Spain were sent packing from the World Cup following their round of 16 clash with Morocco.

The Spaniards played their tiki taka style with mostly Barcelona players and enjoyed more than 78% ball possession in the game against Morocco but they failed to score a single goal in the game and crashed out after losing 3-0 on penalties.

Carlo Ancelotti was asked about his thoughts on Spain’s tiki-taka style of play, which proved ineffective at the World Cup, and Ancelotti hailed his rather direct play which also defeated Manchester City in the Champions League final last season.

“I’m not ashamed to stay behind and look for the counter, even though I have quality players,” Ancelotti replied.

“With wingers like Vinicius and Mbappe, once you win the ball if you don’t look for the vertical pass, you are a criminal,” Ancelotti said laughing.

“Mourinho is the greatest among all of us, and he said that he won many games with defence and counterattack.”