Who Can Strike First in Spain's 4-Man Euro 2016 Forward Battle?
In theory, this is where Spain ramp up attempts to win a third European Championship in a row, but the team that takes to the field against Bosnia and Herzegovina in St Gallen, Switzerland, won’t bear much resemblance to the one that tries to win Euro 2016.
Sergio Ramos, Juanfran, Dani Carvajal, Koke, Isco, Saul Niguez and Lucas Vazquez—all named in the 25-man preliminary squad to go to France by Vicente Del Bosque—have other things on their mind this weekend and are currently around 135 miles away in Milan, leaving the way clear for some other names to impress the Spain boss.
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As per FourFourTwo, as many as 10 uncapped players—including Rayo Vallecano defender Diego Llorente, Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin and Athletic Bilbao’s Inaki Williams—could feature for Spain in the northern Swiss canton, but this is as far as they’ll go.
After they are jettisoned, the final Euro 2016 squad ramps up their preparations against South Korea in Salzburg, Austria, and then Georgia in Getafe on June 7, three days before the tournament starts.
There’s much to play for, then, not least in the forward positions, where the decision to overlook Diego Costa and Fernando Torres has set up an intriguing four-way battle for Spanish supremacy.
Williams will hope to get some minutes against Bosnia, but even he knows he isn’t likely to force his way past the four forwards who have been selected in the 25-man squad, despite the fact they have just 17 international caps and two goals between them at this level.
But as a country that has had success without playing recognised forwards in the past, it is clear Spain are not worried by what some could see as a problem position and indeed a position that they could end up ignoring entirely.
Memories of Costa’s disastrous displays at the World Cup in his native Brazil are still too raw for La Roja, who saw the Chelsea forward flail about up front to little effect in the damaging defeats to the Netherlands and Chile.
Following the rigmarole of his switch to Spanish citizenship, he was seen as not the right type of fit for the type of football Spain played, with many calling for a return to the formation that won the Euro 2012 final against Italy, where Cesc Fabregas operated as a false nine and Andres Iniesta and David Silva floated around him.
That system was given life in a group game against Italy in the same competition, with Fabregas taking up the same role in Gdansk and scoring in a 1-1 draw.
And the way he spoke about the role to the Guardian after the match said a lot about the way he saw the position and how the Spanish side enjoyed him playing in it. He said:
"I am a little bit further forward [than a normal central midfield role], so I am receiving the ball from behind and the side.
I am not receiving the ball facing the goal as often with my back to it or sideways on. It is a position I have been playing in a lot this season and I am happy there. I have mobility and the freedom to go where I think the chances are best and where I see space.
We have mobility with Andrés and David. We can combine and look for one-twos. I think it worked well.
"
It did work well, and it eventually made them European champions, but one of the reasons the role was deployed was because of the quality of midfield players available as well as the decline of Torres.
Four years on, Torres’ impressive displays for Champions League finalists Atletico Madrid have led many to hope for a recall for a man who was so instrumental in the Euro 2008 triumph and who also played a role in the successes at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. But Del Bosque seems determined for this generation of players to move on.
It is only natural, then, that some Spanish supporters will hope for a switch back to the false nine system, but Fabregas, Iniesta and Silva are four years older and less mobile now, and all three do better work a lot deeper on the pitch.
A forward is needed for this current Spain team to function, but who will it be?
Of the four selected in the squad, Alvaro Morata carries the greatest claim to a starting berth.
He’s only scored once in his eight appearances at senior international level—the winner against Ukraine in a qualifier in Seville last March—but he has that X-factor forwards at the top level tend to carry, he is just coming off the back of a second successful season at Juventus, and he would probably be the attacking name on the teamsheet that Spain’s opponents would fear most.
More than anyone—and after playing second fiddle to Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic for much of his club season—Morata needs a couple of good games and goals going into the tournament to get him up to speed, and it would be no surprise if Del Bosque tried to leave him on the pitch for as long as possible in the next three matches.
In the more experienced Nolito and Aritz Aduriz, the Spain boss has a couple of players who perhaps thought their chances of playing at this level for the national team had gone—certainly in the case of Aduriz, at the grand old age of 35.
Both look well suited to what the manager is trying to do, though, and whilst neither would expect a guaranteed starting berth in France, they will be invaluable members in a squad that looks free of egos in the forward positions, something that probably wasn’t true when Costa was involved. Nolito, for example, would be happy operating in various forward positions.
As the final piece of the puzzle, the as-yet-uncapped Vazquez will, of course, have to wait until he can turn Spain’s attacking trio into a quartet, but that won’t bother him if he is part of Champions League celebrations in Madrid on Saturday night.
The nerves that he might feel upon winning his first senior international cap will be tempered by the fact that he is desperate to earn a place in the final squad for Euro 2016, and it is that more than anything that will occupy his mind from the moment the final whistle goes in the Champions League final in Milan.
The question for Del Bosque doesn’t centre on who scores the most goals in the upcoming friendlies but rather who fits in best with the team and looks best placed to give them a real shot at a third consecutive European Championship title.
It was a false nine in Ukraine and Poland four years ago, but who can be the true nine in France?
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