Spain Preview

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1:34work. Hello everyone and welcome to Friday's Preview Pod. It's me, Phil Kittrow, my ladies, and Alex Kirkland because Sidney is somewhere and he's not recording today. Hello Al. Hello Kittrow. Yeah, Sid's had quite an extraordinary week even by his high standards, but yeah, we thought we'd give him a breather for this one. Yeah, Madrid to Burgos, Burgos to San Sebastian, San Sebastian to Madrid, Madrid to Rome, Rome to Oviedo. It was a real curveball. The Rome additional sort of leg of the week was a real curveball. But yeah. Yes. So I hope he's just sort of lying in bed sleeping. But knowing Sid, he's on the road driving somewhere.

2:16So anyway, what he can't do is record without him. Well, he's leading Oviedo's centenary celebrations, isn't he? He's probably sort of the master of ceremonies. Anyway, happy birthday to Ray Loviedo, their 100th birthday this week, which Sydney has been celebrating. This is the preview podcast, obviously, which we do every Friday. Usually we look ahead to what's coming up in La Liga. There is no La Liga this weekend because it is the international break. But Spain do have two friendly matches, their final two games before the World Cup. Not insignificant matches, although the opponents were supposed to be other opponents.

2:53certainly in terms of the first game supposed to be the finalissima supposed to be against world champions Argentina that is not happening instead we have a friendly against Serbia in Villarreal tonight yeah I'm never quite sure how you see different countries taking different approaches to these kind of preparation games don't you some seem to seek out the absolute best opposition to really test yourself ahead of a tournament like you've got France are playing Brazil today in a friendly, aren't they? For example. Others seem to prefer not to, you know, not to quite test themselves against the best and maybe play more kind of manageable opposition or maybe not give too much away against teams that you might be facing in the latter stages of the tournament.

3:38I'm not entirely sure where I stand. I think I quite like the idea of a team like Spain playing against an Argentina. And I do think it is, I think if Spain were to do that and to do well and to beat Argentina. Yeah, yeah, Spain, Spain. yeah the impression we got was that spain wanted to and that maybe argentina weren't as keen um so i do think it's a missed opportunity and they just had to because of course almost every country was occupied already with playing other games they had to look at the very limited options they had and it ended up being serbia and egypt yes they're playing egypt they were always going to play egypt as well uh but this time they're playing them on tuesday at espanyol stadium the rcd stadium in Barcelona.

4:16So Serbia and Egypt are the two opponents for Spain. As we said, it's the final two matches before the World Cup final chance for Luis de la Fuente to get his squad in his mind clear. The first thing out was obviously that he's called up four goalkeepers to this call-up. And they are the three goalkeepers that he's always had. Unai Simon, David Rai and Alex Ramiro. And he's added to them Joan Garcia. We have spoken about this on the podcast before. We have spoken about the issue in the porteria, in goal for Spain. Is there an issue? What is Luis de la Fuente going to do? Is Joan Garcia the best Spanish goalkeeper?

4:57And therefore, should he go? Should he stick with Unai Simon, who won the Euros with him and has always been his goalkeeper? I think we know what he's going to do. I think it is going to be Unai Simon. but if he's brought in Joan Garcia to this call-up then he has to use him at some point, right? We are going to see him play. He's not just there to tell jokes in the dressing room. Yeah, first of all, Kitra, we all know who the best Spanish goalkeeper is, don't we? Cousin Dave. Cousin Dave, who does often get literally forgotten in this conversation, in the sort of in the way that you just have.

5:30When you hear this discussion on the radio here, the talk is all about, you know, is it Joan Garcia, does Zuna keep his place? You're like, well, hang on a second. the best goalkeeper in the Premier League and maybe maybe the the world on form and in fact when Joan Garcia was asked on the radio the other day who's the best goalkeeper in the world he said Cousin Dave yes um so I do feel a little bit for David Raya who I've watched a lot of this season and has like his highlights reel this season over the last couple of years actually is up there with with any goalkeeper with the very very best but there's no clamour for him to get the shirt except from me um and and you know and you and me yeah um so yeah so feel a bit sorry for for him um look this this calling up four keepers thing I think it's fine I do think it's a bit of a cop out soft like I think maybe maybe you just make the call and do what you want to do rather than putting off the decision but I'm not gonna get too worked up about it either like and yeah in In terms of, say, two games, I don't think you give 45 minutes to each.

