Spain v Russia

Tusky

May as well start a thread on this now! I think Fabregas has earned a place in the team. I think he should replace Iniesta who has been fairly awful in pretty much every game so far. I realize that Fabregas isnt naturally a wide player but Xavi is undroppable and I think Fabregas could do a better job than Iniesta out wide. Although Senna has been absolutely fantastic, I would stick Alonso in for this game to give him a bit of a rest. Hes no spring chicken and Alonso looked great against Greece.

Thoughts?

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Torres--Villa

Silva

---

Xavi

---

Fabregas

---

Alonso

Capdevilla--Marchena--Puyol--Ramos

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Castillas

_blank_

On what basis are you dropping Senna for Alonso.

Just that he needs a "rest"?

ffs.

Vokes

Would be harsh to drop Senna.


Assuming no injuries, I think Spain will stick the same previous starting 11.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

when is it on?

_blank_

Princess Innocent Knickers wrote: »

when is it on?

Thursday

Mad Dog

Princess Innocent Knickers wrote: »

when is it on?

Thursday 745pm

Tusky

DesF wrote: »

On what basis are you dropping Senna for Alonso.

Just that he needs a "rest"?

ffs.

I think Alonso can do just as good a job as him but with more intelligent forward passing, something that the Spanish lacked against Italy. Senna has been great but he is 31 and if he plays every game (assuming they get to the final) he will have played 5 games in just over 2 weeks. Dont forget, he played two hours of football yesterday, so theres only a three day rest until the semi final.

Its not as if Alonso is a step down in quality. I think the Spanish have a great squad, they should use it.

_blank_

Tusky wrote: »

I think Alonso can do just as good a job as him but with more intelligent forward passing, something that the Spanish lacked against Italy. Senna has been great but he is 31 and if he plays every game (assuming they get to the final) he will have played 5 games in just over 2 weeks. Dont forget, he played two hours of football yesterday, so thats only a three day rest until the semi final.

Its not as if Alonso is a step down in quality. I think the Spanish have a great squad, they should use it.

And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you are a Liverpool fan, no? :rolleyes:

PHB

You would be stupid to drop Senna, Alonso is a step down. Senna has been outstanding this touranment, is much better than Alonso defensively, and you don't need Alonso's passing going forward when the entire game plan is to pass the ball to Xavi.

IMO you should drop Xavi and put Fabregas in at the start. However I don't see that happening.

Very similar team, identical probably, to start off the game with very similar substitutions.

Tusky

DesF wrote: »

And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you are a Liverpool fan, no? :rolleyes:

If that was the case I would be suggesting starting Arbeloa & Reina too!

Pepe LeFrits

Drop Xavi for Fabregas but keep Iniesta. Senna must play, he is much more effective at shielding the defence and winning the ball than Alonso, and they’ll need him to help keep Arshavin quiet.

Spain will be more difficult for Russia to nullify than Holland, but they have the same basic frailities. I can't wait for this one.

_blank_

Tusky wrote: »

If that was the case I would be suggesting starting Arbeloa & Reina too!

But you'd drop one of the outstanding performers of the tournament.

It's clear to see that Reina isn't a patch on Casillas, so that would be silly.

Arbeloa, is he a RB? If he is, I'd have him instead of that clown Ramos.

Tusky

DesF wrote: »

But you'd drop one of the outstanding performers of the tournament.

It's clear to see that Reina isn't a patch on Casillas, so that would be silly.

Arbeloa, is he a RB? If he is, I'd have him instead of that clown Ramos.

Any time Ive seen Ramos before this tournament Ive been really impressed but I agree, he has been muck so far. I actually think Arbeloa would be more solid at the back than him based on his performances so far. Dont think he would be dropped though.

hotspur

Alonso and Senna have zero in common, the midfield you put out has no chance of ever getting the ball back or breaking down an attack. I don't think there is any excuse for a team not to play Fabregas somewhere as he's probably the best passing midfielder in the world. I think Ramos has been a disaster and will be one of the reasons why Russia win this game. Bookies are wrong to have Russia at 3/1.

Frisbee

You'd drop Senna for Alonso so he could have a rest?
Mate you don't start resting people in the semi-final.
Thats what they had that meaningless last group game for...

Mr.Nice Guy

It would be mad if Fabregas doesn't start as he's been brilliant whenever he's come on.

John Giles will go mental that's for sure because he loves the guy.

Necronomicon

Fabregas should start, but who will he replace? Silva was poor in the last game but it's not exactly a straight swap.

Maybe:

----Iniesta

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Xavi

---

Fabregas

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Senna

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Mr Alan

am i the only one who thought Silva was decent in the last game?!

