La Roja must turn to next generation

Spain must trust in their philosophy but trust their youth to enact it

Keeping faith with past-their-time players such as Iker Casillas and Xavi Hernandez was the ultimate reason for Spain’s shocking first-round World Cup exit. But the tiki-taka philosophy which brought La Roja such success through recent tournaments does not now necessarily need to be turfed out.

Successive defeats to Holland (5-1) and Chile (2-0) meant Vicente Del Bosque’s side became the first team to be eliminated from this year’s competition, on Wednesday night, while also being the first World Cup holders to be eliminated just two games into the next tournament.