6:38I think you play, you know, Unai Simon for a game and then maybe you give Joan Garcia and David Rai a half each, something like that, do you think? Yes, yes. I think that was actually the idea which was proposed by Santi Canizares, a former Spain goalkeeper. He said he would do exactly that. So give Unai one game and give the other two a half each. I mean, yeah, which again, you don't have to give Alex Romero, seeing as he's there just for the vibes, apparently. Yeah. You don't have to really give him any minutes. But again, seems a bit like sort of what's the point? Even though, yes, squad cohesion is important.

7:19Experience is important. All of that stuff is important. It's true that the third goalkeeper role is largely an off-field or entirely an off-field role. But the fact that, yeah, you're just like completely ruling out the possibility of giving him any minutes at all makes you feel like it's a kind of a bit pointless um yeah i agree i think we know what the outcome is going to be which is in the end it's going to be unai simon but yes does joan garcia deserve to be there on form absolutely is david raya the best of the bunch yes i think so okay um it's not uh wild arsenal bias talking there i don't think it is well it is but also like it is but i've watched him a lot and he's absolutely fantastic Yeah, but it's talking from a point of knowledge rather than bias.

8:05We'll see what happens in goal. That is one of the question marks in this Spain side. We've mentioned this before. There are lots of question marks, I think, in basically every line, starting from the goalkeeper, then in centre-backs. How is the midfield constructed and up front as well? Yeah, I've gone back and forth on this, and I don't know if you've taken the same journey. I know for a while you were fully in the Spain are going to win the World Cup camp. And I feel like I got there as well. I think I was in that place as well. But some doubts for me have crept in over the last couple of months when you start to think about the number of very senior, experienced players who are either out of form or injured or aren't going to go at all.

8:45and consequently just kind of how, yeah, sort of in a way sort of lacking in kind of at least traditional ideas of leadership and experience this team might end up being. I still think Spain can be a really, really strong team and a leading candidate at the World Cup. But I do have some doubts and you're right, it's not just that. It's not only about the lack of experience, it's also about lack of form for players who ought to be really quite important. Like who? Who's badly out of form? Well, we know the big one is Nico Williams, don't we? Yeah, he's injured, but all right. Yeah, but he's had an entire season in which he's been either, yeah, he's been not fully fit and he hasn't been playing well.

9:27So, and what made Spain, and one of the biggest things that made Spain so good at the Euros was him and Lumin. So I do think that's massive. I do think that's massive. Otherwise, we talked about Rodri, didn't we, a bit this week. He's getting there. I think he's getting there. I don't know if he's got there enough to win his place back ahead of Martin Zubimendi. Zubimendi who I think had an outstanding first half of the season in the Premier League but has tailed off a little bit in the last couple of months and hasn't been quite as impressive for Arsenal and like I said that coincides with Rodri coming back into the City team and coming back into some kind of form so I don't know quite where we are in terms of the Rodri versus Zubimendi question.

10:10I haven't seen enough of Fabian to know how he's playing for PSG. He's had some injury problems as well, I think, hasn't he? He's had injuries as well. So, yeah, like you say, the make-up of the midfield is another question. And then, you know, the defence, where we still don't think Dani Carvajal is... Do we think Dani Carvajal goes at this point? I think at this point he doesn't. No. He's not in the squad? No, unless he comes back into the relative team and plays consistently well, which he hasn't done all season. the form of Marcus Llorente makes me less worried about that Llorente has been sensational for Atleti and yeah the centre-backs not knowing who really who either of the two first-door centre-backs will be right now I don't know I think that is probably the biggest question what's the centre-back pairing?

