted the right full back and winger to request the pass, receiving it and then driving into an open space.

This pattern of play repeated itself throughout the tournament. So how did they do it?

You should know that Spain’s tactic was covered before on this channel – preview for the game against Germany. But stick around, as the formation was slightly different against France.

As said, a 4-3-3 formation. With a sweeper keeper on defend duty in goal. In front of him we have two full backs on attack duty and two ball playing defenders on defend duty.

The full backs often overlap, but not aggressively like the wing backs. They gradually go up the pitch in possession.

On the left flank, Marc Cucurella regularly drifted inside, which I tried to recreate by asking him to cut inside with the ball.

It’s not ideal, but he was not an inverted wing back either.

Both full backs are asked to stay wider.

Rodri is a difficult player to assign a role to. He could be a deep lying playmaker, but the way the game sees this role is not 100% suitable to Rodri. I chose the regista one as he can be aggressive in possession, pushing up the field, creating overloads at times.

He also needs to be passing hub of his team. Playing pinpoint passes when needed.

The two central midfielders were assigned a roaming playmaker and a mezzala on support duty. Pedri played more like a central/attacking midfielder, but Dani Olmo also helped the possession game on the left flank against France.

For this reason, I chose the roaming playmaker role for him.

Fabian Ruiz may not be a mezzala all the time, but in the game, this role interprets very well how Fabian Ruiz played at times – switching places with Marc Cucurella and Nico Williams.

In front, a winger on support for Lamine Yamal. We need him to start from a wider position and cut inside when the opportunity presents itself.

On the left flank, we have an inverted winger on attack. We need Nico Williams to start from a wider position, but then to cut inside and dribble more.

And Morata has been assigned a deep lying forward role on attack duty. Against France, his role changed, as he dropped deeper to get involved in the passing game, which took away from his goalscoring abilities.

As mentality, positive.

In possession, fairly wide attacking width, play out of defence, shorter passing directness and slightly higher tempo. Low crosses and run at defence.

Against previous opponents, Spain worked the ball into the box, but against France they did not seem to do so.

In transition, counter-press, counter and distribute the ball to the defence through short kicks.

Out of possession, high press and a higher defensive line. Trigger press more often and prevent the goalkeeper short distribution.

England, though, did not play an expansive football until now, but focused on the result.

What they did more than Spain was to switch their formation around. Starting in a 4-2-3-1 against Serbia, then switching to a 4-3-3 against Slovenia and ending up in a 3-4-3 against the Netherlands.

We will focus on the 3-4-3. With a sweeper keeper on defend duty.

In front of him, a wide center back on support duty for Kyle Wlaker, a central defender on defend duty for John Stones and a ball playing defender on defend duty for Marc Guehi.

Marc Guehi is told to stay wider when in possession, to cover for Kieran Trippier’s forward runs in case of counterattacks.

Kobie Mainoo and Declan Rice proved to be difficult to choose roles for. But I settled on a Segundo volante on support duty for Kobie Mainoo and a defensive midfielder on defend duty for Declan Rice.

Get further forward and tackle harder for Kobie Mainoo. He played a little more aggressively with and without the ball against Netherlands than he did in previous games.

And tackle harder for Declan Rice.

Complete wing back on attack duty for Bukayo Saka. Unconventional, but Bukayo Saka did defend at times, helping Kyle Wlaker on the right flank and containing Cody Gakpo very well.

And a wing back on attack duty for Kieran Trippier.

Dribble more and cut inside for Bukayo Saka and cross more often for Kieran Trippier.

Phil Foden seemed to play without a designated role until now in the tournament. For this reason, I chose a trequartista role for him, as this role is very expansive in the game and gives the player the freedom to roam around.

Jude Bellingham has played more like a passer, picking-up the ball from wide areas and bringing it into the central zones.

For this reason, he was assigned an attacking midfielder role on attack duty. With the instructions of roaming from position and staying wider.

And a deep lying forward role on attack duty for Harry Kane.

As mentality, positive.

In possession, fairly wide attacking width, play out of defence, shorter passing directness and a standard tempo.

Until the semi final, England played using a lower or a slightly lower tempo. But in the semi final, they upped the tempo a bit, which also helped their attacking game.

Mixed crosses, play for set pieces and be more disciplined. What the be more disciplined option does is to ask the players to attack as a group, focusing on the tactical shape.

In transition counter-press, counter and distribute the ball to the defence through short kicks.

Out of possession high press, a higher defensive line, trigger press more often and prevent the goalkeeper short distribution.

There is every chance that both managers are going to change their tactical setup in order to surprise.

The final match is also going to be an expression or not of how each team was described throughout the tournament.

Irrespective of how the game is going to be played, one thing is certain. One generation of players is going to receive the reward for their hard work.