Spain will be patient, says anchor man Busquets

After Sunday’s deflating defeat, Irish fans might see a victory over Euro 2012 favourites Spain in tomorrow’s Group C clash as unlikely, but La Roja midfielder Sergio Busquets said yesterday that he and his team-mates were prepared for a difficult game.

The Barcelona pivote pointed to a number of fancied teams slipping up during the first series of games, and said Spain were set on not being surprised.

“We saw England and France draw on Monday, and Holland lost (to Denmark),” said Busquets. “Every game is very difficult, and even more at a finals. Nobody gifts you anything in football, anything can happen. We have already seen that.”

Optimistic Irish followers have recalled that Busquets and his club-mates were eliminated by a very defensive Chelsea in this season’s Champions League semi-finals, despite the La Liga side dominating possession throughout both legs, and hope that Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni might successfully copy the stifling tactics used by Chelsea’s Roberto Di Matteo.

Busquets said that although it was not guaranteed to work every time, Spain would stick to their own philosophy.

“We will not change our style,” he said. “But we know that football is not a science where there are certainties. If they sit back, we will need to have patience and move the ball around quickly. I hope we score a quick goal so that they (Ireland) will have to open up a bit more.”

Few players divide opinion like Busquets, who has earned a reputation among rival fans for faking injury on occasion. Opposition players and managers have also been critical, with Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger saying earlier this year that Busquets “has all the moral weaknesses that help in football”.

The player’s own coaches have preferred to appreciate his ability to halt opposition breaks, recover the ball and quickly start attacks, as well as his usefulness as a protector alongside smaller, silkier team-mates.

Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola immediately promoted Busquets from Barca’s B squad to the first team on taking charge in 2008. In his first season, Busquets was named La Liga’s ‘young player of the year’ as Barca won the domestic double and the Champions League.

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque also fast-tracked Busquets into the national team. Aged just 22, he was an automatic starter alongside Xabi Alonso in deep midfield as Spain won World Cup 2010.

Pundits in Madrid have never quite warmed to that tactical scheme however, arguing that it is overly defensive and forces Xavi Hernández to play uncomfortably far up the pitch. These criticisms resurfaced after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Italy, when Spain began with Cesc Fábregas as a ‘false nine’ and no specialist centre-forward.

Some Spanish journalists have called for a midfielder to be dropped and a traditional frontman brought in against Ireland, but Busquets said he was happy with his side’s performance in their opening match.

“It was the first game of the group, it was not bad, we ended on top and with chances to score,” he said. “We drew with Italy, not any old side, they are a great team collectively and individually. ‘Buts’ always surface, but at the end of the day the result is all important. Now, the most important is Ireland and getting the three points.”

There have been suggestions that Spain’s Catalan contingent — including Xavi and Andrés Iniesta — had been pushing for their club-mate Fábregas to be included in the starting team, but Busquets said everyone in the squad was behind Del Bosque’s selection policy.

“Everyone understands the coach’s decisions, we know he makes them for the good of the group and to win games,” he said. “In midfield, our style is based on passing and combination play. We have played practically the same way for four years.”

Given the problems Ireland’s midfield had in handling Luka Modric on Sunday, Glenn Whelan and company could be in for long evening chasing Spain’s similarly elusive playmakers tomorrow night. Busquets however said he did not expect too many goals in the game.

“The most important is that we create chances,” he said. “This is a finals, and there are few big scorelines. At the last World Cup, our games were decided by the minimum. What is important is we win.”

While careful not to count too many chickens, Busquets did admit that most Spanish fans expected their side to win the tournament.

“That is our dream and why we are here,” he said. “It will not be easy as there are so many good sides. The expectation and pressure from our fans is normal. When you win trophies you are used to it, but we need to keep the euphoria in check.”