It was inevitable. Circumstances conspired to finally give
the world a first glimpse of a starting XI completely devoid of recognized strikers
but it must be said with the current Spanish setup, it has been a long time
coming.
Injury had shorn Spain of their sharpest finisher in David Villa,
while the reduced stature of Fernando Torres meant the six players best suited
to play in front of the back four were all midfielders.
That’s not to say Andres Iniesta and David Silva are not
excellent forwards in their own right; but the fact remains that their vision and
creativity supersede their finishing skills, making them arguably the best
attacking midfielders in the world today.
One might argue that Barcelona have provided the template
for this style of play, with the false number nine position (and they have),
but their XI does include Lionel Messi and Alexis Sanchez, and on occasion
Pedro, all of whom are decidedly forwards despite not playing in the archetypal
centre forward position.
The definition of the forward that this system now dictates
is essentially a wide player making diagonal runs to latch onto balls that the
cerebral midfielders of Xavi’s ilk play through. This blurs the line between a
winger, a forward and an attacking midfielder since any of Villa, Sanchez,
Pedro, Silva, Iniesta, or even Fabregas, a central midfield player, can, and
have, played the role.
Meanwhile, the same game also threw up an interesting and
unexpected tactical change from the other side. Italy played a 3-5-2 formation
that is almost unheard of in the modern game. Only Napoli has used it
consistently to any degree of success in recent memory at the top level.
It worked against the likes of Spain since the Iberians
lacked natural width down the flanks and hence the Italians could hold them at
bay with stout defending in the middle of the park. One suspects that it may
meet limited success, say in the Premier league, where out-and-out wingers like
Bale or Valencia could make merry.
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