Spain – European Champions 2012.
Good morning!
Myself and a thousand other writers currently sit at their desks this morning with a stream of egg yolk running shamelessly down their face. ‘Italy will win’, so I said, as did countless others. Italy play with two strikers, Spain with zero strikers, there could only be one winner!
Maybe it’s that view that makes football in England seem so archaic, in that if something isn’t done how it usually should be, then it’s automatically a bad thing. Maybe that’s why since winning a World Cup once in 1966, we’re reluctant to move away from a model that should now be confined to a dusty book. Try telling Spain that playing without a striker is the root of all evil. Spain have just beaten a very good Italy side by four goals without a striker, so how do we respond to that?
Much laughing had been directed at Spain’s formation of ’4-6-0′. Vincente Del Bosque claims that Spain play a 4-3-3 as always, it’s just the players that are different. Personally, I’d still play with a designated striker, but it seems there is nothing wrong in playing with six incredibly talented central midfielders. For Spain’s first, David Silva scored with a bullet header, then Jordi Alba, a full-back, put Spain two ahead with a strong run from left-back. Spain are good enough with the ball to not actually need a striker, even though I’m sure they’d play David Villa if he were fit, or Fernando Torres when back in full form. Read more
