Former Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello has discussed about Spain’s poor performance performing at the World Cup 2014. Despite going into the competition as the current champions, Spain were knocked out at the group stage after suffering two defeats against Netherlands and Chile. Even more disappointing was that they conceded eight goals in these two matches, which is far cry from the impressive defensive record that they had during the previous World Cup. A lot of criticism has been pouring on manager Vicente del Bosque.

Despite being aware of the weaknesses in the squad from the loss in the Confederations Cup the previous summer, Vicente del Bosque stuck with the same group of players. His choice of strikers were also not clear since he went for the out of sorts Chelsea forward Fernando Torres while leaving out Juventus forward Fernando Llorente, who had been performing well in recent months. Capello, however, says that criticism should not be directed at del Bosque since he feels that the former Real Madrid boss did a good job in that regard.

It is seen as the end of the era for the Spanish national team, which has been not only immensely successful in the last six years but also created a blueprint for other teams to follow.

“Del Bosque is a great coach and friend.  Whenever football begins a cycle, it must conclude, because coaches figure out how to stop it.  That’s what happened. Spain had many chances but they paid dearly for each failure.  That’s the truth.  Coaches study their rival’s styles, as was the case with Holland.  Teams didn’t allow Spain to retain possession for that long of time, like they did in the past. Quick counterattacks created a lot of problems for Spain.  Every time the Spaniards made a mistake, it was a death sentence,” said Capello.