Netherlands 5-1 Spain: Spanish crown slipping as Dutch dominate

It was the score that resonated around the world. As the World and European Champions left the Arena Fonte Nova pitch on Saturday evening with 5-1 still looming large on the scoreboard, it required more than a double take to notice that it was not the Netherlands, but Spain who had been handed the five goal thrashing.

There had been some murmurings about the “end of an era” prior to Spain taking the pitch – the age of key figures Xavi and Xabi Alonso combined with the fact that repeating a World Cup is rare at best and near impossible at worst. But the manner in which La Roja have seemingly fallen was as shocking as the score itself.

Those murmurs will ring loud now, as questions will be as difficult to deal with as the Oranje were last night. How was a team that two years ago exited Euro 2012 after losing every game able to cut through Spain like this? Robben was just as fast in 2010, yet it seemed like Spain had forgotten how to run.

Vicente Del Bosque will be under pressure to make wholesale changes – Iker Casillas, Spain captain and symbol of the Iberian’s world domination over the last six years was at times a shell of him as several costly mistakes helped ramp up the embarrassment. Two years after imploring referee Pedro Proenca to stop the Euro 2012 final against Italy as Spain led 4-1 against the 10 man Azzurri, the Madrid goalkeeper was perhaps wishing someone would do the same for him.

It’s unlikely that Del Bosque will consider changing what has been so successful in the past, but philosophical ponderings are now turning into tactical demands from supporters believing that Spain’s defeat is another example that the passing game is representative of a previous generation.

It can be argued that it was a freak result, a debate that historical evidence would certainly back up. After Stefan De Vrij gave the Dutch a 3-1 lead Spain seemed to mentally check out of the game, one where they were apathetic and lackadaisical defensively to begin with. Following the third, the game seemed to take on an almost schoolyard quality where the fastest child outruns a seething mass of his peers. In last night’s game, that child was Arjen Robben.

Spain will go into the two remaining group games mentally rattled following the defeat, but focused on proving the now growing choir of doubters wrong. They faced similar questions following a defeat to Switzerland in 2010 before going on to win the World Cup, but even the most ardent Spaniard will agree this is somewhat different.

The Dutch’s ability to punish Spain’s highline and poor defensive positioning is a method that Brazil utilised to perfection in the 2013 Confederations Cup win and is also what Jupp Heynckes Bayern Munich did to Barcelona in the semi-finals of the 2012/13 Champions League. Real Madrid’s rout of Pep Guardiola’s pass-happy Munich side in the season just past is perhaps another example.

It appears that there is a developing blueprint in how to deal with sides that adopt the “Spanish approach”, which is surfacing against the innovators that kick-started the modern possession revolution in the first place. Whether Spain, like their rivals, can prove to be assertive with a “Plan B” could be what defines their success now and in the future.

Perhaps the most worrying thing from a Spanish perspective is in the space of 90 minutes the question of "will Spain retain the World Cup" is now "can they retain the World Cup." Football tacticians have questioned their approach, but never their ability. The ease in which Louie Van Gaal's side were able to cut through an awful Spanish defence was astonishing and those questions of about the legitimacy of their World Cup bid only grow louder as Spain risk failing to make it out of their group.

The crown is still atop of Spain following their Dutch disaster. But it is slipping.