Euro 2012: Spain draws Italy, Del Bosqe, don’t hide your strikers

Spain has three of the best strikers in the world, Negredo, Llorente and Torres to play for them in the ongoing Euro 2012 championship. But, what their coach Del Bosque did surprised everyone. He did not start with any of these strikers in their first match of the competition against Italy. Instead, Del Bosque went in for Fabregas as the lone striker, who is in fact a midfielder. Spain was lucky not to lose the match. The match finished 1-1. Will Del Bosque still let the strikers warm the bench in future matches?

This strategy needs to be looked into if the Spaniards are to win the competition. There is nothing wrong with Fabregas leading the attack, but one has to ask, can a midfielder shoulder the responsibility of a out and out striker, when he has been playing for all his life at the middle of the park. It is a disrespect shown towards the strikers of the national team. They would also not be happy after being left out.

It is understood that Spain has got a problem of plenty with too many quality midfielders in their squad. All of them do not need to play. Some of them have to be left out. Fabregas gets a place in the starting eleven at the exclusion of a striker, which is not justified. It is wrong, as a team always needs striker to score goals and you need to play them when you have world class strikers. A midfielder can never be a great forward and vice versa, which Del Bosque also knows.

But, on the contrary, Del Bosque selection was justified too, as it was Fabregas who scored for the defending champions, Spain during the second half. Fernando Torres also could not live up to the expectations after he missed some chances to win the game for Spain. But Spain cannot play a make shift striker in such a prestigious competition.

What changes would we see in the squad, when Del Bosque announces his starting 11 for the next match? With the score line that they have achieved tonight, they might go in for a lone striker (not make shift) up front, as this formation has brought laurels to the country many a times. It seems David Villa’s absence in the team is hurting Del Bosque to the core. Had Villa been in the squad, such kind of formation would never cross Bosque’s mind. He needs to have faith in his strikers, which does not seem to be the case.