Spanish National Team

[Merengue]

Time to start a thread on Spain's national team and our not so beloved coach Luis Aragones. Next week is a friendly in Manchester against England and this is the team old man Aragones has selected,

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders: Antonio Lopez (Atletico Madrid), Pablo Ibanez (Atletico Madrid), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Joan Capdevila (Deportivo Coruna), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Javi Navarro (Sevilla), Angel (Celta Vigo)

Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Xavi (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Miguel Angel Angulo (Valencia), David Silva (Valencia), David Albelda (Valencia)

Forwards: David Villa (Valencia). Angel Arizmendi (Deportivo Coruna), Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid), Fernando Morientes (Valencia)

The same names as his recent selections with the newest additions being Angel, the Celta right back, Arizmendi, the Depor forward/winger and Navarro the no nonsense centerback from Sevilla. The latter two are filling in for the injured Luis Garcia and Juanito. Angel has taken over the place Michel Salgado, now a sub at Madrid, once had. Raul is coming back from injury this weekend in club play but fortunately that isn't enough to get him on this team.

Martin and I have been carrying out a campaign to get Sergio Fernandez of Zaragoza on the team at centerback but Aragones isn't listening to us, or apparently watching Sergio play as he's been the best Spanish centerback in La Liga this season in my view.

But apart from that omission and possibly that of Sergio's Zaragoza teammate Juanfran at left back, I think Aragones has picked the players you'd expect for this team. Now it is time for Spain to start putting things together before March's key Euro qualifiers, especially the one against Denmark.

[Manzanares]

I don't have too many problems with the players Aragones selected. Going against England and the 2 meter tall Peter Crouch I imagine we'll see Pablo playing centerback. Even me an Atletico fan thinks Pablo is having a subpar season and probably doesn't merit selection. Merengue, I agree with you Sergio of Zaragoza is playing much better than Pablo and would be a good alternative especially for marking a tall forward like Crouch. But Aragones has his group of players he's comfortable with and Pablo is part of that so he gets the call. I wouldn't mind seeing Sergio get a chance down the road but this friendly and not the upcoming qualifiers would have been that chance. Sergio will have to wait to the summer at least if he's to be selected.

It would also have been nice if Ivan de la Pena had made this team as he is another player in good form for his club but I don't know who could have been dropped so I understand why Aragones would havea dilemma there.

Elsewhere I am pretty happy with this selection. Note Joaquin wasn't picked but right now he's a reserve at Valencia and probably doesn't merit selection. His teammate Angulo is playing better and thus was chosen. But Joaquin's absence likely explains why Arizmendi, an ex Atletico player I might add, did make this team. Arizmendi is very quick and can play, as Merengue noted both as a 2nd forward or as a right wing.

It is a good group Aragones has chosen and playing England on the road will be an excellent test. Spain needs to build confidence in it's play leading into March's vital game against Denmark.

[valenciano]

A lot of support for Sergio here I see. He is playing pretty well now but has always struck me as a player who is somewhat slow and awkward. Maybe right to guard a player as tall as Crouch but Spain aren't preparing a team to play England, rather one to play Denmark in the Euro 2008 qualifiers and I am not as convinced as you are that Sergio would be the answer.

Not to be provincial here but I am satisified with all of the Valencia players selected. I would add though that Raul Albiol might have been a good option at centerback. He, even more than traditional leader Roberto Ayala, has been the leader of Valencia's defense this season.

Another debate is who to play in midfield? With their experience playing in England Cesc and Xabi Alonso may be leading candidates but Albelda is the best defensive midfielder in the group and it also is hard to keep Xavi and Iniesta out of the team. Spain is very deep in central midfielders and that isn't even considering players left out here like de la Pena. But again the focus should not be on England but instead Denmark so players shouldn't be selected based on where they play. Some tough decisions for old man Aragones.

[Manzanares]

valenciano, Pablo isn't that fast either but an intelligent defender should be well positioned and Sergio, even more than Pablo, seems always well positioned to me. But it is certain that right now sergio is not within Aragones' plans.

