Vicente Del Bosque hits back at critics of Spain's style of play

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Vicente Del Bosque has been in charge of Spain since 2008 after three spells with Madrid.©SNS Group

Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque has hit back at critics who say his side are not as good as the 2010 or 2008 vintages.

The Spanish laboured to a 1-0 win over Croatia, needing a late winner from Jesus Navas to see off a spirited Croatia side that had several chances.

However, Del Bosque believes that the scrutiny his team is under is unfair, and the Spanish are only just getting started.

He told the UEFA website: "Last night I decided to review the whole game and now I've got quite a different view than most of the judges who say we were so bad.

"I just don't think that. OK, Croatia threatened us from time to time, but in general terms, we did things well.

"I didn't think that we stretched the game enough, so that meant there was always a threat of them creating a chance and converting it."

Ivan Rakitic produced a spectacular save from Iker Casillas when he probably should have scored, while Dario Srna also had a good chance to put the Croats ahead.

Despite these scares, Del Bosque feels his country were in control of the match.

"There is a lot of concern about 'did we make it too hard for ourselves?', 'did Rakitic nearly score?', but the things we did well were important.

"Perhaps Rakitic and Srna had chances but that was it, pretty much.

"The rest of the evening we dominated. The fact that Croatia had one good chance doesn't mean that they were on top."

The former Real Madrid manager believes he is open to criticism, and will take on any points suggested, but only if they have merit.

He concluded: "All criticism has its place if it's constructive and not just people letting off steam in the heat of the moment.

"I'd ask some fans to stay calm. Everyone thinks they knows better than the coach, but I think we've done pretty well so far."

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