Why still choose torres del bosque? Becoz he score in the final when spain win euro 2008? That 4 years ago la....soldado or adrian more worth this days..haishh..

so frustrated after no Soldado and Adrian, why on earth still have Torres

Well i think torres has the experience the team needs(He's a regular for spain in euro 2008 and WC 2010). He might not have performed that well last season, but i think he's still vital to the spain national team.(Without david villa around)

This post has been edited by mrkenn: May 30 2012, 02:02 AM

espana vs daehanminguk 2am. anyone got stream link?

Torres scored btw

nice goal by the korean.

How come soldado still in the team??Del Bosque not trim his squad yet??

1-1 vs Italy : Fabregas!

aiyaaaa torres should have scored 2 goals....

torres should have square the ball to jesus navas instead of trying to lob the buffon.....wrong decision

but i doubt someone in the spain camp can run like torres.. beating defender like that..

spain created more good chances with torres in the squad for me..

but torres still cant deliver for me..but he able to create..

Torres, his finishing are poor last night, but since he came in, Spain looked more likely to score because he a real striker and know how to position himself..

Torres or Llorente /Negredo need to start on the next game to give Spain a better chance to score.. dropped one of Fabregas /Silva /Iniesta. they are not bad, just give more balance on final 3rd.

Spain are playing too cautious here...need to be more adventurous like before...Ireland & Croatia are there to tapau one

Anyone watching the game by streaming? Any links?

VdB (Vincent del Bosque) is one heck of a lucky man.

He is basically just putting out the safest option match after match for years and hope that the players themselves will find a way to score. He is such a lucky manager who has the most worlds best players in one team and instead of maximizing their potential, he plays it safe.

He has been using this cautious approach for far too long.
He needs to be more adventurous in order to win a tournament.

Here are some of the reasons why I think that he is not a good tactician.

1) Navas
The last straw for me was when he took out Torres for Navas.
Navas is an out and out winger.
He is as one dimensional as you can get.
Very predictable.

Just in case you are not following La Liga, you would've probably noticed him
continually trying to go the the byline even though there are already 2 defenders stationed there.
It is so painfully obvious that his only mission is to go there.
That is what he does for Seville all the time!

Many times the defenders don't even need to stick their legs out because Navas' cross will hit the defenders body 90% of the time.

My choice, would've been to add another striker because Torres was clearly outnumbered.
Put Llorente or Negredo in.
Or if he really wants some width, put Pedro in who is a wide-forward.

What does VdB do?
Put a winger in and take out the striker?
So who if Navas' cross does land in the penalty box, who is going to head it in now that Torres is out?

2) Alonso
Spain is a possession based team ala Barca. Spain will always dominate the ball possession so what is the point of having 2 DM's in Alonso and Busquets??!! Alonso is not a great defender and not good in attack. I don't see his purpose in this team.

Notice how Alonso stands in passing lanes at times between Xavi and the player who is taking the ball out of Spain's half.

Alonso is a DM/CM hybrid but Spain already has 6 midfielders in the team. Take Alonso out and it will be the same if not better.

I'd like to think that it will be better.

Yes, his long balls are good. But not for a possession based team who relies on short passes. Most of the time the Spanish players are in their opponents half so the long ball game is not needed. How many times has it been useful so far? Alonso will be useful in a counter attack team or a possession team that focuses in a lightning fast counter attacks ala Madrid.

Why not use a tried and tested method of Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets[COLOR=red]?

Because of Alonso's inclusion, Iniesta who is Spain's spark, is moved to LW where is much more less effective.
Iniesta should be in the middle besides Xavi.
How many titles has these format won?
Why fix something that ain't broken?

Look how fluid they were in the last World Cup whenever Alonso went out.
I don't want to use the Ireland match as an example because they were Ireland.

Another disadvantage of having Alonso in the team is that it takes up 1 more attacking player out like Cesc, Pedro, Llorente.

3) Arbeloa
Are there seriously no better RB in Spain? He has been given a free pass for 3 matches now by the opposition. Nobody ever marked his runs. Sometimes it looked like he was a RW. One that no opponent gives two f*cks about. Every time he get's the ball, he will lose it.

Why not put Ramos back at RB?

4) Silva
Is is similar to Alonso's problem in the team but in midfield/attack.

How many midfielders does VdB want? They have been in each other's way million times now. Please stop using Silva like this. In this set-up he is more useful as an impact sub.
Clearly VdB is trying to use Silva in a false 9, similar to Messi for Barca.

5) VdB clearly watches Barca and thinks that he can use the same tactic but is confused by it.
If he really wants he has to follow the Barca way and not changing it with Silva or Navas.


These players in this formation is a must.

Casillas
Ramos - Martinez - Pique - Alba
Busquets
Xavi -Iniesta
Cesc

**Some people have comprehension problem and start to troll this topic.
Those players I mentioned above are key to this team.
The rest are up for grabs.

Why is it so hard for Malaysians not to troll?
I don't understand, if you don't have any constructive comment, then just rock on with your life.
Don't troll.

This post has been edited by barca96: Jun 19 2012, 08:14 PM

you use 4-3-1 formation ? yet you say you better than De Bosque

Nice thread, although there's already a thread for spain national team. Similarly i asked a madrid fan why not put ramos at right back? He told me ramos is clumsy. Things would become even worse if he plays right back. Basically, he's better at centre back. If u have watched him playing for madrid, there are a lot of "scary" moments from ramos. Another RB, maybe juanfran?

I'm ok with torres playing upfront. I don't think he's that terrible. I know there are other options like negredo and llorente. But if u see, torres scored 2 goals against ireland and basically he's got a lot of international experience.

Alonso plays a deeper role, while xavi stays upfront and make his passes. Busquet moves around and try to win the ball.

Spain plays with lots of possessions, silva and iniesta are technically gifted players and both of them can hold the ball really well and produce opportunities as well. What's lack is probably the finishing?

Stop trolling dude.
I clearly said "these players' as in these players are needed for the team to fully function.

---

Added on June 19, 2012, 5:59 pmThanks.

Ramos used to be clumsy but he is a threat for the opposition.
Yes, he turned out pretty good at CB for Madrid this season.
I thought that it would be a wreck.

I don't know much about JuanFran so I can't really comment on him.
My suggestion would be to move Javi Martinez to CB.

In the Spanish team, VdB should make some changes.
He needs to be more daring like any good tactician would be.

Do you think that Alonso is needed in this team?
He is just occupying Xavi's space and Xavi is taking up Iniesta's space.
Because of Alonso, Iniesta is being moved to LW.
Ask any Barca fan, that's one of the things that Pep did that we disliked.
He is only 50% effective there.

Everybody knows how good Xavi Iniesta is in the middle of the park.

This post has been edited by barca96: Jun 19 2012, 06:04 PM

Are u missing spain in the past with david villa and torres starting together? More goals right?

Anyway, Vdb actually just got a new contract until 2014 right? Hmm.

And i don't think he will drop alonso.

But Navas has got the speed and he can usually outpace the defenders for a cross, then again cross-header isn't exactly Spain's style. It's more of a desperate plan of Barca when they found no way in the defense, like in the Chelsea match.

I'd give Juan Mata a chance though, he's been really consistent in Chelsea.