Concerning the midfield, who plays will depend on whether Spain will be playing with a forward and two wingers or with two forwards because that will determine if Aragones will go with 3 or 4 midfielders. If it is 4 midfielders (and 2 forwards then) I'd think he'd be more likely to pick two wingers, like Silva and Angulo then will have to select two central midfielders from the long list of available players-Albelda, Xavi, Cesc, Xabi Alonso and Iniesta.

But if Spain is to play with a center forward and two wingers in front then the midfield will contain 3 central players. Since Spain's central midfielders are all pretty interchangeable, who Aragones will pick is anybody's guess. It doesn't appear as if he has a set group of starters in midfield. This isn't England where for instance you know Gerrard and Lampard will start.

And talking of England, Rooney will miss the game due to injury but they too are experimenting with a 3 man attack of Crouch and two wingers. According to what I've read in the Spanish press England are expected to play Dyer and Wright-Phillips on either side of Crouch and Carrick in midfield along with Gerrad and Lampard. Both teams have good sets of midfielders so I will be curious to see how the battle in that part of the field goes. Hopefully later today we'll get a better idea of in what direction Aragones is going in his selection for a starting lineup.

[Merengue]

If it was me picking a lineup for this game I'd go with: Casillas- Ramos, Pablo, Puyol, Capdevila- Angulo, Albelda, Cesc, Silva- Morientes, Villa.

Like others here I am not enamored with Pablo's play but against a forward like Crouch he can be useful. The rest of the defense I think picks itself. I opted for Capdevila over Lopez because he is playing better than the Atletico player. In midfield, I'm using Albelda to break up England's plays and get physical with them if need be, something the other central midfielders aren't as likely to do. Cesc is his partner and capable of running the show from the middle of the field. Out wide Angulo on the right and Silva on the left capable of running at the defenders and in Angulo's case being a tireless worker on his flank. Silva will provide more skill. At forward Villa and Morientes are club teammates and work well together. I expect Torres to start instead of El Moro but in this game I'd go with Morientes who also may have an added edge in wanting to show himself well against England where he didn't play well as a club player.

[valenciano]

According to the media in Spain the lineup you gave Merengue is almost exactly what was used in today's practice and what is expected to be the starting lineup tomorrow. It is: Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pablo, Puyol, Capdevila; Albelda, Xavi; Angulo, Silva; Villa y Morientes.

The only difference between this lineup and Merengue's is Xavi plays instead of Cesc. This is a friendly so plenty of other players will see action so I am not too concerned about the starting lineup. But it had been speculated that since both Sergio Ramos and Puyol will miss the Denmark game due to suspensions that they would not start this game so Aragones could test a likely lineup against the danes. Since Ramos and Puyol apparently will start I would expect they'd be two of the first players subbed off though and we could then see Angel for Ramos and Javi Navarro for Puyol.

This is where I really question Aragones' player selection as a central defensive unit of Pablo and Navarro may be rugged and good in the air but they are slow and against the quick danes that is not what you want to use. This is where a player like Raul Albiol would be a good choice for the national team.

[Martin]

Some good analysis here. While I think it is wise for Aragones to prep Spain for Denmark and therefore should play some alternatives to the suspended Puyol and Ramos I also think it is important for Spain to get a confidence boost by at a minimum not losing to England and thus I can see why he'd start the game with both Puyol and Ramos who are without a doubt the best players Spain has at their respective positions.

I like the idea of playing the Valencia forwards together in this game for the obvious reasons and using the more robust Albelda in midfield. I'm sure Xabi Alonso and Cesc will see some playing time in this game but going with Albelda and Xavi is reasonable.

On paper this looks like an intriguing matchup, hopefully the play on the field will reflect that and both teams will use the example of Portugal and Brazil who today played a very lively friendly.

[valenciano]

I see your point Martin that Spain is in need of a morale boost as explaining why Puyol and Ramos would start today even though they're suspended for the Denmark match. But the team needs to prepare to play the danes and this friendly is the ideal situation to do that so why not get the team you'd like to use against them and play that against England so they can get some time together on the field?