Pepe LeFrits

No, I thought Silva was pretty good.

dc69

arbeloa is better defensively than Ramos,Putting him in would be the only change I would make.

I think he should also make more use of his quality subs.He just seems to replace torres every time which is insane.

Boggles

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Drop Xavi for Fabregas but keep Iniesta.

That is a big big call, Xavi has looked a bit jaded, ultimately thou I think it is the right call.

Dont be at yourself

Fatigue could be a deciding factor in the game - Spain played a day later and the game went to extra-time.

Still, I think Senna should start. He'll be a lot more effective in policing the russian midfield than Alonso, and with Xavi on the team, there's no need for his passing!

I'd definitely start Ramos. I thought he was fantastic against Italy. He won everything in the air, got forward, but also helped out the centre-back plenty.

Iniesta made little impact against Italy, so if I were to drop somebody, it would be him. Perhaps start Fabregas, but he offers even less width than Iniesta.

Perhaps if Fabregas was started on the left, Silva on the right, both could cut in onto their favourite foot. Silva did well when he switched flanks against Italy.

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Iker
Ramos--Puyol--Marchena-Capdevila

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Senna----Xavi--
----Silva

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Cesc

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Torres

---

Villa

kinaldo

Spain not worried about 'unlucky' yellow strip

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=550800&cc=3436

NEUSTIFT, June 24 (Reuters) - Spain are not worried about wearing yellow shirts versus Russia in the Euro 2008 semi-finals despite it being considered an unlucky colour in the country.

Spain are nominally the 'away' team in Thursday's match in Vienna and are obliged to wear their second strip which has been switched from traditional white to golden yellow.

The change for the match is necessary to avoid a colour clash because Russia, like Spain, wear red shirts.

'As far as I'm concerned it's fine, I'm used to playing in yellow,' said midfielder Marcos Senna whose club Villarreal play in an all-yellow strip.

Spain team mate Xavi said he was also unconcerned about the colour change.

'If I remember correctly we played in yellow when we beat France (in a friendly in February) so I hope it brings us luck again,' said the midfielder.

Spain coach Luis Aragones has an aversion to the colour.

He could not abide Atletico Madrid's yellow away strip when coach of the Primera Liga side and refused to accept yellow flowers when Spain arrived at Dortmund for the 2006 World Cup.

The traditional Spanish superstition surrounding the colour is thought to have arisen because French playwright Moliere was said to have worn yellow when he collapsed on stage performing Le Malade Imaginaire in 1673. He later died at his home.

Apart from all that it's a horrible kit.

Nalz

Senna can't be dropped
Xavi is not undroppable
Iniesta hasn't been himself to be fair so Fabregas should get his chance there
Alonso is in poor form so I doubt he'll get near the starting eleven
oh and just to throw it in there Ramos and Puyol are overrated

hunter164

All this talk but everyone knows Aragones hasn't the bottle to drop them.If he was going to drop anyone it would be Torres.

~Rebel~

kinaldo wrote: »

Spain not worried about 'unlucky' yellow strip

Apart from all that it's a horrible kit.

heh, thats pretty cool, first article i've seen to mention the village i'm in, Neustift.


Senna has to play anyway imo, was excellent in the first match against the russians, filled in holes everywhere left largely by the full backs. As much as i love xavi, i think Fabregas should start though. Maybe bring on Xavi later if needed, but Fabregas has been playing well and will be on an absolute high after scoring the winning pen against Italy. Deserves his chance imo. Otherwise, i'd go with the same team as they've been starting. Though must admit Arbeloa in for Ramos sounds kind of good, Spain really need to tighten up on the defensive flanks, they can't afford to give Russia as much time there as they did in the first match. Could see Arshavin exploiting it much better.

Trilla wrote: »

Alonso is in poor form so I doubt he'll get near the starting eleven

Dont think he'll start, but to be fair to him in his one starting game against Greece he was absolutely fantastic.

Xavi6

:eek: You CANNOT drop Xavi. Seriously, he's the man who links the midfield to the forwards. Ok he hasn't popped up with a goal or scored an effort from 30 yards but watch how little he loses the ball. That's why he's in there.

Russia have scored a number of goals when possession has been given away cheaply by the opposition i.e. against Sweden. Players like Xavi don't give away the ball easily, if at all.

If you're going to drop anyone then it should be Iniesta. I've been very disappointed with him so far, especially in an attacking sense.

http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=726664.html#xavi+anticipating+different+russia

Xavi anticipating a 'different' Russia

by Graham Hunter from Neustift

Xavi Hernández came to UEFA EURO 2008™ well recognised, perhaps even pigeon-holed, as the pass-maker supreme but what the 28-year-old Catalan has always desired is to return from this tournament as a history-maker instead.

