England expose sorry Spain defence to leave Luis Enrique facing tactical rethink

When the half-time whistle sounded in Seville, Spain were utterly shellshocked.

After three straight wins under Luis Enrique, La Roja found themselves 3-0 down at home to England – their defence brutally exposed by Gareth Southgate’s side.

During the interval, the Spanish fans in Betis’ Benito Villamarin stadium hoped for the best, but feared the worst.

Would there be a comeback from their team or a continuation of England’s dominant display. The latter was unthinkable. And to Spain’s credit, a reaction did follow.

Their players were out early for the second half, which is often a sign that a team has a point to prove.

The second half was indeed much better from the home side, and although insufficient to avoid a defeat, some pride was salvaged. Humiliation evaded.

“At the break, I was marvellous,” Luis Enrique said afterwards. “The normal thing would have been to kill the players, but I strengthened them and I didn’t make changes.”

It was a bizarre boast. Because while it is true that Spain significantly improved in the second half and could even have claimed a draw, La Roja were woeful in the opening 45 minutes. Was that not also the coach’s responsibility?

Some of it was and Spain’s defence was dreadful. Skipper Sergio Ramos was caught out on all three of England’s goals as attackers got in behind him, while his centre-back partnership with Nacho never seemed secure. Why should it be, though, when the latter is not even first choice at Real Madrid?

Both are good players. However, Nacho should not be a starter for Spain when he is not for his club and Ramos is so often caught out of position, prone to a worrying lack of concentration for a player of his experience.

“We committed errors that were penalised with goals,” he said afterwards. At least he admitted it.

But he was not alone. Left-back Marcos Alonso was caught out of position for England’s opening goal and failed to recover.

The Chelsea defender also endured a miserable evening and the exclusion of Barcelona’s Jordi Alba remains baffling. Surely it is time for Luis Enrique to swallow his pride and recall the Catalan now, despite their differences.

“We have to charge our batteries,” Luis Enrique said. “We will analyse players and think about the next list.”

Alba simply must be on it because, as Ramos rightly said on Sunday, he is “one of the best full-backs in the world”.

Wolves right-back Jonny may not get another chance soon, though. The former Celta Vigo defender looked out of his depth at this level and his experience of playing in England did not help. “We knew they could cause us damage on the break and they did in three separate counter-attacks,” he said.

Behind the defence, David De Gea could do little to stop any of the goals. His place is still secure, yet even he did not appear to be in harmony with his team-mates on occasions and plenty of work is now needed after this reality check for Luis Enrique’s side.

Gerard Pique is no longer available and needs to be replaced. At least nobody can blame the Barca centre-back now when Spain concede, which was a common occurrence before. His former club colleague Marc Bartra, who would have loved to have played this match at the home of his current side Betis, is definitely worth a try at centre-back.

Dani Carvajal will be back on the right when he returns from injury, while his Madrid team-mate Alvaro Odriozola is also a far better bet than Jonny on tonight’s evidence, but it remains to be seen what will happen with Alba.

On another day, Spain might have rescued something from this game. Had Rodrigo Moreno been awarded a penalty after he was fouled by Jordan Pickford, La Roja would likely have come away with at least a draw.

As it was, their goals – from substitute Paco Alcacer and Ramos deep into added time – merely served to brush over the team’s defensive deficiencies from the first half.

“The next list will be interesting,” the coach reiterated afterwards. So too will the next match, away to Croatia on November 15.

Because Spain’s place in the Uefa Nations League semi-finals was all but guaranteed and it is now in doubt, with all three teams in the group now able to advance. Back to the defensive drawing board for Luis Enrique.