11:00Robin Lenormand is not in the squad he was one of the most used players for Luis de la Fuente but he has not been in good form this season for Atletico Madrid. Aymeric Laporte is. But yeah, let's see. Danny Vivian isn't in the squad either. So is it Kubar-C and Laporte? Yeah, I think so. I think so because Hausson, having looked so exciting when he came into the Spain team and when he signed for Real Madrid, has had a tough season. Looks a little bit better now, but still not enough, I think, to have displaced Laporte and Kubarsi from the... Yeah, I think right now, I think it'd be those two. When I talk about the structure of the midfield, I'm basically saying, where does Pedro play?

11:42Where does Pedro play? Because with Spain, he doesn't play in the double pivot, sort of further back where he does with Barcelona. Luis de la Fuente uses him a little bit further forward. But we have seen with Barcelona that his best position is a little bit further back, or certainly he has performed to a consistently extraordinary level a little bit further back and he has unlocked facets and aspects to his game that we didn't really know existed the player with the most recoveries in La Liga last season he's just turned into this complete complete midfielder which you lose a little bit which you lose a little bit if he goes a little bit further forward the flip side to that being that maybe Barcelona play a slightly different style to Spain and he needs to be positioned there for Barcelona and he doesn't necessarily need to be positioned there for Spain.

12:32But I'm intrigued to see where he plays because remember in the Euros, he got injured and Dani Olmo came in in that sort of number 10 role and that Olmo was very good, basically. So, yeah, let's see. Yeah, and it's also a factor that I think, you know, with Spain, you've got really, really top alternatives in that double pivot. And you've got maybe questions about the other players who might play that kind of number 10 role. So you mentioned Dani Olmo, who hasn't, you know, I'm not sure about his season and where he is right now in terms of... He's done well for Spain. Yeah, he has. But I mentioned Rodri and Zubimendi.

13:11I don't know if there's any way that you play those two together. I talk about Fabian. I think if Fabian is fit, I think he plays. I think that it's still Pedri in a more advanced position, even though it's not his best one. I think that's what ends up happening. So Rodri, Fabian and Pedri, because obviously there's no Miki Marino. Well, although as Sid mentioned, basically they've said they will wait for Miki until the absolute last minute, given how important he's been, given the goals that he's scored, given just what a top guy he is and how valuable he is. They will wait for him until basically May, which seems kind of mad.

13:59but I don't know I haven't seen I haven't seen a recent sort of date of return for him that anyone's sort of expressed with any certainty so I don't know score more with the college branded Venmo debit card and earn up to five percent cash back with Venmo stash got paid back with the Venmo debit card you can instantly access your balance and spend on what you want like game day snacks gear tickets and more the more you do the more cash back you can earn. Plus, there's no monthly fee or minimum balance. Sign up now at Venmo.com slash college card. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank NA.

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15:19Pablo Fornals and Carlos Soler also in this squad for these two games against Serbia and Egypt who have both individually done well this season for their respective teams. Fornals has possibly been Real Betis' best player but it is very difficult to envisage them sneaking into I was going to say even the World Cup squad let alone the starting XI but let's see how they perform. And Fermin is there as well, obviously, who should be used off the bench because I think he has a role to play, an important role to play off the bench, I think, in this team. Yeah, I think he's the first player that you look to if you're looking for a goal in a game to come off the bench.

16:02And is it him or Borja Iglesias going up front as well? Because Borja Iglesias has never scored for the Spain national team. He's played five games. He's in this squad. And it does feel like there is perhaps, you know, a place open for a plan B in the attacking line for Spain. There is no Álvaro Morata in this squad. I do not think there will be an Álvaro Morata in the World Cup squad. And if you look at the forwards, these are the forwards, right? They're very similar kinds of players. So in this squad, it's Jeremy Pino, Alex Baena, Anda Baranechea, Victor Munoz, Miquel Oyarzabal, Ferran Torres, Laminia Mao and Borja Iglesias.

