ARSENAL: Cesc BARCELONA: Puyol, Iniesta y Xavi BETIS: Juanito GETAFE: De la Red LIVERPOOL: Arbeloa, Reina, Torres y Xabi Alonso REAL MADRID: Casillas y Sergio Ramos MALLORCA: Fernando Navarro y Güiza SEVILLA: Palop VALENCIA: Albiol, Marchena, Silva y Villa VILLARREAL: Capdevila, Cazorla y Senna ZARAGOZA: Sergio García Here it is. I'm glad that Cazorla made it over Joaquin (I doubt most people will agree with this though). My only beef is Juanito. I think there are better options. But a preety good list. I'm excited.
The old man's inability to scout CBs is annoying. It took him 2 years to call Albiol despite the fact that he was one of the best CBs in La Liga, and when he finally did this year Albiol's form had plummeted. List of CBs that have at least deserved a look over the last two years and didn't get it: Jarque, Torrejón (although he has been an u21 regular), Piqué, Cuéllar (Osasuna and Rangers), Alexis (Getafe and Valencia), Lopo (Deportivo) and Amorebieta (Bilbao). Other than that, the list is kind of OK, save for two issues of roster structure: One, t there is an excessive number of centre mids (Senna, De la Red, Cesc, Xavi, Xabi, plus Marchena and Albiol for emergencies) that are somewhat limited offensively. I think Guti clearly deserved a call over Xabi Alonso, plus Alonso's NT career has been mediocre at best so far. Two, we could've done with one less CB (we have 4, plus Ramos, Navarro and Arbeloa have decent experience at the position) and called one more forward. Villa, Torres and Guiza are finishers (and good ones), they don't get involved in play as much as Raúl does. I'm tired of hearing NT coaches say "we need more defenders because they get suspended more often," yet a) we never play enough games for that to become an issue and b) every time we get knocked out it's because of a lack of offensive solutions.
As someone who picked Spain several weeks back to win the tournament, I'm having doubts. The exclusion of Raul and Guti and the additions of Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso (who haven't done crap this season) only makes Aragones show everyone once again that he can't pick the best possible team. Also, if Aragones was going to call-up Bojan ahead of Raul, prior to Bojan's wishes to not be called-up, it makes Aragones look even worse. Raul is a legend in Spanish football, and to not pick him after one of his best years is ridiculous. And why has Senna been picked when Aragones was against blacks during the 2006 WC?
I agree with you in part (i'm not a big fan of Juanito and Valencia's CB's have been part of one of the worst defenses in Spain). But Alexis didn't play enough this season and neither did Pique. Cuellar plays in a weak league. Lopo is possibly the 3rd best CB on my Depor team (Colo and Amo are better). So its easy to nitpick all Spain's CB's. The old man likes familiar faces and stuck with Marchena and Albiol. I hope Puyol stays healthy (BTW even Puyol isn't as good as in years past). Well, expect him to play with atleast 4 central mids at a time...That is why there are so many and why we really only need 3 strikers. But I agree that Alonso probably does not deserve it and Guti is maybe an interesting option. For me, Guti has a real beef for the NT. More than Raul, who doesn't really fit in Aragones' system.
Please Raul has an ego the size of a small country, that's the only reason he's not going to the Euros. I for one am glad that Marca's favorite son in law is getting the boot. I'll be cheering for Spain during the entire tournament.
the biggest surprise to me is albeda. yes, i know he missed a substantial amount of time. but aragones stuck with him despite that, and i expected him to be in the squad.
I agree with Xabi (see above) but Arbeloa is a good pick because he can play anywhere in the back. We have very slim pickings in defence (as you can see from the list), so anyone that can be a useful sub for more than one position and plays regularly in a good team is practically overqualified as it is. In any case Ramos is miles ahead of everyone else, and I would expect Puyol to slide to RB before Arbeloa gets a start. Maybe the whole thing was blown out of proportion? Senna played the 2006 WC too. Aragonés made a despicable racist remark in 2005 iirc, but dozens of black players that have played under him over the last 30 years have vouched that he treated them as fairly as he treated everyone else. Alexis had a good season last year, and this year he's been solid after returning from an ACL tear. As far as I know, he's been a starter since before the Copa del Rey final (in which he scored the first goal). And like Arbeloa, he can play RB, LB, CB and defensive mid on top of that, I've been following him since he was a youth player in Málaga. Pique should've been called last year with Zaragoza, and maybe he would've been more keen to be loaned out this year (Ferguson's starting Hargreaves instead of Pique when Vidic was injured was pretty shameful, I think). Cuellar does not merely play in a weak league, he was the best player of the whole weak league and he's had a good UEFA Cup run. Plus he placed 4th with Osasuna and reached a cup final a couple of years ago. At the very least, he deserved consideration. I like Lopo, but I'll defer to your knowledge of Depor.
