La Roja turning guns towards wounded Irish

Spain’s draw with a surprisingly impressive Italy was not a bad result for the defending Euro champions, but their performance threw up more questions than answers ahead of their clash with Ireland on Thursday.

Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque surprised many with his team selection, especially by leaving out all three of the recognised centre-forwards in his squad — Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente and Alvaro Negredo — and starting Cesc Fábregas up front in a ‘false nine’ role.

Fábregas had played there before for Barcelona, but never for Spain, and the system was not trialled during the pre-tournament warm-ups. The ex-Arsenal player did not have a bad game against Italy, often linking cleverly with colleagues Andrés Iniesta and David Silva, but most of the flicks and one-twos took place in front of a largely untroubled Azzurri defence.

Del Bosque recognised this by sending out Torres to warm up early in the second half. Even though Fábregas quickly equalised Antonio Di Natale’s opener for the Italians, he was soon taken off, with the Chelsea man coming on in a more traditional striker’s position.

With Torres as a reference point up front, the Italians’ three man back line was almost immediately unsettled. He himself had two clear chances to win the game — and the direct running of fellow substitute Jesús Navas also caused havoc.

The media reaction to the selection was mixed. AS editor Alfredo Relaño criticised Del Bosque for not knowing his best team or formation going into the tournament, while former Spain coach (and Euro 2008) winner Luís Aragones was also unimpressed with the tactical tinkering.

“I respect the coach’s decision, but I would have played with a centre forward,” wrote Aragones in his Marca column. “In the second half Torres... found space and caused a lot of damage.”

Del Bosque defended his selection, however: “We have a lot of confidence in what we did,” he said. “We have three fantastic attackers, but Cesc is also a good forward. He has a lot of composure on the ball, he links up well with everyone and he gets into good scoring positions. We did what we thought was best, even if we risked making a mistake.”

The World Cup winning coach — not a man easily ruffled by criticism — hinted he might go the same way against Ireland, introducing Torres in the second half when defenders have been tired out following Fábregas as he roamed deep.

“It is possible we will play the same way,” he said. “I do not rule out putting someone up front. but (again playing without a centre-forward) is an option we have. I believe Silva, Fabregas and Iniesta, are good players for this system. Matches are usually different in the second half, when the game opens up.”

The false nine debate concealed a perhaps more concerning issue for Spain further back. Although rightly lauded for their tiki-taka attacking, La Roja’s recent success has been built on an impregnable defence. In seven knockout games at Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010, they conceded zero goals.

That record was broken quite easily by Italy, with Andrea Pirlo springing a faulty offside trap for Di Natale’s opener. It could have been worse for Spain, as the Italians broke forward with surprising ease throughout the game. This highlighted the fact that Del Bosque has had to rebuild his defence. Of the World Cup winning back four, Joan Capdevila has faded away, Carles Puyol is injured, Gerard Piqué has been dropped by Barcelona and Ramos stated he did not want to play at right-back any more.

Against Italy, Valencia’s 22-year-old Jordi Alba was excellent at left-back in only his sixth cap, but the central pairing of Ramos and Piqué in particular looked shaky.

Del Bosque will also be concerned that both Alba and Álvaro Arbeloa were booked on Sunday, as full-back cover is light in the squad. So Atlético Madrid’s Juanfran Torres could start his second international at right-back against Ireland to avoid suspension complications down the line.

There could be further changes on Thursday. With Croatia now seen as a real danger in Spain’s final game, Del Bosque will be tempted to rest some regulars. Xavi is still nursing a calf injury, so Málaga’s Santi Cazorla could come into midfield. Then there is the striking question. Given the Irish defending on Sunday for all three Croatia three goals, a case can be made for bringing in a traditional targetman in Athletic’s Llorente. Torres’ pace and movement would also likely cause problems.