Spain’s Mr Versatile

Not that you’d think it when you look at their squad, but Spain seem to have an issue as regards quality... at least in one area.

Since the decline of the 34-year-old Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup winner Joan Capdevila, they’ve have been longing for a proper left-back.

And it’s an issue which may well trouble Liverpool fans more than Vicente Del Bosque.

For a start, it seems hugely surprising that the Spanish manager has not yet called up Jose Enrique in any form. Until a recent dip in performance, the 25-year-old left back had been one of the players of the season at Anfield but barely considered by Del Bosque.

Secondly, the role is currently being filled by a player Liverpool rejected. As a right-back. Yes, since March 25 last year and Spain’s first competitive international of 2011, Alvaro Arbeloa has proven first-choice. He played in every remaining qualifier except the final dead rubber against Scotland, before then regaining his place again in the recent friendly against Venezuela.

As such, the most talented and successful international team in the world will be flanked by someone who seems to fall well short of the standard set.

Or, at least, that’s the myth. The reality is that Arbeloa has come on hugely as a player. You only have to read Jose Mourinho’s comments about the 29-year-old last year.

“Arbeloa is playing very well. He is taking a lot of risks by advancing his position more than usual. He is very serious on the pitch and does not make any mistakes. I like players like him.”

And those lines pretty much sum up the most important points as regards Arbeloa. He may not be a stellar player or even a showy full-back like his Liverpool replacement Glen Johnsen, but he is diligent, durable, patient and willing to learn. In that, as Mourinho inferred, he’s a manager’s dream; the perfect squad player.

Consider his unorthodox contribution to Spain’s 2010 World Cup victory. Arbeloa may have only made one substitute appearance but, with the tension escalating around the Spanish squad as they struggled to hit top form, the full-back made a compilation video featuring rousing and comical lines from films like Braveheart, Rocky, Patton and Animal House which other players credited with easing their nerves.

Of course, it’s not just vitality Arbeloa brings to the set-up, but also versatility. Even in the unlikely event that he is usurped as first-choice left-back, he is still certain to go to Poland due to the fact he can play right across the backline.

Furthermore, Arbeloa also credits his experience in two countries with augmenting and enhancing his overall game. Whereas the English league and his time under Rafa Benitez imbued him with greater defensive responsibility and tactical acumen, he feels a return to Spain with Real Madrid has balanced that with a bit more adventure. Arbeloa has, after all, provided three assists in 18 league games this season: a radical improvement from every other season in his career, when he’s generally got one in 40.

Much of that, of course, is down to the fact he’s playing in one of the most prolific club teams ever seen in European football. But, in truth, it’s his sense of responsibility that is proving really important for Real.

In a defence that is very untypical for Mourinho, Arbeloa is one of the few players in the squad who is fundamentally and naturally defensive. As such, he counterbalances the attacking tendencies of the likes of Sergio Ramos — even if Mourinho has wanted Arbeloa to cut loose a little more.

But that may well prove a perfect preparation for Euro 2012... and a cause for concern for Ireland. Because Arbeloa will perform exactly the same role for Spain. With Ramos bombing forward on the other flank and Gerard Pique looking to provide a platform for the team’s passing, it will often only be Arbeloa and Carlos Puyol manning the fort. As a result, it won’t be quite so easy for Ireland to catch Spain out on the break with a quick punt forward — one of the likeliest routes of attacks against that carousel of passing.

Should Ireland get a sudden break, Arbeloa will be there to deal with it. Mourinho certainly believes he will. “I have got a lot of faith in him.”