Barça role

Success blessed the head of this clever, mobile and talented footballer at a tantalisingly early age. In 1999 he was part of the Spain squad which won the FIFA U-20 World Cup and within a year he had followed that with an Olympic silver medal in Sydney. What is more, he shrugged off the pressure of succeeding FC Barcelona's totemic midfielder Josep 'Pep' Guardiola and won Spain's Primera División in his first full season. It looked that if anyone would make the step up in class from club leader to international winner it was Xavi. However, from then until now it has taken masses of introspection, heartache and critical analysis for Spain to get close to the summit of world or European football. Sunday's final is in sight but while Xavi is driven by the idea of winning the tournament, he is preparing for an intensely difficult challenge against Russia in Thursday's semi-final.

Confidence boost

"The boss has already pointed it out so I'm not shy of admitting that we had a couple of moments of luck at the beginning of our 4-1 win over Russia in the first match," said the midfielder. "They hit the post, we scored right on half-time and that blow to their rhythm helped us impose our game. Now they're facing us again with massively more self-belief and confidence thanks to three wins but also the fact that they've been better than their opponents in each of their matches since. I'm sure that this semi will be totally different from the first match for these reasons and the key will not only be who has the better possession but how that team uses it."

Ultimate goal

If the prospect of winning a tournament has united fans across all of Spain, as Xavi observed, the squad are similarly united by a desire to take fate by the scruff of the neck. "Getting through the quarter- finals was joyful and historic, but not nearly enough. We have to take this opportunity now, get through the semi-final and then win the entire tournament. We've had that as our aim for months and we've believed in it. You can feel the momentum. Not only are we playing well but cleverly too, and we are getting the little breaks like Russia hitting the post and Iker [Casillas] saving two penalties. I know we have a winning mentality and if we are properly mentally prepared for beating Russia in Vienna then we'll achieve it." With four goals in qualifying and the winner against the United States in Spain's final warm-up friendly, not to mention another eight for FC Barcelona last term, history may not be in Xavi's hands, but his boots instead. Cometh the hour, cometh the Catalan?

SantryRed

Anyways, enough about Spain.

I cannot wait to see Andrei Arshavin again. He is unbelievable.

Reckon Spain could blow it tomorrow.

Boggles

Trilla wrote: »

Senna can't be dropped
Xavi is not undroppable
Iniesta hasn't been himself to be fair so Fabregas should get his chance there
Alonso is in poor form so I doubt he'll get near the starting eleven
oh and just to throw it in there Ramos and Puyol are overrated

I agree with all that, 2 things thou, Fabregas plays best centrally, Puyol was never over rated, I think he has always been realised as being average.

Boggles

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Villa

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---Silva

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Iniesta

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Xavi

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Fabregas

---

---

Sena

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Capdevilla--Marchena--Puyol--Ramos

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Castillas

That's Spains best team/formation, IMO.

Johnny Utah

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Villa

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Torres

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---Silva

---

Iniesta--

---

Xavi

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Fabregas

---

---

Sena

---

---Capdevilla--Marchena--Puyol

---

---

Castillas

---

Boggles

Johnny Utah wrote: »

---

Villa

---

Torres

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---Silva

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Iniesta--

---

Xavi

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Fabregas

---

---

Sena

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---Capdevilla--Marchena--Puyol

---

---

Castillas

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Haha, I think Spain should be adding to the defense not taking away from it.

~Rebel~

ok, as has been said, Iniesta has been a bit poor, so i'd opt for a midfield+forward line of;

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Senna

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Xavi--Fab
--Torres

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Silva

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Villa

With the front 3 swapping around.

An Citeog

Boggles wrote:

I agree with all that, 2 things thou, Fabregas plays best centrally

So does Iniesta but he's been shoved out wide and asked to do a job for the team that he's not normally used to. Tbh, I don't think Fabregas would do any better there. If anything, I think Cazorla has been quite impressive when he's come on in that position for Iniesta. I'd give Iniesta another chance to run at the Russian defence and try to open them up like he did at times during the opening group game.

Johnny Utah wrote: »

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Villa

---

Torres

---

---Silva

---

Iniesta--

---

Xavi

---

Fabregas

---

---

Sena

---

---Capdevilla--Marchena--Puyol

---

---

Castillas

---

That'd be suicide against the Russians who have been very strong down the flanks all tournament.

Boggles

An Citeog wrote: »

So does Iniesta but he's been shoved out wide and asked to do a job for the team that he's not normally used to. Tbh, I don't think Fabregas would do any better there. If anything, I think Cazorla has been quite impressive when he's come on in that position for Iniesta. I'd give Iniesta another chance to run at the Russian defence and try to open them up like he did at times during the opening group game.