Well here we go again... another botched team selection... should make for an interesting summer. Its not going to be pretty, Spain will advance out of the group stages (only because they've got one of the easier groups) but they are going to get completely demolished (it pains me to say it) by whomever they play in the quarters (that includes Romania). What irritates me the most is that Aragones comes along and makes decisions to pick players who have never been caped (or only have a couple of caps to their name) and expects them to gel in three weeks time! Are you F!@#% kidding me? How the hell are we supposed to know if Sergio Garcia has got what it takes to succeed within the national team, when his form has been mediocre at best? I actually don't get why guys like Xabi Alonso, Carlos Marchena, (and to a lesser extent, towards the end of the season) De La Red. Here's a question: Has Aragones ever thought about... scheduling a game that doesn't count with another team, and trying different combinations of players instead of putting out his strongest XI everytime? I don't know maybe they could call the match a "friendly"... just an idea. The other issue here is the fact that Sergio Garcia and Santi Cazorla are included in the team because he needed someone to play on the right. Well, maybe you should pick a right winger instead of trying to shove square pegs into round holes. "A cuatros y a casa como siempre"
Is this the same Raul who said this: "Iría a la Euro aunque fuera para llevar el agua" "I would go to the European Championships even if it means carrying the water for the team" Big ego my ass, get your facts straight.
No get YOUR facts straight, it's no secret that he behaved like a complete and utter tool at the last world cup. He's a fantastic player but a disruptive force in the dressing room, that's the reason why he's not going. You're a Madrista and are offcourse biased.
whether or not raul is indeed a disruptive in the locker room, he is a large figure and carries a large influence with other players and especially the media. i can see aragones not selecting him for that reason. whatever personal issues they had seems to be squashed with the joint press conference (at least, i hope). i've always been a raul fan, and if he was included, i'd definitely be rooting for spain to win the competition. but i think it's time for spain to move on.
There really is no excuse for the treatment of Raul... Does he have naked pictures of Aragones with a "monkey"? That asshole sucks at life.
I'm reading on alot of boards that people hate the fact that we have no pure wingers on the team (e.g., like joaquin or Vicente). But now that I think of it, when has Spain not used pure wingers in their history? And what has it brought us? Spain has always loved playing wide and they still struggle to advance. Besides, Do teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool Play with pure wingers? In todays game, most teams play with inside/out wingers (i.e., wingers that only stretch the field on occasion) like Silva. So if we don't advance, imo, it will not have anything to do with not having joaquin. I mean, we sent him in against France (WC) and he did nothing. When France won the WC in 98, did they have a pure winger? or Brazil or Italy for that matter? No. But they had players that played well when their balls were against the wall. Rather than a pure winger, I feel we need someone like Zizou (hard to find, I know). A player that can really lead our attack in the middle. But France in '98 relied on core players like Zizou, Henry, Makelele etc. If these players did not play well, then they would have lost. Well, I think our core players are Torres, Villa, Iniesta, Silva, Cesc etc. If these players can't lead us to a score, then we aren't going anywhere. And we can't simply blame the selection from the coach (at least not in attack). Now our CB's are a concern. That is a question mark. But we can't blame a loss on a lack of pure wingers as it has never done anything for us in the past.
To be fair, the rest of the team didn't do much either. But could someone give me the details of what exactly Raul did at the World Cup that was so disruptive? I've heard everything from mouthing off to the other players about being benched to leading a full-scale mutiny against Luis Aragones with the other benchwarmers (if only they'd managed to disguise the hemlock they sprinkled in Luis' drink more effectively... )
this is along the lines of what i've heard along with arguing with aragones about tactics/formations. then again, you never know with rumors and gossip in today's soccer news. however, i can't deny that raul does carry large presence and influence, and that can lead to divisions and sides within the squad. perhaps that's more of a reason why he wasn't called. i don't think you can argue that his form isn't good enough because he's playing his best soccer in years. if aragones' excuse is tactics, i don't buy that either. whether as a third striker or an attacking midfielder, he can play in multiple positions.
If divisions are created within the Spain squad, they're created by Aragones. I think it's essential to have wingers who can come into a match as a 70th minute substitution to help turn the game over. What supersubs does Aragones have at his disposal to bring on energy or anything unique to the match? The roster is strong, but it's too homogenous. Aragones is handcuffing himself by having too many like parts at midfield and striker.
Actually, what I like about Cazorla and Sergio García is precisely that. Cazorla is almost completely ambidextrous (to the point you can hardly tell he's a rightie), so he can wing it up on the left or on the right. Sergio García I like quite a bit, he's actually been one of the top passers in the league in the last two seasons, however badly Zaragoza has been doing. My beef is the overabundance of centre mids and having one too many defenders. I think we should in fact have another striker... if we have one injury/suspension, we're down in a game, we need two forwards and one of them is not having a good day... we're out of goalscoring options right there.
