del Bosque's 4-3-3 Spain 2012 // Tiki-Taka Symphony

Hi guys, welcome back to my channel, today I bring you back to 2012 when Spain won its last Euro Cup, the second in a row after the 2008 Euro Cup won under Luis Aragones. Besides, in 2010 Spain won the World Cup too.

It's true that in those years Spain benefited of Barcelona's success under Pep Guardiola and that many of Spain national team players were Barcelona stars (Iniesta, Jordi Alba,Pique、Fabregas, Xavi) and the other players came from Real Madrid (Sergio Ramos, Raul Albiol, Xabi Alonso) and other main teams like Chelsea (Torres), but we can't neglect the coach's importance. Since the main forward, Fernando Torres, was not playing very well, Del Bosque (who had already won everything as Real Madrid Coach, including the last Champions League won by the blancos before the Ancelotti era) decided to try something different and to adjust his tactic and playing style to adapt it to the players he had there. This is how he created a strikerless tactic that we can call 4-6-0 or a 4-3-3 with false 9.

Following Spain's historic Euro 2008 victory, their first major international trophy, former Real Madrid Champions League winner Vicente Del Bosque was appointed to elevate the team's performance further.

The summer of 2008 also marked the debut of another prominent manager in Spain: Pep Guardiola at Barcelona. By coincidence, both the greatest club team and one of the greatest international teams began their dominant eras simultaneously, in the same country, and with similar tactics.

This episode focuses on Del Bosque’s Spain for two reasons: firstly, tactical analyses of Guardiola are plentiful and frequently featured on Match of the Day, making my input unnecessary; secondly, Del Bosque’s tiki-taka style was distinct, presenting a more extreme variation of Barcelona’s approach.

Spanish Innovation Takes Center Stage
While Guardiola secured league titles and European Cups with intense pressing, quick passing, and the genius of a diminutive Argentinian, Del Bosque had a different set of players. A key difference was the adaptability of Andres Iniesta – primarily an attacking midfielder at Barcelona, Iniesta played wider for Spain, becoming part of the front three in the 4-3-3 formation, while Busquets, Alonso, and Xavi formed the midfield trio.

This configuration meant having four central midfielders on the pitch simultaneously – all of them technical maestros, creating a formula for exceptional passing play.

The approach was effective in 2010, as evidenced by Spain’s World Cup victory. Hard pressing and quick passing were the hallmarks of their style, but it wasn’t as extreme as what they showcased in 2012, which I find a more fascinating tactical setup.

During the World Cup, the team still featured a traditional striker (usually David Villa, sometimes Fernando Torres) and a winger (Pedro or Jesus Navas). However, in Euro 2012, Del Bosque bewildered opponents by placing Cesc Fabregas in the central “striker” role and using attacking midfielder David Silva on the wing, opposite Iniesta.

Midfield Mastery
Spain employed six midfielders, all playmakers, in front of one of the most technically proficient back fours in history. This strategy enabled them to complete 510 passes in the Euro 2012 Final against Italy. The Italians struggled to compete, despite fielding a diamond midfield brimming with talent. Italy thought they had dominated the midfield with four players, but Spain outdid them with six.

Spain triumphed 4-0, averaging 11 passes per minute in possession, or one pass every 5 seconds. Italy couldn’t cope with Spain's relentless ball movement and pressing, facilitated by the six-man midfield. Adding to this was the young Jordi Alba constantly advancing down the left wing, overwhelming the opposition.

With Silva and Iniesta moving into the half-spaces and Fabregas playing as a central attacking midfielder (despite being the furthest forward), Spain consistently outnumbered their opponents.

I created two tactics, one without any strikers and a narrow three attacking midfielder line and the other with two wingers (with the AP role) and one single striker with the false 9 role, that was Fabregas role. In the first one you will see that narrow attacking midfielder line that was made by Iniesta, Fabregas and David Silva. In the second one, David Silva and Iniesta play as wingers but still with the AP role because they did not exploit the flanks, they created density iand kept possession n the central area just in front of the opponent's box creating overloads. In the first tactic, Fabregas role is a Shadow striker because this way he can move vertically forward to the box and receive vertical passes from his mates, at the beginning, I wanted to use the SS role for all the three attacking midfielders but after some tries, I decided not to do it because using the same roles (2-3 players with the same role in the same line) will break the game and I do not want to use any cheat tricks when I do my tactics.

You can use these tactic also with non-elite teams. Tested with Real Sociedad, finished 3rd in La Liga and won the Copa Del Rey.

A hug from your tikitakamaster

Screenshots