But at least Iniesta plays there for his club, the position is completely alien to Fabergas and asking alot.

eZe^

Boggles wrote: »

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Villa

---

---Silva

---

Iniesta

---

Xavi

---

Fabregas

---

---

Sena

---

Capdevilla--Marchena--Puyol--Ramos

---

Castillas

That's Spains best team/formation, IMO.

Agreed, but going on form, Iniesta has to be dropped... Cazorla is nothing really though, so stick to a 4-4-2 I guess, Fabregas can play as on the winger but more as an AMF... People speaking about dropping Senna is ridiculous, he has been the best DMF in the tournament and arguably one of the best defenders in the tournament. Villareal are notorious for having one of the fittest squads in Spain so I doubt he'll be jaded when given the opportunity to play in a Semi-final of a European Championship for Christ sakes...

Gillie

Cesc has to start imo!

Should be a cracker of a game!

eZe^

Boggles wrote: »

But at least Iniesta plays there for his club, the position is completely alien to Fabergas and asking alot.

Iniesta never plays on the flanks for Barcelona, he's done it 3 or 4 times in his career.

Boggles

eZe^ wrote: »

Iniesta never plays on the flanks for Barcelona, he's done it 3 or 4 times in his career.

Where would you say he plays?

eZe^

Boggles wrote: »

Where would you say he plays?

As a central attacking midfielder alongside Xavi or Deco, with Toure behind them as a DMF...

Boggles

eZe^ wrote: »

As a central attacking midfielder alongside Xavi or Deco, with Toure behind them as a DMF...

Where does Messi play? Along side them again? So they have effectively 5 in the centre cirlce?

eZe^

Boggles wrote: »

Where does Messi play? Along side them again? So they have effectively 5 in the centre cirlce?

Messi's a winger....

Its not rocket science, a 4-3-3 formation, with the midfield trio playing narrowly.

Boggles

eZe^ wrote: »

Messi's a winger....

Its not rocket science, a 4-3-3 formation, with the midfield trio playing narrowly.

So where does Iniesta play when Deco, Xavi, Toure, Messi, Eto start?

They change the formation to 4-1-3-1-1??

eZe^

Boggles wrote: »

So where does Iniesta play when Deco, Xavi, Toure, Messi, Eto start?

They change the formation to 4-1-3-1-1??

He rarely ever starts if both Deco and Xavi are picked... He has been put on the wing once or twice and he hates it. The left wing position this season has been Henrys/ Bojans and Ronaldinho's.

Boggles

eZe^ wrote: »

He rarely ever starts if both Deco and Xavi are picked... He has been put on the wing once or twice and he hates it. The left wing position this season has been Henrys/ Bojans and Ronaldinho's.

He has played alot more than once or twice in that position, I remember 2 matches in particular Gudjonson was played in midfield with Iniesta ahead of him. He played there for the 2 matches against United, and the game when Madrid beat them 0-1 in the Nue Camp. I'm sure if I looked it up I would find alot more.

Either way, the point stands he has alot more experience there than Fabergas, at least I think that was point.

kryogen

any chance of a poll?

grenache

Marchena and Puyol will not be albe to handle Paulychenko. If he's let drift wide, he can do some damage to the Spaniards defence. Torres/Silva were not overly inspring against a dogged Italian side. I expect the Russians to have taken a lot from their defeat on the opening day and its unlikely David Villa will get the freedom of the park again like he did that day. The likes of Iniesta and Fabregas will have little time on the ball from Kolodin and co in midfield, the Russians have been characterised by the tenacious work of their midfielders, as was witnessed in the Dutch game where they won 80% of all 50/50 tackles. Senna is not good enough to protect the back 3 from the penetrating Arshavin runs from deep, we know the Spaniards can score, but can they defend - Sunday will tell us. I predict the Red Army to march onwards to Vienna.

scholes19

I'd say that the Russians will knick it 2-1! As stated above the Spanish defence is prone to colapsing under scrunity. Guss will ultimately lead Spainto another failure in terms of winning a mojor tournemnent! The man from Holland is a master tactician and cannot be underestimated! He is almost like a 12th man!l:)

Sherifu

I wouldn't go against the Russians after the last night.

TwoShedsJackson

Has all the potential to be a classic. I therefore expect a dire 0-0.

delija_sever029

I was off the boards last 7 days,my holiday started,hope to go to stadium before tonights game,dont have ticket but i will look around,anyway Spanish and Russian fans are minority comparing to Germans and Turkish i saw yesterday here and they wasnt playing their game in Austria at all.....Hope Russia to win tonight