Starting afresh is always complicated

Going back to school is always difficult! The Spanish national team return to Saint Dennis, where, just a few months ago they took a significant step in securing World Cup qualification with a perfect 0-1 win. It was, one can now see a defining moment in that particular group. Spain arrived in Brazil as world football’s number one team, a position they held for some time. They return tonight as the seventh ranked team in the global rankings. It’s time to start afresh, with only three players who played that particular day. The French team, meanwhile are relatively unchanged. France didn’t have a particularly great World Cup but at least they started well. In comparison to Spain, they have jumped up from seventeenth to tenth place in the FIFA rankings after a tournament where even Benzema managed to score three goals.

It’s time for a fresh start for the national team, although it’s been perceived as more of a half-start. Gone are some fantastic, almost irretrievable players and there are still doubts about the quality of their replacements. To compound matters, the transition is further complicated by Tiago, Javi Martínez, Jesé and Morata all missing through injury. Deulofeu has yet to find his rhythm and certain players are still struggling to convince in their individual positions. Casillas is such an example; we’re all hoping that he can string together some decent performances to banish recent particularly bad displays. Unfortunately the hero of the previous game in Paris, Víctor Valdés is out with a long term injury. He was, at the time making a genuinely strong case to displace Casillas as the national number one.

A half-hearted attempt at remodelling compounded by injuries and with crestfallen spirit. Piqué doesn’t play because he’s not interested, there is simply no other explanation, Gasol did the same in the recent Eurobasket tournament and tennis players constantly do it in those tedious preliminary rounds of The David Cup. Never before was this behaviour seen in the national football team. Sadly it’s happened now and its toleration means that we start with a hindrance. Despite Del Bosque staying on as coach, nothing is the same. Not him, Casillas, Piqué nor La Roja. Everything changes again, in Paris against France.

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/1CtyNsH

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