Spain's defense is cause for concern

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Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesAlthough Spain defeated Chile in a friendly on Sept. 2, Iker Casillas and La Roja conceded two goals.

I don't quite know if there are as many ingenious inhabitants of Houston as there seemed to be when NASA was at its most productive. But if there are, Spain should get in touch with the Lone Star State's largest city. Because, Houston, it has a problem.

Even though the Netherlands has dethroned La Roja at the top of the FIFA world rankings, they remain the outfit with which the world's neutrals are most in love. Creativity, passing movements that make you swoon and a commitment to doing things beautifully are the elements that make Spain many people's "second team."

Let me assure you that despite Xavi confirming to me during the World Cup in South Africa that "Johan Cruyff is right -- we are in a battle for the soul of our game," it is winning matches and tournaments that drives this generation of Spanish footballers. They want to play with panache, honesty and goals. But above all, they want to win.

Their problem? For four years, Spain's immense ability to conquer all opponents was built on a rock-solid premise -- it didn't concede goals.

OK, it was one of the least often highlighted aspects of the evolution under managers Luis Aragones (2004-08) and then Vicente Del Bosque. But between November 2006 and that remarkable defeat to the U.S. in the 2009 Confederations Cup, Spain went 35 matches unbeaten, and conceded only 11 times. When it won Euro 2008, it didn't concede a goal in its final three matches -- victories over Italy, Russia and Germany.

At last year's World Cup, the road might have been a little bumpy but Spain's SatNav steered the players to four consecutive 1-0 wins, against Portugal, Paraguay, Germany and the Netherlands, when there was no margin for error. To me, they have always seemed almost miraculous stats.

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Clive Mason/Getty ImagesSpain clearly struggles when Carles Puyol is out injured, which is becoming an increasingly regular occurrence.

After that Jozy Altidore-inspired defeat, Del Bosque's team racked up 13 matches without losing, but also conceded 13 times. Last season, there was a spell when La Roja shipped 11 goals in only four games and they have only been capable of going eight, five and now two games unbeaten in the period between losing to Portugal 4-0 on Nov. 17, 2010 -- at the time Spain's worst loss in 47 years -- and this week. Since the World Cup, La Roja have conceded 18 goals in 14 matches.

The length of Spain's undefeated runs keeps diminishing, and its air of impermeability is in tatters.

Given all that the ESPN readers understand about football and the arguments put forward in this column over the past two seasons, it would be facile to suggest that the problem only has one root: Carles Puyol's injuries. Nevertheless, his absences are increasingly regular and their impact abundantly clear.

But when he and I talked about Spain's wondrous ability to conjure up late goals, it was Puyol who stated the Spain (and Barca) credo more clearly than anyone else. "It is not because we are fitter than other teams, mentally or physically," he told me. "It's because we keep the ball so well, press the ball when the other team has possession and make them chase us so much that by the time the interval comes along they are often relaxing, and by the end of the match they are usually exhausted."

While Spain may not be defending quite so well as a unit when its opponents get near Iker Casillas' goal, it is clearly the case that Del Bosque's team is either maintaining possession less effectively, pressing less adequately or passing with diminished returns. Could Puyol's absence, particularly the loss of his still-startling pace, be causing Spain's back line to defend a little more deeply? It looks that way.

Could the absence of his commanding presence and his regularly barked instructions to those around him again be diminishing Spain's competitiveness when it should be pushing up the pitch aggressively and "squeezing" space? Again, that's the way it seems from an objective point of view.

In the 14 games since defeating the Netherlands in extra time at Soccer City, the world champion has been immensely erratic. It has qualified for the defense of its Euro title next summer (a mauling of wee Liechtenstein 6-0 on Tuesday took care of that). But Spain has not yet -- repeat, not yet -- eradicated all the ill feeling accumulated during the recent sequence of six Clasicos between Real Madrid and Barcelona. It also has an ongoing difficulty in recuperating the form of their once-talismanic striker Fernando Torres.

And Puyol, who is 33, is still recovering from the type of knee surgery that all athletes dread. He is strong of mind and massively powerful physically. His left arm bears a tattoo, written in Tibetan, which testifies to how much weight he places on mental fortitude. But Father Time is unstoppable and he is marching in Puyol's direction. His onetime fellow stalwarts, Carlos Marchena and Joan Capdevila, appear to be on borrowed time with Del Bosque, let alone the mythical man with the scythe over his shoulder. And Raul Albiol? He's a game fella but is not a world-class defender.

During the past week, Del Bosque has used two midfielders, Javi Martinez and Sergio Busquets, as central defenders. It has been a moderate success. But as a future policy, it is unsustainable.

So there are issues to deal with, including the fact that if proposals to fly La Roja to South Africa and China in November for friendlies are executed, Del Bosque's men will have played on five continents in fewer than five full months. They will never admit it publically, but for some of the players who absolutely burst with pride when representing their nation competitively, the red shirt worn during friendly matches is beginning to weigh more heavily.

Put bluntly: The players feel like they are representing the entrepreneurial television-rights company Santa Monica. It's this entity, not the Spanish Federation, that chooses Del Bosque's fixtures between competitive matches.

It's always harder to stay on top than to get there in the first place. And cost of winning again next summer will probably be higher than in either of Spain's previous two tournament victories. With some good fortune injury-wise, with good football husbandry on the part of Del Bosque and with the same lucky breaks every single tournament winner always requires, I would still put Spain as the favorite to stand on the podium in Kiev next summer.

But to get there, La Roja may need help from Houston … or its footballing equivalent.

Graham Hunter is a Barcelona-based freelance writer for ESPN.com who specializes in La Liga and the Spanish national team. You can reach him on Twitter at twitter.com/BumperGraham.

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Graham Hunter

ESPN.com freelance columnist

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Graham Hunter is a Barcelona-based freelance writer for ESPN.com who specializes in La Liga and the Spanish national team.