Spain Euro 12: Vicente Del Bosque's Unconventional Lineup Will Lead to Title

Vicente del Bosque is not going to let conventional wisdom dictate his lineups, and it will pay off for him with a title. 

In Spain's first match in this tournament, they battled Italy to a 1-1 draw. This was certainly not the big opening that many expected out of the defending champs and world's No. 1 team, but the result was not as interesting as Spain's lineup. 

They didn't roll with a striker in that game. At least not in the traditional sense. Cesc Fabregas was playing up the field further to fill the void of a lack of a striker. 

The BBC shared this quote from del Bosque on the how he envisions the lineup going forward, "Against Ireland we will play a number nine—though it depends what you understand by a number nine."

That understanding is not likely to be the same as del Bosque's, but it's not hard to see what he is talking about. He added this in the same BBC article, "David Silva is a forward; Andres Iniesta plays like one, so does Cesc."

It is easy to see a manager using this kind of justification when he is trying to patch together a hole on the roster, but del Bosque does not have those holes. He has three far more traditional strikers at his disposal in Alvaro Negredo, Fernando Torres or Fernando Llorente. 

He is doing this because he can, and it is brilliant. Spain is loaded with talent, and they have been on an amazing run. It would be easy and understandable if this team lost their edge. By challenging players it can bring the best out of them, reinvigorate them and help them take their play to another level. 

It is exciting to see del Bosque tweak his talented team to find the best combination. This is going to lead to Spain becoming the first team to ever win back-to-back European Championships.