I am at least content that Valencia, the most Spanish influenced of Spain's major teams, will be well represented today.

[cafetero]

Spain didn't do much other than a nice goal from Andres Iniesta but that was more than enough to beat England 1-0. When will the English stop hitting centers? Such a predictable attack. Spain at least got practice defending crosses into the box!

[rosarino]

My God England were absolutely horrible! Ok they missed Rooney but they had zero creativity in that game and as cafetero noted relied almost exclusively on crosses to Crouch who would end up jumping on defenders' bscks.

Spain didn't look that good themselves but were the superior team in a game which was played much more low keyed than Portugal-Brazil the day before.

[Manzanares]

I thought Spain played a pretty good game. Winning 1-0 in England is an accomplishment. True this is a very poor England but playing at home and with their traditional will to go forward they can make an awkward opponent. But I thought Spain handled their very direct attack, you are right it was all crosses into the box. I've been critical of Pablo but he was very good today and this is the type of opponent that suits his style of play. Puyol and Ramos played the first half and gave way to Navarro and Angel neither of whom really stood out. Well I'll say Navarro did well cutting out England's crosses but he looks a little too foul prone to be a reliable international defender.

Spain had a golden chance in the first half as Morientes was all alone against the goalie but somehow shot way over the bar! But in the second half Spain moved the ball around well and with Torres on for Morientes they showed more speed and troubled England's defense more. Villa was looking lively and his cross was nodded on by a defender to iniesta who scored his first goal for Spain with a nice shot.

After that goal Spain took their foot off the gas but England didn't have the ability to break down the defense with their predictable attack.

Not a pretty game but an effective win.

[Simon]

I think, as discussion of this game is effectively split between two threads, that I'll talk about the match here and maybe a little more specifically about England over in the England section.

Not a good game yesterday IMO, really quite dull and with barely any chances created by either side. The best chance of the game was the one blazed over the bar by Morientes. The most pleasing aspect of a poor England performance was at the back. Foster did well on his debut (there was no stopping Iniesta's strike) and the back four handled Spain's attack quite comfortably. Angulo and Silva, in the wide positions, couldn't really get in the game at all and the beauty of having Woodgate alongside Ferdinand is that they're both very fast, so that England could afford to press up to near the halfway line without having to worry about the pass in behind them. Woodgate played excellently but he could maybe be faulted on the goal. He got too tight to Villa, who was as impressive as ever, and was turned too easily to allow Villa to cross. Rio did well to adjust and head the ball away, but Iniesta's great strike was really the one bit of quality in front of goal from either side in the whole game.

As for England's attack, Dyer has only ever played in that withdrawn forward position during the occasional injury crisis at Newcastle. It isn't really his game and it was questionable to stick him there in his first international for four years. He did okay but needed to get beyond Crouch far more often. I'd have gone for Defoe personally. And as for Crouch, I really don't think even Benitez would ever stick him on his own up front. The funny thing about Crouch is that despite his height he's really not that good in the air. He won plenty of flick-ons yesterday against Spanish defenders who were unable to deal with him, but he sent them nowhere. And he had England's best chance when Gerrard picked him out with a pinpoint ball that had the Spanish defence all at sea. He even took a touch to set himself up before screwing the ball wide. Just not good enough - at international level you have to take those chances. Okay he has 11 goals in his last 12 internationals but my belief is that he's better as a substitute to offer something different. We've already seen him come off the bench to scare the defences of Uruguay and Argentina and win those matches. That should be his role.

