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Spain is short of superstars but Luis Enrique’s philosophy still gives them an edge over the rest

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fifa Globalism The 2022 Cup is just around the corner, and the only team desperate to bring back their glory days will be Spain. Luis Enrique revamped the Spanish team after taking over after their defeat in the 2018 World Cup. The former Barcelona manager made massive changes in the squad and adopted the shades of football tiki-taka to rebuild a new team. The post-Xavi Iniesta era has always been difficult for Spain, but at last year’s Euros they found a new miracle in Pedri who single-handedly ran the show. He was named the tournament’s Young Player of the Year as he finished with an extraordinary success rate of 421/461.

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Enrique is trying to emulate the success of Vicente del Bosque but he doesn’t have stars like the Spain national team 2010 where they had Xavi and Iniesta to control the midfield, Sergio Ramos, Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique to carry the defence, David Villa and Fernando Torres put the ball into the net and Sur in the form of Iker Casillas to save goalie.

Enrique did not shy away from making the tough calls as he did not pick players like Sergio Ramos, David De Gea and Thiago Alcantara into the squad.

The goalkeeper is the number one striker in modern football and Enrique Unai preferred Simon to Manchester United’s glove man who lacked the ability to play short balls. While he chose Eric Garcia over world champion Ramos, who did not align with Enrique’s philosophy. While Thiago has not been at his best this season due to Liverpool’s struggles the other midfielders also got the nod.

The fledgling Spanish team is lacking such stars, but they have the potential to light up Qatar with the attractive possession-based football that attracted attention during Euro 2020 and the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League.

La Roja has brought back possession-based football into their approach and they have some outstanding passing in the defensive department. Aymeric Laporte has developed under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, while there remains doubt about the defensive capabilities of Garcia, who has the ball well going forward but struggles defending under pressure. They have Cesar Azpilicueta at right-back who has all the experience in the world to get the job done. He will also be instrumental in the Quad’s defense as a defensive captain. Jose Gaia and Jordi Alba will fight for the position at left-back.

In midfield, Enrique has the Barcelona trio – Pedri, Javi and Sergio Busquets to adopt his philosophy well. They have all the qualities to upset the centre, but given Barcelona’s recent performance, Busquets has collapsed under pressure. Rodri Hernandez is another world-class midfielder in the Spanish side, but Enrique has to make a tough call while choosing between him and captain Busquets.

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Meanwhile, Spain lacked firepower in the attacking section compared to many other large companies. With the likes of Alvaro Morata, Ferran Torres, Marco Asensio and Pablo Sarabia, Enrique has taken a risk choosing some irregular stars. Dani Olmo is Spain’s best bet for some crucial goals because Ansu Fati is still so young after recovering from a knee injury that he was unnoticeable at Barcelona except for wearing the number 10 shirt.

The 2010 World Cup champions frustrate their opponents by keeping the ball for too long on the field. They don’t give the opposition much space to attack but often find it difficult to get the final pass.

Morata is expected to be the main man in the strike force with Torres and Olmo on the wings, but Pedri’s job will be to make things easier for them by finding the right passes. He is 19 years old but has the maturity of any world class midfielder making him the most important part of Enrique’s squad.

There is no doubt that Spain will stick to their World Cup philosophy but it will be interesting to see how they deal with teams like France, Brazil and Argentina who are good at counter pressing.

goalkeepersSimon Unai, Robert Sanchez, David Raya

The Defenders: Cesar Azpilicueta, Dani Carvajal, Eric Garcia, Hugo Guillamon, Pau Torres, Emeric Laporte, Jordi Alba, Jose Gaia

midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Rodri Hernandez, Javi, Carlos Soler, Marcos Llorente, Badri Gonzalez, Cook Resource

attackersFerran Torres, Neco Williams, Jeremy Pino, Alvaro Morata, Marco Asensio, Pablo Sarabia, Dani Olmo, Ansu Fati

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