Has Del Bosque shown his hand ?

I have picked Spain to win the World Cup.

Put simply, they play the best football and have the best starting XI.  In my mind, they deserve the trophy.

As a result, I am something of a fan of their team in that I will pick over all their performances and critically analyze everything.

The loss to Switzerland was shocking but not a body blow.

What was more worrying, was that when the chips were down, Del Bosque seems to have given away his true opinions of his team.

Torres was either unfit or out of match practice and as a result did not start.  So why bring him on when you're chasing a goal against a very physical defensive team ?  He looked rusty and made little difference to Spain's cause.

Why not bring on either Juan Mata or Fernando Llorente ?  Does Del Bosque not think his team have the depth or the striking options ?  The game was not a one off or a final, there's still two more games left in the group stage.

This may have given Spain's rivals a psychological boost. Normally, top teams who have depth do not resort to bringing off a semi fit player to try and win a match. Spain have both the talent and depth to not have to do this.

By keeping said fit talent on the bench to bring on Torres, I think Del Bosque may have shown his hand a bit too much.  In that he doesn't have many goal scoring options beyond Torres/Villa and even if he does (I think he does) he does not trust them.

Surely Llorente and Mata along with Fab (who should have started) give Spain enough options and are more than capable of turning a game on its head.

 

I still think that Torres should have started. He played one of the warm up games I think (Poland?). If it's not an important game, play another striker, if it is an important game, play Torres. This practice of playing an attacking mid when you need someone to finish is, in my mind, a waste.

Big Spanish fan, football buff and old friend Uttam Mukherjee says:

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I don't think Del Bosque considered Torres unfit - he's fit, just rusty. and think about it, a guy with his scoring ability and talent, it makes sense to bring him on at that point in time.  however, ppl like Llorente and Mata never really play important matches.  If Spain had won two games and had an easy third game in the group stage they would have played.   I've seen them play - Llorente and Mata are not top notch when you compare them to Torres, Villa or any other world class talent.  But yes, ignoring Fabregas is a big deal. 

 

(a) he can make passes no one else in the world (except Guti and Ronaldinho in my mind) can make. 

(b) he's proven that he's a great playmaker and even a scoring threat himself.  

 

Also, Pedro and Busquets are very young inexperienced players at the world stage, it's a huge gamble to have played them instead of known established players.

"

I agree completely about Fabregas; however, there seems to be some reason why he gets less starts and chances under Del Bosque than he did under Aragones. He can unlock most defences but both Pedro and Busquets seem to be preferred. He's run Arsenal for 6 years and Ade's 24+ goal season was down to Fab.

Over the last few seasons Llorente, although not a tearaway, has scored important goals for Bilbao. I think he scored 10-15 goals for the last three seasons. The lad's 6 and a half feet tall, physical and if you are bringing on Jesus Navas to play wing, why not throw him on so that Navas can aim some crosses at his head.

I watched Mata this season and again, although he's not Torres (few are) he's good enough to play with Villa, whom he plays with at club level anyway.

You need at least 2 firing strikers to win the World Cup. Spain have 1.5 but seem reluctant to blood their options. And in tough games, even if Fab plays, which he should, it won't make much difference if Torres (or a second striker) is not playing, Villa is double marked and no one else can stick it in the net.

Let's see what he does in the crunch third game against Chile. That will tell us a lot.

Almost all games at a World Cup are big. If you can't play your reserve strikers when your main ones are rusty, why take them at all ?