Albelda and Xavi played well, I thought, sitting and mopping things up. Not that it was too difficult for them as Gerrard and Lampard succeeded only in providing yet more evidence that they can't play together, while also getting in Carrick's way. England opened excellently in the first 10 mins and had 2 or 3 half chances in the first 3 minutes. A goal there might have made a big difference. There were important injury absences - Rooney and Lennon are on fire right now and they were missed. Poor Shaun Wright-Phillips looked woefully short of match practice. Capdevila looked scared stiff of his pace but Wright-Phillips just didn't have the sharpness to make any headway. But still, the fans had a right to expect much more wit, spark and fight from the team that was out. I've not seen much at all of Atletico Madrid this season, but apparently Pablo isn't doing too well. If that's the case this was a better performance from him. Okay he was up against a toothless attack but he still impressed. Once Spain scored I was looking for a reaction from England, but there was none and the boos ringing round the stadium at the end were deserved.

[valenciano]

I agree with Simon that Gerrard and Lampard don't look comfortable together. And without Rooney there is a real lack of quality at forward and that is why England resorted to kicking it up to Crouch.

Like everyone else I thought the game was poor and neither team showed much of anything. Iniesta's goal was the one saving moment of the game. I liked how Albedla and Xavi controlled the midfield and stopped England from doing much of anything in that part of the field. Defensively Pablo was excellent and the rest of the defenders did their job adequately too. In attack Villa is always enjoyable to watch. I was hoping Morientes would show more and his miss was inexcusable but Torres came on and added a spark. I don't doubt now that Torres and Villa are Spain's starting forwards.

For a nation with so many talented wingers, the play out wide yesterday was disappointing, as a Valencia fan I can tell you that Silva has been more effective on the right than the left but Spain had no other real alternatives yesterday on the left so that is where he played.

A road win against a name opponent is a good result but Spain still needs to pick up it's play before March's qualifiers.

[Merengue]

What is it about playing in England that makes the normally reliable Morientes seem like such a stiff? Cryptonite in the soil?

It wasn't a particularly good game but a lot of us expected that going in. Plus with two teams playing below their always inflated expectations it shouldn't surprise us neither team played well. Iniesta's goal was top class but apart from that, Morientes horrible miss and a nice shot by Villa well saved by Foster, Spain didn't do much at all offensively. While England didn't do much either they still showed more inclination to go forward.

Pablo was excellent in defense and really all of Spain's defenders did their job pretty well. I liked how they handled the aeriel threat of Crouch. Strange isn't it that for a guy so tall he almost constantly puts his hands on defenders' shoulders before jumping? You don't need that advantage Crouch, you're 2 meters tall!

I don't know if Angel was ordered to stay back by design or that he just didn't venture forward much when he came on for Ramos but Spain will need more offensive contribution from him against Denmark. And I too remain sceptical of Javi Navarro as the ideal fill in while Puyol is suspended. As noted he seems too reckless. I still wish the old man would give Zaragoza's Sergio or Getafe's Alexis a try at centerback.

Even if Spain defeat Denmark next month I still get the impression that the sum of Aragones' team is less than it's individual parts.

[Manzanares]

No real surprises as Luis Aragones named Spain's team to play Denmark on March 24 in Madrid and Iceland on March 28 in Mallorca. This is the team named:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders: Antonio Lopez (Atletico Madrid), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Juanito (Real Betis), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Joan Capdevila (Deportivo Coruna), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Javi Navarro (Sevilla), Angel (Celta Vigo)

Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Xavi (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Miguel Angel Angulo (Valencia), David Silva (Valencia), David Albelda (Valencia)

Forwards: David Villa (Valencia), Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid), Fernando Morientes (Valencia)

Juanito and Marchena get called back in after missing the friendly against England last month. Pablo misses this game due to injury and Arizmendi wasn't called up at forward as more defenders were named. As we discussed before both Puyol and Ramos will miss the Denmark game, a match Spain must win in order to have any hopes of qualifying for Euro 2004. In their absence I am thinking Angel will play right abck and Juanito will be in the middle of the defense. Perhaps not ideal selections but that is the best Aragones can get from this group of defenders he's named.

As always the biggest uncertainty though will be who will be selected in midfield. Against England it was Albelda and Xavi in the middle and they did their jobs well. I'd expect Silva and Angulo to play out wide on the left and right respectively but maybe Iniesta will come in asa false right wing instead of Angulo to provide more offense?