I can say with all the pride in the world and will bellow it from the rooftops, that I despised Spain's tic-tac-toe tiki-taka football. It was boring, took all the life out of the game and was anti-football. Give me a defensive counter-attacking team over that rubbish.
So it's refreshing to see a Spain with a new-look team, albeit with some old heads, change the way in which they play. In a way, they are forced to because different players have different attributes. And it will be a long time till Spain produce a midfielder of the caliber of prime Xavi.
What I liked about their performance against the Czechs was how they did not just rely on having the possession, which they knew they'd obviously dominate. They got on with the game and always pushed forward, playing quick passes and trying to create as many chances as possible. No more of the passing for the sake of passing, but incisive play lead by Iniesta and David Silva who were cutting up the Czechs.
It's not the best opposition that they played against, so there is a chance Del Bosque may decide to go back to the dark ages if they face a sterner opponent. I hope not, because Spain actually look entertaining to watch playing this way, and I don't see why they can't beat any team in doing so.
With Morata in the team who is a very forward-thinking player and has a lively excitement to him, Spain have a good chance of creating history. It would be insulting to the tournament if they do, but the fact is they are good enough to do so.
The worry are the other strikers. Lucas Vasquez and Arduriz are not international caliber players and of what I saw of the latter, albeit for his short time, he didn't impress me at all. There was nothing I saw that convinced me he deserved to be in this squad ahead of the Blonde One, Torres. It's an exclusion that might come to bite Spain in the rear-end if Morata gets tired or injured and they don't have another good alternative to bring on in his place.
But please Del Bosque, keep the football like this. The entertainment of the tournament has been maintained as Spain showed some very smooth stuff and the chemistry and flow between midfield and attack was seamless. They deserved to win by two or three goals as they totally outclassed the Czech Republic who look like they'll be packing their bags for Prague very soon.
Down with the tiki-taka tic-tac-toe and up with pure attacking football! HH
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