Price of loyalty, reputation over form, in the World Cup

In the 73rd minute of England's opening World Cup clash against Italy, Roy Hodgson made a substitution.

At 2-1 down and chasing the game against a resolutely stable Italian back line, Jordan Henderson was withdrawn for Jack Wilshere and in one fell swoop, England's chances of getting back into this match was over.

In a game where the Amazonian weather devastated the Englishmen (surprising that multiple England internationals collapsed with cramps and not a single Italian), Hodgson took into account reputation first, which ultimately weakened the Three Lions' attempts at finding an equaliser.

Henderson, who had a progressive full season at Liverpool, performed admirably as England's midfield engine, tirelessly running and cutting off passing space for Italy's technically adept midfielders.

Being paired with Steven Gerrard in front of the central defence did not alleviate matters for Henderson – Gerrard's role as a "deep-lying playmaker" was disappointing greatly, despite the occasional Hollywood pass he has become accustomed to launching.

His presence failed to stop Daniele De Rossi and even Andrea Pirlo in and around England's defensive third and one cannot help but wonder if England had brought along the one player most suitable to lying deep, possessing deft timing and positioning (Michael Carrick, for the uninformed), perhaps the outcome would have been different.

Of course, "hindsight is 20/20", etc. The fact of the matter is, removing an in-form and not overawed defensive midfielder for Arsenal "superstar" Jack Wilshere, to partner an aging and knackered No. 4 (for England, or 8 for Liverpool), whose stamina was a far cry from his legendary mid-2000s, self-destructed any English hopes on mounting a concentrated effort at preventing Italy taking "Rumble in the Amazon".

For all of Gerrard's talents, grabbing the game by the scruff of its neck is not one of them, as he takes far too long to release the ball when in possession, slowing the tempo of a match down. Definitely not the ideal situation when facing a deficit.

The day before, reigning world and European champions Spain proved that England were not alone in prioritising reputation over form, then subsequently being eviscerated by a determined and ruthlessly efficient Dutch team.

It mattered little to Vicente Del Bosque that he was going with Iker Casillas in goal out of loyalty, despite the latter's lack of playing time this season.

Ultimately though, Casillas's heartfelt apology for his performance after the match, taking responsibility for what must have been a nightmare evening, sadly proved Del Bosque wrong.

Similarly, his loyalty to Xavi Hernandez, whose legendary status as a footballer is untouchable, despite carrying a battle-weary body after a draining, mediocre season at club level for FC Barcelona.

For all his talents, Xavi's inability to exert himself on the defensive end was exploited often by a counter-attacking Dutch side happy with overloading the centre of the park.

His body was failing him, but his heart did not. There was one vintage Xavi moment, a delightful through ball for Diego Costa (the next culprit on our list further down) to win the penalty that gave Spain the lead.

After going 2-1 down, Del Bosque made his first tactical switch in the 62nd minute, taking off Xabi Alonso and replacing him with Pedro.

On paper, the switch provided Spain with added attacking bite, but in reality this substitution doomed Sergio Busquets to a final half hour desperately attempting to leak gaps, left by Xavi's inability to track back.

A sensible switch would have been Xavi for Pedro, keeping Alonso's pinpoint passes from deep as well as his positional skills in front of the defence (sound familiar?) and turning into a more conventional 4-2-3-1 with considerably less burden on Busquets.

The Dutch then harried Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos, who were looking for an open midfielder they would never find, and the Oranje took the Spaniards apart with aplomb.

Finally, let me talk about Diego Costa. The Brazilian born (and who, lest we forget, represented the Selecao in friendlies against Russia and Greece last year), Spanish naturalised forward was a big risk on this, the world's biggest football stage.

A striker of considerable talent but coming into the World Cup lacking match fitness (freshly recovered from a serious hamstring injury in an astonishingly short period of time), and his failure to adapt to the Spanish national side's style of play was apparent for all to see.

He is the right piece for the wrong puzzle. Warm-up matches are when new players should be experimented with, not thrown into the deep end of the complex footballing system adhered to by La Roja.

Then, in more mind-boggling fashion (on the same "reputation over form" argument) Fernando Torres was chosen to replace Costa.

And this was while David Villa, Spain's all-time top goalscorer was left on the bench, Alvaro Negredo and Fernando Llorente were both left out of the first 22 this time around.

For David Villa, it seems a season that started with a bang individually and slowed as the year went on cost him. How Torres got the nod (Villa still scored more goals in all competitions than the much-maligned Chelsea man) beggars belief though.

The loyalty of a man to his country is ingrained within himself, but to pledge allegiance to individuals must be limited to what they bring to the table.

Loyalty is all well and good, but this is the World Cup we are talking about – the biggest single sporting event in the world, outside of the Olympics.

It is a tournament designed to crown the best football team in the world.

The Italians paid the price for loyalty in 2010, crashing out in South Africa with a squad built on loyalty – time waits for no man, yet every man must know when the right time is.

To prevent Spain turning into Italy circa 2010, loyalty must be set aside for practicality.

Surely, it is not treason for selecting players based on their ability? – June 16, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.