In and Out: Torres, Pedro and Navas Injured, Immediately Replaced

October 4th, 2010 | by: Ade C. |

It has not been a good weekend for Spanish strikers. In the first few minutes of what would turn out to be Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Blackpool, Fernando Torres had to be subbed out with a groin injury, while on the last minutes of Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Mallorca, the faulty grass caused Pedro a hamstring injury that will see him out for two or three weeks. Jesús Navas, in the meanwhile, wasn’t even on Sevilla’s list to trash Atlético de Madrid, thanks to an injury suffered during training.

One day you're in, the next you're in the infirmary and some upstart is taking your place...

As a result, Vicente del Bosque has been forced to call new players, so I guess I can see the silver lining.

Bruno Soriano, Borja Valero (Villarreal FC), Pablo Hernández and Aritz Aduriz (Valencia CF) have been called up.

We lose three forwards and we gain two midfielders (Bruno and Valero) and two forwards (Pablo H. and Aduriz), which I suppose is a fair trade and lets us recover somewhat from the dearth of midfielders we noticed in the original call-up. And hey, new faces! Bet you hadn’t seen Aduriz or Valero in La Roja… And Valencia gets rewarded for their excellent season so far!

What do you think about our replacements? Are you satisfied or did you have anyone else in mind?

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ROD

Thank you! Thank you! Exactly the replacements I wanted. Most teams would hitting the panic button if they lose those type of players but as Spain is showing they don't rebuild they reload.Its going to be interesting who's going to start on in the middle and on the right.
My prediction:
Casillas
Ramos-Pique-Puyol-Capdevilla
Busquets-Alonso
Iniesta-Silva-Villa
llorente
No 4-6-0 Please! like it was against Argentina
Nithin

Valencia gets rewarded, Ade? I'm sure Emery was looking forward to some rest for his overworked players.

Good for the players though, I think.
http://spain.worldcupblog.org/ Ade C.

When *I* start complaining about the number of Barça players called up for La Roja, I always get told that it's a reward and I should be honoured, so dear Unai Emery can do the same!

I bet Pablito and Aduriz are happy…
http://spain.worldcupblog.org/ Ade C.

You're welcome, ROD. I'll tell Del Bosque that you liked his replacements…

I'm not hitting the panic button yet, but I'm certainly going to be watching closely to see how the midfield and attack do now.
James

Villa is still available, isn't he? He's not injured. And I think David Silva can stand in as striker too. But Del Bosque should try out new and younger players. He need to be mindful of what happen to Lippi the Italy NT coach, who keep it safe and pick all the same players even though they are too old and already pass their prime. 4 years is a long way away still.
http://spain.worldcupblog.org/ Ade C.

Yes, Villa is available, and Llorente too. I always hesitate to use Silva as a striker, he never tends to do too well in that position, at least in my opinion, though I'm a great fan of him in the midfield/winger position.
The Lippi comparison is coming up often, I'm afraid; though most of La Roja are young still, Del Bosque should be thinking long- and mid-term too.
ROD

It will be cool if Del bosque plays Valero in the Xavi role
Casillas
Ramos-Pique-Puyol-Capdevilla
Busquets-Alonso
Valero
Iniesta-llorente-Villa