16:47He is kind of like the outlier in that he is this big marauding buffalo of a number nine who runs into people and bashes about and is just a real sort of physical presence and physical handful for defenders. But technically, maybe might not be at the same level as some of the other players and is certainly not as quick as the other players. but he is the plan B. I just wonder if he does well enough in these two games, maybe he will be brought to the World Cup as that sort of wildcard plan B. Yeah, I think you've got room in that squad for three centre forwards. And I say centre forwards because there are other players that can kind of play as forwards, but maybe out wide or whatever.

17:26I think those three could well be. Oyarzabal, Ferran and Torres. Ferran. Ferran and Iglesias. And Borja Iglesias. I think that could be your three. I mean yeah it's not ideal that Ferran is badly off form as well Oyathabal has basically become the undisputed starter in that position now but yeah I think there's room for three I don't think there's room for any more than that and I think right now those would be your three Ferran who is in abysmal form for Barcelona I think he hasn't scored for 12 games 11 or 12 games he's not scored for but he does have a sensational scoring record for the Spain national team it's a goal every other game pretty much for Ferran And so let's see if he can score with Spain and maybe kickstart his goal scoring form for the run in for Barcelona.

18:12And finally, just a quick mention of those players who've been brought in and given a chance this time in Ander Baranecher and Victor Munoz. There was certainly a feeling that Victor Munoz was going to get a chance here. Baranecher is a little bit more of a left field selection from Luis de la Fuente, but he's been solid enough for La Real this season. I don't think either of them will be in the final World Cup squad, but that's just me saying that. Now there is a place on that left-hand side with Nico Williams looking very, very unlikely to make the final squad. And I have been excited at times by what you've seen by Victor Munoz just because of his raw pace.

18:51Is that kind of player, because he is quite skillful, but it's mainly the pace that he's got. Is that the kind of player you need against teams that are going to sit very, very deep against Spain and not allowed any kind of spaces at all and not necessarily need that kind of pace to give you a chance to exploit your pace. I'm not entirely sure, but let's see what either of them can do. Yeah, I think it's fine to try players like this out. Of course, given the players who are unavailable, there's room to do that. Like you say, I think the realistic chances of these players actually making the World Cup squad are pretty slim unless...

19:28I mean, what would you have to do? What would they have to do in these games to sort of make a case to go to the World Cup. I think that's... I guess it's not just the games as well, isn't it? It's how they train and what he sees from them and sort of... Yeah, good lads. Good, great attitude. But yeah, it kind of seems like... I think we know. We have a pretty good idea. Apart from maybe one or two, we've got a pretty good idea of what that squad's going to be and they aren't going to be in it. Okay. Spain against Sweden then on Friday night at the... Serbia. Serbia. Spain against Serbia. on Friday night at the Estadio de la Ceramica and then Spain against Egypt on Tuesday at the RCDE Stadium.

20:09That's it for the preview pod. We will be back on Monday to discuss Spain and also other stuff as well. I'm sure there'll be plenty of news lines coming out of Mbappé's knee and all sorts of stuff. Yeah, we can do some more World Cup chat because of course with the playoffs and everything else, there's lots to talk about. Kiccio, any updates on whether you'll be going to the World Cup in the summer? Is that on the cards? Is that happening? What's your place like? It's not that much on the cards. It's not being hotly debated. Yeah, I would say at the moment, I'm sort of one level down from under Baranachea's chances.

20:47If it's between you or Baranachea, who's more likely to make it? Yeah. Okay, okay. Well, that's a shame. yeah well look at least me and Sid will be there for you guys don't you there'll be lots of content for patrons in particular over the summer maybe a return for the old TSFP daily World Cup diary kit that proved such a hit among patrons for the for the club World Cup last summer there'll be lots and lots of content over at patreon.com forward slash TSFP me and Sid are both going to be following Spain so it's going to be it's going to be fun certainly is so make sure you're signed up beautiful plug there from Al.

21:26I won't bore you with any more details, but patreon.com forward slash TSFP, €4.75 a month. It's very good value. We'll see you on Monday, amigos. Adios. Bye.

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