La Roja

lol

JESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spain 1-0 Ghana

is jese the new rvn, just taping them in

must say if this team is the the one that will make the backbone of the u21 team, which will be the case, i can't see them winning they don't control the game like most Spanish teams. and ever since the double u19 winning team when delou has a if day so too does the team in most cases.

This team definitely plays more direct but they have a lot of balance between Jese, Gerard, Suso, Oliver, etc.

The biggest weakness imo is goalkeeper because Sotres is nothing out of this world.

Paco Alcacer has put Spain up 1-0 against France after a pass from Jese.

Jese off the post!!!!!!!

JESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2-0!

Funny how Kondogbia gets all of the hype but Campaña his Sevilla teammate has owned him in the first half.

Llorente has been very good as well partnering Derik. I hope he gets promoted to Castilla next season and see what he can do in Segunda.

so after yesterdays' game this is what del bosque needs to do, no need to be a hindsight genius and state what happen and what went wrong everyone saw the game.

this is what needs to happen which is very simple

1) drop arbeloa, he was always the weakest link/worst player but now spain have a few young rb so no need to continue with him.

no barca bias, but i would go with montoya, he is the most defensively solid of the three(aspi,carvajal and himself) and with alba, you need that balance, dont have to talk by word for it either, he bench both under two different managers for the U21 for that very reason.

2) start Martinez, i was jumping with excitement when alonso got injured because i though for sure he would replace alonso in the XI and hold down that place for the world cup, alonso slows down the game too much, due to the amount of time he takes to pick a pass when compared to the other midfielders, javi can keep the quick passing going, while giving even more defensively.

(for anyone who is thinking about saying anything, busquets,xavi and iniesta related. note i have been saying javi for alonso for a long time, spain have looked much better every time i have seen javi replace alonso also)

3) leave torres out of the squad just so del bosque is not temped to start him at some point, leave out negredo as well, he is crap(yes i know he wasn't there)

then del bosque needs to choose whether he is going with the false 9 or a proper striker, (llorente,soldado,villa thats it)

keep iniesta wide left, he is the only player spain have that can beat a man almost at will, makes no sense he is doing it 30 yards or more away from goal, he can do it at barca we have/had messi and dinho who could do that in the final 3rd.

keep pedro/navas in the XI eleven for their directness.

also drop silva for isco, or mata or carzola, doesn't matter, he is needed in the squad, he offers much of what iniesta does but is a better goal scorer.

that's it every simple

still

spain
argentina
germany
brazil

for the wc

ps, iker please stop kicking the ball long so often it only invites more pressure

Disagree on Arbeloa. He's been in poor form the last 6 months or so but just a year ago at the Euro he completely shut down Ribery and Ronaldo. I don't think he is finished and I think he still can serve a purpose. But obviously there needs to be an alternative whether that is Azpilicueta or Montoya or Carvajal we can see.

Left back is a problem too though. Alba was exposed on a number of times. I don't think he is ideal for every match. I think Monreal, and maybe with another year in Arsenal, should get some chances. He is much more responsible in the markings.

Again with the Alonso bashing as if Spain didn't win a WC and a Euro with him. :lol:Seriously Javi Martinez would have been perfect yesterday to combat the likes of Paulinho and Luiz Gustavo. Busquets is too immobile to play by himself in a pure three man midfield like Spain utilised yesterday. Again, the key for Spain is to outnumber the opposition in midfield. 3 against 3 and they were completely out-muscled and overrun. Martinez or Alonso would have made it 4 against 3 and would have swung the advantage back to Spain. The doble pivote has it's uses, maybe not always (like against Tahiti), but certainly in a match like yesterday it's a must.

Torres has to go. He really is useless and of course anyone who has watched him play in the last three years knows this but Del Bosque is really loyal. Strikers is a big problem for Spain at the moment. If Cesc isn't there as the false 9 there is really nobody who has a nose for goal. I'm really hopeful that Llorente will have a good year for Juventus and will be back in the mix for the WC. I also hope Villa leaves Barcelona and finds a club that will play him as a centre forward. He may well be past it but at least if he leaves mes que un club it would be possible to find out for sure if he has anything left. I don't think Soldado or Negredo really have what it takes. I'd love to see them give Michu or even Agirretxe a try.

I am not a big fan of Navas, never have been. Pedro, well, he will probably be frozen out at Barcelona with Neymar and Alexis accompanying Messi. Isco could be a big possibility if he gets the chances at Madrid. Another name for a wide attacker is Joaquin, I'm not sure why he never gets called by Del Bosque. He's been in really good form over the last 2-3 years. We'll see how he fairs in Italy but I would keep him in mind for a change of pace guy. Muniain too is a player who could give the team something different.

Jaime wrote: "I don't think Soldado or Negredo really have what it takes. I'd love to see them give Michu or even Agirretxe a try."

Why? Neither of them has been given much of a chance. You are aware that Torres got the Golden Boot again aren't you? A fair reward for unlocking the defensive fortress that was Tahiti, don't you think?

Jaime wrote: I also hope Villa leaves Barcelona and finds a club that will play him as a centre forward.

Bring him to us, we will treat him right!

Spain's archilles heel is their number 9 position no doubt. They've got a year to work out the best formula, plus having played in the Confeds Cup in Brazil is excellent experience that the likes of Germany for example will not have had, which puts them up higher in the list of potential winners IMO.

