Spanish football journalist Dermot Corrigan has said that criticism of Spain Coach Fernando Hierro has started to surface after a close 1-0 victory against Iran.
Speaking to OTB AM, Corrigan said that the Spanish media have been kind to Hierro since he was given the job. “Up until last night he had got an easy ride and he is a respected figure, he’s a guy who played so many times for Spain, he’s played at four different world cups for Spain - he won everything with Real Madrid as well.”
However Spain’s narrow victory has produced some negative feedback. “Playing Lucas Vazquez got a little bit of criticism, he’s a Madrid winger who came into the team and didn’t do very well at all last night and got taken off.”
The Madrid based journalist believes Hierro’s situation given his lack of experience and how he got the job has been an influence. “It’s not his forte really, you feel a little bit for him because he has been punched into the job, organising the team, talking about tactics is not something he’s very used to.”
Corrigan also commented on reports that certain players are not happy with how the team is set up. “It goes back to Lopetegui’s time as well with Costa in the team to try to maybe have a lot of the ball but also have a counter attacking threat, to sit a little bit deeper than Spain are used to and then try and launch Costa in behind.
“That doesn’t really suit people like Busquets and Iniesta. I saw Busquets struggle a lot last night when Iran were able to counter and get on the ball and hit Spain quickly on the break.
“I think that’s something that is starting now to come out a little bit more people are starting to talk a bit more about the issues within the team rather than the politics around it or all the drama around it when Lopetegui went.”
Hierro has also been talking to the Spanish media about his strategy for the world cup. “His message has been he’s trying to touch as little as possible from what Lopetegui did, he’s stayed out of the politics he hasn’t exactly backed the Spanish federation President, Rubiales, who’s gone very quiet, he’s understandably keeping a low profile after what happened last week”, Corrigan said.
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