The problem is (and everybody already knows it) Xavi, Cesc, and Iniesta are too alike, and yet Aragones continually plays them together. Do I think they could work together? Yes I do, but you have to sacrifice one of Villa or Torres for it to work, and I don't think he'd be one to do that. If I was manager, I'd drop/rotate Xavi because Cesc is a better string puller in midfield, and play something like: ---------Senna ----Iniesta----Cesc ------------------Silva ----Torres----Villa I think Ramos gives you enough down the right flank to give you width and Iniesta is a bit more of a runner than Cesc, which frees him up to support the goalscorers. However, will Aragones drop a Barcelona player from the national team? Doubtful.
Aragones hasn't started Torres and Villa (or any other two forward combination) up front in the last six internationals, since against Latvia last September. Matches listed in reverse order. Formations were how MARCA listed them at the time... 1-0 v Italy (friendly): Casillas Sergio Ramos -- Puyol -- Marchena -- Capdevila Senna Iniesta -- Xavi -- Cesc -- Silva Torres 1-0 v France (friendly): Casillas Sergio Ramos -- Marchena -- Albiol -- Capdevila Albelda Riera -- Cesc -- Xavi -- Iniesta Torres 1-0 v Northern Ireland (EURO qualifier / qualification already assured): Reina Sergio Ramos -- Albiol -- Pablo -- Pernía Senna Iniesta -- Xavi -- Cesc -- Silva Güiza 3-0 v Sweden (EURO qualifier): Casillas Sergio Ramos -- Marchena -- Puyol -- Capdevila Albelda Iniesta -- Xavi -- Cesc -- Silva Villa 0-0 v Finland (EURO qualifier): Reina Sergio Ramos -- Puyol -- Pablo -- Pernía Albelda Iniesta -- Angulo -- Riera -- Silva Luis García 3-1 v Denmark (EURO qualifier): Casillas Sergio Ramos -- Albiol -- Marchena -- Capdevila Albelda Joaquín -- Cesc -- Iniesta -- Xavi Tamudo 2-0 v Latvia (EURO qualifier): Casillas Sergio Ramos -- Marchena -- Juanito -- Pernía Albelda Joaquín -- Xavi -- Silva Villa -- Torres
As a barca fan I can even admit that Raul deserves a spot and it pains me but coughGuticough does too. As an American rooting for the Spanish national squad I'm kind of surprised by the defeatist attitude some of you have. You should have more faith in your team, remember you beat Italy, stomped Sweden, and will probably destroy us in the upcoming friendly. I think its Spain's year if there ever was one. There's a lot of depth in this team, lets just hope it doesn't come down to a penalty shoot out with the Germans.
I know what u mean rhythmicspeech, Us spanish people are very negative when it comes to la Selecion but we mean good intentions! We badly want our team to win but we can't help but be skeptical. It's been one dissapointing tournament after another, the last euro we were knocked out in the groups stages by Portugal! World Cup 98 was another fracas, and face it, if we do get past the group stages will just get knocked out by France again. We always have good players but as a friend of mine put it, will always be beatable. I believe we have picked the wrong players for the tournament. Goalkeppers are fine, Denfenders we're ok as long as Sergio Ramos plays as a right back and not center half. However we have too many center creative midfielders. We should have brang wide players such as Navas, Capel and JOAQUIN!! Instead we got David Silva as a winger when really he plays in center midfield. Players were picked because of their form, rather than players that can actually contribute on their preferred positions. I'll let off Dani Guiza because he deserves his call up after two seasons consistently playing well and scoring lots of goals, but Sergio Garcia, I thought we picked the Golf player and not the footballer!! Players like Carzola, De la Red, come on man they are good players in their own right but we already got Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas in those roles. And if Xavi, Ini and Fab are to play (well) together they have to play one man up front whch means Villa or Torres have to be sacrificed. But with Aragones he'll play everyone in the team and thats where the unbalance is. We need to hire Lippi after the Euro if we wanna have any aspiration for the World Cup. P.s. Another thing, friendlies do not mean SH*T, I don't care if we beat Brazil in a friendly as long as we beat the good teams when it matters i.e. the qualifiers and in the tournaments I'm happy. P.P.S I will cheer on Espana till I die, but I won't get my hopes up if we play France or Italy!!!
I for one actually am kinda content in the selection for la furia, minus sergio garcia, and i probably woulda put Guti in for De La Red or Alonso. I actually like the starting lineup he had been using vs France and Italy friendlies with (left to right) Silva Xavi Cesc Iniesta and Senna as the anchorman (4/1/4/1). Silva and Iniesta arguably have better playmaking/vision and tidy/neat passing than some of the pure wingers(ie: joaquin) - and that might just be the trick that is needed to unlock some of these tight/highly defensive setups that teams might use while in "tournament mode" by slipping a clever pass, flick, heel, etc. Arsene Wenger is notorious in converting playmakers/CMs into wingers b/c their "footballing brain" is a bit better so why is it that Aragones is a moron while Wenger is a genius? On that note, I feel very optimistic about this Euro for Espana: Lots are in white hot form, confidence is high, a better "tourney" formation...(no longer the 4 3 3)
which players and formation do you think will play against Russia ? not necessarily who SHOULD play, but in your opinion who do you think Aragones WILL play ? any info appreciated