No room for the Kid, but space for a kid

It was a long time coming but this week Fernando Torres finally got the heave-ho from the Spanish team, after his unprecedented dip in form over the past two years.

That was the main talking point when Vicente del Bosque announced his 23-man squad ahead of Wednesday’s friendly against Venezuela. The quietly spoken coach expressed his heartache at having to drop el Niño, but justified his decision by stating that he didn’t want other players to go unrewarded for the sake of someone else’s past glories, “It pains me to leave Fernando out, but I can’t be unfair to other players who are knocking on the door”. Other notable absentees included Albiol, Iniesta (dogged with a niggling hamstring injury), and Pedro, who has only featured as a bit part player this season.

Torres’ absence, you’d assume, is in large part due to the abundance of forward talent vying for a spot on the much coveted ‘Furia Roja’ plane to the Ukraine and Poland this summer. However, for the mean time at least, Del Bosque faces a bit of a dilemma in that position. With Villa still recovering from his nasty shin fracture in Yokohama, Negredo picking up an injury against Valencia on the weekend and Soldado not exactly firing on all cylinders of late, the only in form out-and-out striker available to play in Malaga this Wednesday is another Fernando. Fernando Llorente. The Athletic target man seems to have taken off where Soldado left off, and is hitting the kind of form that would make it hard for any coach to ignore him.

Torres looking for the shadow of his former self after nightmare miss against Manchester United

The forward conundrum is not the only problem presenting itself to the mister. Fatigue is another legitimate concern for the current European and World champions. Being the best comes at a price, and in Spain’s case that manifests itself in a very busy playing schedule, not only at international level but also at club one. Barcelona players, seven of whom make up the current squad, have the most demanding itinerary of all: Xavi Hernández for example has already played 2,868 minutes in 38 games in three different continents this season for club and country. But that pales in comparison to the 3, 368 minutes Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso has clocked up in 40 matches since August.

The effects of fixture congestion are not only apparent in Barcelona’s weary away form in the current league campaign. The national team’s reputation has also taken a blow, as the abysmal friendly record since last August attests to (W1, D2, L4). Many put this down to not only exhaustion, but also to a verging on mutinous spirit within the national camp, with certain players unimpressed with the Spanish FA’s insistence that ‘la seleccion’ takes on the role of the footballing equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters-exhibition matches for the highest bidders.

Del Bosque’s remedy to all this has been to ease off on the over reliance on the two big clubs, with only 11 members in this most recent squad hailing from Real Madrid and Barcelona. The new club to make it’s presence felt in the dressing room is undoubtedly Club Athletic de Bilbao.

Muniain grabbing the winning goal against CSKA Moscow last week

Marcelo Bielsa’s team has garnered plenty of positive attention this season. The transition from the traditional long ball, tough tackling tactics of before to the more technical, pass focused approach favoured by the ever scowling Argentine is still a work-in-progress, but by no means have the lion’s famed intensity levels dropped as a result of the revamp. Four players from the Basque club have got the nod from the national coach: Llorente, the most senior of the lot, getting his 19^th call up, defensive partners, Iroala and Javi Martínez, each make their seventh appearances on the team sheet while the prodigious Iker Muniain makes his debut for the first team.

Muniain’s star has been shining bright for quite some time now, but with the glut of talent at Del Bosque’s disposal no one would have thought the teenager would be included in the squad quite so soon. However, since making his first team debut for the Athletic at 16 years of age in 2009, he has really cemented his place in the San Mamés side and this season has played 2,863 minutes in 36 games and is acting as the driving force behind Bielsa’s “more football” approach.

A strong dribbler, the has been likened to Iniesta and Messi on more than one occasion, the teenager has also made a habit of getting his name on the score sheet recently, which no doubt the moustachioed manager will have taken note of.

So does this shift in power spell the end for the big clubs dominance in la selección? It’s too soon to say, but with the financial pull of the Premier league already luring players like Silva and Mata away from Spanish shores and the emergence of teams like Athletic, it’s not that ludicrous of a theory.

Although not a member of either Real Madrid or Barca, the once prolific Niño Torres is the first big name to be culled from the team. And with whippersnappers like Muniain lurking in the figurative and literal wings, none of the big names are safe from the chop.

Keepers: Víctor Valdés (Barcelona), Reina (Liverpool), Casillas (Real Madrid); Defenders: Iraola and Javi Martínez (Athletic Bilbao), Piqué and Puyol (Barcelona), Arbeloa and Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Jordi Alba (Valencia); Midfielders: Busquets, Fàbregas, Thiago and Xavi (Barcelona), Cazorla (Málaga), David Silva (Manchester City), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Jesús Navas (Sevilla); Forwards: Llorente and Muniain (Athletic Bilbao), Mata (Chelsea), Negredo (Sevilla), Soldado (Valencia).