Spain's Golden Years May Never Return but There Is a Silva Lining for Del Bosque
It is impossible that Spain will reach the dizzy heights of the past six years ever again; they will never have the same players, the same urgencies—the perfect storm.
But their easy 5-1 victory over Macedonia on Monday night showed the fans, the media, but principally the players and management themselves, that they are back on the right road again.
Macedonia never looked like they would be the most difficult of opponents but neither could they be considered the easiest. In truth, the margin of victory should have been much greater.
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Selling tickets for the match had not been easy and, in the end, the decision to open the doors to all-comers was the main reason the ground looked so full.
It’s also worth noting that the match was held in Levante’s Ciudad de Valencia stadium, which has a capacity of just over 26,000—a crowd that would be lost in somewhere like the cavernous Santiago Bernabeu.
Greatness in a football team is achieved by all manner of things. It isn’t just about having the best players, but rather about having the best players available when they are at their very best.
History will show we were blessed to be able to watch the likes of Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Fernandez, Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Fernando Torres perform for their country at the very peak of their careers, and I doubt we will see that again in the red shirt in our lifetime.
To measure any Spanish performance against the past six years is unfair, but there’s certainly enough there to show that the team will always be competitive, which is a long way from saying they will come back to be the dominant force they were.
Vicente del Bosque is still struggling in two main areas; with his No. 9 and the central defenders. At the back, both Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao) and Marc Bartra (Barcelona) are deemed to be good enough for their country but are not necessarily first choice for their clubs.
Admittedly, the usual defensive partnership in the heart of the Spanish defence would be Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique, although the Barcelona man needs to find his form and focus again if he wants to return.
Upfront, Valencia striker Paco Alcacer was brought in because that’s how the national team does things. He has been playing—and scoring—for the national side since he was 16, which was only five years ago.
Mind you, he’s practically an elder statesman compared to 19-year-old Munir El Haddadi, who came on as a substitute for his Spain debut.
The young man’s feet do not seem to have touched the ground since making the Barcelona first team starting line-up against Elche less than three weeks ago after making just 11 appearances for the B side.
Munir was born in Spain of Moroccan parents, and between him and his father, they decided he would play for whichever country rang first. That was Spain, and since his debut was in a competitive match, he is now exclusively a Spanish player.
He is indeed a talented player, but we’re going to have to wait two or three years to see just how good the young man actually is.
Alcacer did what he does best and scored against Macedonia, which means he has one goal in two internationals against Diego Costa’s no goals in six.
Costa is struggling to establish himself in the national side, although he could come into his own in the future when Spain score first and then revert to a game which relies more on the counter-attack. I do not see him as a starter, though.
Another notable absentee was Andres Iniesta, which gave Cesc Fabregas and, specifically, David Silva the opportunity to take charge of proceedings.
Silva has now gone full circle from being branded the scapegoat for Spain’s 2010 World Cup defeat against Switzerland, which saw him take no further part in the competition, to being the centre of operations for his country.
The Manchester City man is strong both mentally and physically at the moment, and he is at the very top of his game. There’s still a lot more to come from him.
Fabregas feels important at the moment, which also helps, and Sergio Busquets is also finding his form.
If Del Bosque can solve the central defence and No. 9 dilemmas he is facing, he will feel far more relaxed about the situation.
The truth is that the list of tough friendlies being organised between some of the stronger European sides like France, Germany and England mean that before long we will soon be able to see just how this Spanish side measure up against more intimidating opposition than Macedonia.
Meanwhile, the European qualifiers shouldn’t prove to be too much of a hurdle.
