Spain Vs. Russia

ShoulderChip

According to the Independent Spain will line up in a 4-4-2 formation with villa and torres up front and fabregas on the bench.

personally I think the following line-up Would be better

......................... Casillas........................

Ramos..........Puyol.....Marchena......capdevilla

.............................Senna..........................

Iniesta...............Xavi.........Fabregas.........Silva

...............................Torres..........................

Key player: Torres

Utilised Subs: Villa, De la Red, Guiza/Sergio Garcia.


Most likely formation
......................... Casillas........................

Ramos..........Puyol.....Marchena......capdevilla

Iniesta............Xavi.....Senna..............Silva..

......................Villa.......Torres.....................

Key player:Xavi


Poor Xabi Alonso might as well pack his bags and say good bye to the circus.


Which formation would you prefer?

Who will win?

Can fabregas and torres play well together for once?

leninbenjamin

Spain to win by a goal

Word is Fabregas wont start. it's been on the Telly and the interweb all day.

edit: oh, nm i see you said that. forgive me, i should have the read the contents of your post instead of just looking at the lineups...

personally i'd go with the latter formation. Cesc was really burned out by the end of the year. I think save him against the latter stages.

ShoulderChip

Villa will not start

Ah i think my poll is silly, I wish now I never made it.

kryogen

Villa will not start

im going with the predicted formation of

---

Casillas

---

Ramos----Puyol

---

Marchena----Capdevilla

---

Senna

---

----Iniesta

---

Silva

---

---

Xavi

---

---

Torres

---

Villa

---

Cant see much wrong with it.

ShoulderChip

Villa will not start

kryogen wrote: »

im going with the predicted formation of

---

Casillas

---

Ramos----Puyol

---

Marchena----Capdevilla

---

Senna

---

----Iniesta

---

Silva

---

---

Xavi

---

---

Torres

---

Villa

---

Cant see much wrong with it.

Swap silva and Xavi and you have it right.

kryogen

Villa will not start

why? silva is better from a wide position, xavi will probably be next to iniesta. they interchange alot and do it very well.

ShoulderChip

Villa will not start

im not saying your way is worse, but aragones said he would play silva in the hole.

aidan24326

Spain to win by a goal

It's a heck of a team that can leave Fabregas on the bench, that's all I can say. I don't know much about Senna, is he good?

Russia are a good side though, technically good on the ball and an excellent manager to boot. They'll be tough opposition.

Frisbee

Villa will not start

aidan24326 wrote: »

It's a heck of a team that can leave Fabregas on the bench, that's all I can say. I don't know much about Senna, is he good?

He's a much more defensive player than Fab.
Will play the Makelele kinda role...

Tusky

Any suggestions for a good bet for this game ? Spain to win is crap odds 4/6.

kryogen

Villa will not start

if he is gonna play with Xavi,Iniesta, Silva, 2 strikers and a central defence of Puyol and Marchena he needs Senna to give protection, hes a good defensive midfielder.

monkey9

Russia to win by a goak

I'm not so sure about Russia to be honest. They never really do much at tournaments and they aren't great travellers. I still can't get it out of my mind how they were absolutely hammered three nil by England at Wembley.
I know you could say the same about Spain in terms of performances at tournaments, but i just think they have the players and quality to beat the Russians and i reckon two nil to Spain will be the outcome

Frisbee

Villa will not start

kryogen wrote: »

if he is gonna play with Xavi,Iniesta, Silva, 2 strikers and a central defence of Puyol and Marchena he needs Senna to give protection, hes a good defensive midfielder.

http://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/J78GM9T6NJ47M14S

Has an eye for goal aswell..... :rolleyes:

kryogen

Villa will not start

not sure why you used the rolleyes there tbh

it was a pretty freakin great goal dont you think?

alas it is a rare occurance!

aidan24326

Spain to win by a goal

monkey9 wrote: »

I'm not so sure about Russia to be honest. They never really do much at tournaments and they aren't great travellers. I still can't get it out of my mind how they were absolutely hammered three nil by England at Wembley.
I know you could say the same about Spain in terms of performances at tournaments, but i just think they have the players and quality to beat the Russians and i reckon two nil to Spain will be the outcome

Spain have more quality in the attacking third which might swing it. But I wouldn't underestimate the Russians, they have skilful players who are comfortable on the ball and with a top-class manager at the helm they won't be lacking when it comes to organisation and tactical know-how. If Spain aren't at their best the Russians are well capable of getting a result. I'd fancy these two to qualify from the group anyway, ahead of Sweden and Greece.

Xavi6

Villa will not start

Spain better not play shit tonight. I'm staying up til the wee small hours just to watch the little fella work his magic in midfield. I'll have my jersey on and everything.

Frisbee

Villa will not start

Have to say Id fancy Spain and Sweden from this group.
Spain should take it comfortably today aswell

mayordenis

Russia to win by a goak

I wouldn't discount alonso yet, he'll play a part - there is talk of him starting ahead of senns - personally I think senna will play though.

leninbenjamin

Spain to win by a goal

i think Spain will have a shaky start, too much uncertainty as to how they will play, much more than any other team it seems, can never be a good sign. i'd put my money on score draw.

