Spain coach Inaki Saez announced on Thursday the following 19-man squad for the Euro 2004 qualifiers against Greece and Northern Ireland on June 7 and 11. Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas(Real Madrid) Santiago Canizares(Valencia) Defenders: Carlos Puyol(Barcelona) Raul Bravo(Real Madrid) Ivan Helguera(Real Madrid) Juanfran(Celta Vigo) Carlos Marchena(Valencia) Michel Salgado(Real Madrid) Midfielders: Joseba Etxeberria(Athletic Bilbao) Joaquin(Real Betis) Juan Carlos Valeron(Deportivo La Coruna) Xabi Alonso(Real Sociedad) Ruben Baraja(Valencia) Vicente(Valencia) Sergio(Deportivo La Coruna) Javi de Pedro(Real Sociedad) Forwards: Raul(Real Madrid) Fernando Morientes(Real Madrid) Guti(Real Madrid)
I guess Saez thinks that Real Madrid has a great defense. Also Guti?!? (again) and Morientes? Well whatever.
Bravo didn't and doesn't currently play in Madrid's defense, so he had no part in them having a bad defense or not. Helguera as centre back makes more than sense to me. Moreso because the Puyol/Helguera combination in the back works great. And Salgado isn't that bad, actually pretty usefull if he has one of his better days, not much 'worse' than any other player eligible for the right back spot. Morientes: his 3 goals in the last game probably had something to do with him getting selected again Guti: beats me He's a better midfielder than a striker if you ask me ________________________ Glad to see Xabi Alonso called up again after his great showing in the last game. Wanted to see Torres in national team action, but I guess it's only a matter of time. Saez probably wants to try him out in a friendly first.
Guti should be in the midfielders list. Which forwards would you call?? It seems the top scorers in the league are foreigners. What's happened with Tristan?
There's already a glut of midfielders, the true strength of the spanish squad. What happend to Tristan? Makaay (and the fact that Irureta only plays with one striker). I have some good candidates for another striker spot in the NT but Saez won't listen to me
Wrong on both accounts, he is from Sevilla. And yes, he did get injured in that charity match for Galicia.
I think it would have been cool if Torres or Portillo was selected in the squad... both are better goalscorers than Guti. I know Del Bosque thiinks Guti is a better forward than Portillo at this stage but like many, I feel Guti is better at distribution than goalscoring. Is Torres injured? Raul Bravo did a good job at Leeds and he's done well for the national team in the past. Only reason why he doesn't play for Madrid is Roberto Carlos, and I think that defensively he is at least as good as Carlos. Helguera has played well for Madrid... the problem this year was always with Hierro and the lack of defensive cover in midfield for Makalele. A look at Helguera's record when he plays with Pavon rather than Hierro proves my point. In fact, I feel that Hierro and Puyol are the second best national defensive pairing in Europe (after Cannavaro and Nesta). El Moro... 3 goals in his last match for spain. 2 goals when he started against Mallorca. If it wasn't for il Fenomenon, he would easily have been starting for Madrid. All in all a really good team, wouldn't want more than 1 or 2 changes considering he did not have Baraja and Tristan.
He just returned from injury, and incidentally, Atletico won. Perhaps you should ask Leeds fans what they think of Bravo's performance. He started off very good but towards the end of the season he has been mediocre. Certainly I wouldn't have selected Raul Bravo. Aranzabal or Capdevila would've been better options. Bravo is in the selection because Saez used him in his youth teams. I think you mean Helguera and Puyol. I'm not arguing against Helguera. He is the only "defender" that I would choose from Real Madrid. Salgado and Bravo I would leave off. Morientes is an iffy pick. I don't mind the selection since he has probably the best strike rate, currently, of any player playing for Spain. Still, I don't like bit players from their club teams on the NT. I still don't unstand the pick of Guti, I never will. I disagree. I think it is a mediocre team. The big positive is that it has a very nice midfield. The keepers are alright, defense is mediocre to bad, and the strikers (other than Raul) are average.
Juanele practices black voodoo: Guti abandona la seleccion Maybe this opens the door for Torres, Saez can't go into these 2 games with only 2 strikers can he? Of course not
I don't know...I would rather take Mendieta over 2 or 3 of these guys. Experience means alot, and he certainly has that.
Re: Re: Spain squad for Euro 2004 qualifiers How much of Mendieta have you seen this season? He has been Barça's worst player, even De Boer has played better than Gaizka. It's sad to see his decline over the past two seasons because he was a great player for a while.
Re: Re: Re: Spain squad for Euro 2004 qualifiers Maybe that's the REAL reason our team BARCA was so crappy this year. They didn't play him enough...
Relajado muchacho, se me olvido la cara con el ojo cerrado tan solo lei dos de tus comentarios en los cuales haces burla del Barça y eso fue le motivo de mi comentario, pero como tu dices es muy facil hacerle burla a los blaugranas estos dias!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Spain squad for Euro 2004 qualifiers Robin, Gaizka played this season quite regularly and he didnt demonstrate what he used to be, that's Juanele's point.
This was not a diss towards Barça, more a praise of the Spanish midfield. Again, look at the selected midfield, which is already full of great players, who are in form even. There is no place for Mendieta the way he's playing now. ____________________ Gabri replaces Guti, no extra forward selected
Xabi Alonso has a fever and might not play Juanele wants more Barcelona players in the seleccion it seems
Yeah, your right. I also know that you meant no disrespect torwards Barca or it's fans. But you certainly have a right to rub it in, I won't oppose you if you do, we deserve it. Regarding Mendieta, I still believe that he is a great player, and I certainly believe that he should be on the squad. But you and Mario have a point, he did kind of suck this year, I think perhaps his standard of playing dropped due to Barca's on going internal problems, not because of his lack of ability.