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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
xavi wasn't his best but he's good on attack and defense and communicates well with iniesta and maybe silva could have gone instead.
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I'm an enormous fan of Xavi and he's probably been my favourite player in the world these past few seasons, but, whether it's fatigue after a long season or simply not being in form, he's definitely not firing on all cylinders and I think that's a major reason behind the teams overall lack of bite up front. Another reason may be Del Bosque's decision to field two holding midfielders (Alonso and Busquets) instead of one, giving the midfield a far more defensive complexion than we've perhaps come to expect. In the right formation, and with both players in form, the Xavi-Iniesta partnership may be the most formidable in all of football right now but they're definitely not clicking at the moment.
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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
re: their attack: i see iniesta as more of a playmaker, much like pirlo or ozil. sure all of them can score, and do, but it's more out of opportunity than from playing in a goalscoring position; and while iniesta is as versatile as it gets loves to shoot on goal he's not striker material.
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I'd say Iniesta is one of the few players who can do just about anything but again, i think Spain's style is so dependent on every player clicking, and with Xavi clearly below par, I just don't think he's getting the service. Even so, I love watching him, even when his moves amount to nothing.
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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
the thing is, italy has balotelli and di natale and cassano (and diamanti, who can fill his shoes); germany has klose and gomez and mueller and schürrle and reus and podolski; spain has... silva? nice dribbling but totally melts down when facing the goal. negredo? couldn't do a thing. torres? in del bosque's shit list. llorente? hasn't played even once. fábregas is great but he isn't a natural forward. like you i think they will have trouble in the final. and i hope it's with germany! they have a great midfield but also they have lots of attacking options, as they showed against greece.
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I can only imagine what Llorente must've done to upset Del Bosque. Why take a striker and not use him, especially when the others available aren't exactly proving prolific? I've heard he's not 100% fit but I'd have thought he'd still be useful, if only as a sub. Saying all that, the very fact that Spain have reached the final, however unspectacularly, without a functioning striker is pretty impressive.
But more seriously, we must never forget ...