Mr.Nice Guy

Russia to win by a goak

I reckon Spain will win comfortably. I'm thinking 3-1.

Malice

I hope Spain win with Torres, Arbeloa and Alonso somehow getting among the goals .

vincenzo1975

Villa will not start

I think Torres will start on the bench at the expense of a 5 man midfield with fabregas starting.

Villa up front on his own.

Spain to win 2-1

delija_sever029

Spain to win by 2 + goals

Good chance for Spain to finally do something on Euro's except to blew up every time when people excepting a lot of them and their super team,again food names again a lot of young star players.We will see if they finally have solution for that problem in their heads coz they know to play football as individuals and thats definitly obvious.So far Holland,Portugal and Germany showed themselves as really good teams and candidates to win tournament,only left to see Spain now.Its gonna be tough game for both teams but my prediction Spain to win with a 1 goal difference

Pepe LeFrits

It's probably not the worst idea to leave Fabregas on the bench, although I would have thought that Iniesta would make a better impact sub. Mind you, Cesc made an excellent contribution off the bench at WC06.

Nice problem to have.

mike65

Spain to win by 2 + goals

Gone for a one goal win by Spain , while Aragones has plenty of latitude to make the wrong selection, Hiddink might make the right one. Would'nt rule them out of this discussion.

Mike

Sherifu

Last time I saw Russia playing they looked impressive but I know how lethal Torres is. I'd say a Russian win with plenty of goals. *crosses fingers*

~Rebel~

Villa will not start

Tusky wrote: »

Any suggestions for a good bet for this game ? Spain to win is crap odds 4/6.

i put 3euros on Senna to score in the 90 at 11-1. Obviously a long shot, but he really was taking all his chances in training so said id go for it, or else prob end up regretting it like i did with Podolski.

_blank_

Villa will not start

Spain to win, by a couple of goals.

Dancor

Russia to win by a goak

Spain to win 2-0

bazzman

Villa will not start

according to www.livescore.com the 4 teams ave been announced already just wondering if the teams would actually be named so early but the spanish team according to it is:
Casillas; Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila; Iniesta, Senna, Xavi , Silva; Torres, Villa

delija_sever029

Spain to win by 2 + goals

I am watching teams on that page everytime and they arent final,they just give suposed starting rosters and than change it after teams officially give them before the games

ShoulderChip

Villa will not start

Well they wont change that line-up thats for sure.

Xavi6

Villa will not start

As a little taster for tonight here's Xavi's winner for Spain against the USA last week. Quality -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO5wJwfGMQc

ShoulderChip

Villa will not start

ha typical Xavi scoring goals.

~Rebel~

Villa will not start

lads the weather here has gone fuking nuts, black sky, lashing rain, fork lightning, booming thunder, full blown storm! Mite start to favour the russians...

Xavi6

Villa will not start

Teams are in. Villa and Torres both start -

Spain: Casillas; Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila; Senna; Iniesta, Xavi, Silva; Villa, Torres.

Russia: Akinfeyev; Anyukov, Kolodin, Shirokov, Zhirkov; Semak, Zyryanov, Semshov, Bilyaletdinov, Sychev; Pavlyuchenko.

Xavi6

Villa will not start

Anyone else watching? Russians must be averaging a foul a minute. Very physical approach.

Xavi6

Villa will not start

Torres to Villa. 1-0

mike65

Spain to win by 2 + goals

Torres reigning for Spain! :pac:

Mike.

MementoMori

Villa will not start

Yeah the Russians were fairly physical there.

And people wonder if Torres and Villa can play together.

Come on Benitez sign Villa please

Xavi6

Villa will not start

Russia hit the post.

Good game so far.

Mikeyt086

Villa will not start

Torres and Villa is a really good partnership.

Shocked by the lack of Fabregas.

Russians arnt done, this will be a great game.

MementoMori

Villa will not start

Russians hit the post after about 18 Spanish defenders miss the ball.

Def don't look too solid at the back

More nice link up play from Villa to create a chance for Torres

There's more goals in this methinks

Tom65

I'm aware they've just gone a goal down, but Russia keep playing like this they might not win this match, but they should come out of their group. I thought they were good, but the pundits seemed convinced they were rubbish.

MementoMori

Villa will not start

Another chance for Torres - destroying his marker at the moment - decent save by Russian keeper.

Melion

God i hope Nando is telling Villa and Silva to sign for Liverpool. The thought of the 3 of them linking up for us next season makes me hard.

The ref is having an awful game here, giving fouls for every little bit of contact and surely 2 or 3 russians should have cards by now.

Xavi6

Villa will not start

Spain just knock the ball about so well. Every player is comfortable on te ball and always has someone in space to pass to. The movement is great to watc.

_blank_

Villa will not start

Melion wrote: »

God i hope Nando is telling Villa and Silva to sign for Liverpool. The thought of the 3 of them linking up for us next season makes me hard.

Tap them up you mean :pac::pac:

Good goal by Spain.

Sherifu

Damn it, missed the goal.

/awaits half time

kmart6

Russia to win by a goak

Jesus Torres just skinned that guy!

eddiehead

Good game so far, Spain seem shakey enough at the back but they are brilliant going forward. The movement and passing up to now has been great to watch, Villa and Torres putting on a great show