Still fully believe they'll be the team to beat in 2014. This talk of them being past it (Kroos ) is just utter garbage. Not when they have the likes of Martinez/Cazorla/Mata/Isco/Nunian etc not even able to get into the team and youth teams destroying everybody else. There may be an awkward period of transition that may now befall on them over the next year as they tweak some of their weaknesses, but every NT has this issue, none is perfect.

Disco Benny wrote:

Jaime wrote: I also hope Villa leaves Barcelona and finds a club that will play him as a centre forward.

:whistle:Bring him to us, we will treat him right!

Spain's archilles heel is their number 9 position no doubt. They've got a year to work out the best formula, plus having played in the Confeds Cup in Brazil is excellent experience that the likes of Germany for example will not have had, which puts them up higher in the list of potential winners IMO.

Still fully believe they'll be the team to beat in 2014. This talk of them being past it (Kroos ) is just utter garbage. Not when they have the likes of Martinez/Cazorla/Mata/Isco/Nunian etc not even able to get into the team and youth teams destroying everybody else. There may be an awkward period of transition that may now befall on them over the next year as they tweak some of their weaknesses, but every NT has this issue, none is perfect.

A likely story. It is clear that everything went wrong when he left Valencia - the Curse!    It can only be resolved by returning him to us along with compensation for outrageously nicking him in the first place. No doubt you will have noticed what has happened to Spurs recently. A pre-emptive mini-curse, so back off!    

You can't say you haven't been warned!

Why can't Llorente be up front? Or Negredo? Or give Soldad more chances?

Surely anyone is a better option that Torres at playing a lone role, anyone with a half decent first touch would be better.

Munian is great - has he not been in good for Bilbao?

christmasborocooper wrote:Why can't Llorente be up front? Or Negredo? Or give Soldad more chances?

Surely anyone is a better option that Torres at playing a lone role, anyone with a half decent first touch would be better.

LLorente played about 3 games this past year for Athletic after the fallout from him refusing to sign a new contract last summer and deteriorating relations with Bielsa. Hopefully he gets back into shape with Juve next year.

Romford Pele wrote:Munian is great - has he not been in good for Bilbao?

He had a pretty inconsistent year with Athletic but he's still just 20 so you can understand that there will be ups and downs with a player that young.

As far as the national team, it was basically agreed that he would finish out this cycle with the U21s culminating with the euro this summer so Del Bosque may well have him in mind for the WC next summer.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL JESEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just turned on the U20s at halftime and they were losing 0-1 to Mexico but Derik (Real Madrid!!!) and now Jese (Real Madrid FFS!!!!!!) in the last minute have put Spain into the next round!!!!

Quarterfinals vs Nigeria or Uruguay!

Del Bosque giving some of the kids from the U21s a chance with the seniors:

Porteros: Casillas, Reina, Víctor Valdés
Defensas: Arbeloa, Azpilicueta, Íñigo Martínez, Raúl Albiol, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba
Centrocampistas: Javi Martínez, Cazorla, Iniesta, Isco, Thiago, Koke, Jesús Navas, Silva, Cesc Fábregas
Delanteros: Negredo, Fernando Llorente y Cristian Tello.

Really surprised that De Gea has not been called up. Reina has been in bad form for ages, the only reason he still gets called is so that he can MC any potential victory parades. I think it is very unwise to not give a young keeper the chance to go, and the only reason is loyalty to Reina.

Martinez deserves his call after his season with Real Sociedad and his performances with the U21s. At least he can put some pressure on Albiol to be the 3rd option behind Pique and Ramos.

Good to see Llorente back in the fold. Still have no idea why anyone rates Tello.

Wow.

So Diego Costa is going to play for Spain.  

seriously?

seems like he has dual nationality and has only played 2 friendlies for brazil, so he can change according to fifa "rules".

http://futbol.as.com/futbol/2013/09/25/seleccion/1380129055_899810.html

if he continues to play the way he has been so far this season up to the world cup that would be huge for Spain

Sounds like Brasil are trying to prevent Diego Costa from playing for Spain. I'm still not sure what to think about Costa. He is in very good form at the moment but still he's only really scored a goal every three games since he arrived in Spain.

So Michu is called to replace Villa which is deserved, I think. Strange that Monreal is called, is he even playing for Arsenal? Guess there aren't that many options at left back at the moment.

Porteros: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Víctor Valdés (Barcelona) y Pepe Reina (Nápoles)
Defensas: Juanfran Torres (Atlético de Madrid), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Álvaro Arbeloa y Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Íñigo Martínez (Real Sociedad), Ignacio Monreal (Arsenal), Alberto Moreno (Sevilla).
Centrocampistas: Jorge Resurrección "Koke" y Mario Suárez (Atlético de Madrid), Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta y Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona), Jesús Navas y David Silva (Manchester City), Francisco Alarcón "Isco" (Real Madrid).

Delanteros: Michu (Swansea), Juan Mata (Chelsea), Álvaro Negredo (Manchester City), Pedro Rodríguez (Barcelona)

Michu in the XI for Del Bosque!

It's a game like this where Spain really miss Jordi Alba and need to implement an attacking right back like Carvajal because Belarus are just defending with 11 players and there is no room through the middle.

Thankfully Valdes has not f*cked things up yet.