AND THERE are supposed to be no strike partnerships any more. Roma and Manchester United have pioneered systems without out-and-out strikers, and more generally teams have increasingly come to deploy a lone striker with breakers from midfield, but
Spain, in this tournament, have provided proof that not everyone is swept along by the tide of evolution.
Their build-up was dominated by Luis Aragones's attempts to squeeze all of the technically-gifted midfielders at his disposal into one side, but come the tournament he has fallen back on an old-fashioned 4-4-2, which has, thus far, brought success. Spain may have profited from Russian laxity in the opening game and failed to sparkle in beating Sweden in the second, but between them their two forwards, David Villa and Fernando Torres, have helped themselves to five of the six goals Spain scored in the two games in which they fielded a first-choice side.
Four of those have gone to Villa, but Torres's part in his glut should not be underestimated. "All the headlines in the tournament have been about David Villa because he has scored four goals but you have to talk about Torres, too," said Emilio Butragueno, the former Real Madrid striker who scored 26 international goals and is still widely regarded as Spain's best ever centre-forward.
Torres rattled in 24 goals in 31 league games for Liverpool, raising eyebrows in Spain where he had never managed to break 20 in a season. It may simply be that he has matured, but equally it could be that a player of his pace and physique naturally prefers the more direct style in England.
"I think this is a big tournament for Fernando," said Butragueno, now an ambassador for Castrol. "It's a chance for him to show exactly how good he is. He has been exceptional for Liverpool this season, but if you look at his goalscoring record for Spain it is good but could be better. He has played well but his ratio of goals is not as good as it could be. So this is his chance to really show he is there with the best. So far he has been excellent and I really feel he is close to doing something great. That's my feeling and I hope I am right."
Half the 16 teams in Euro 2008 began the tournament with two central strikers, and even though Croatia and Germany subsequently switched to a lone forward, that is still a far higher percentage than in last season's Champions League, when only a quarter of the sides in the last 16 used two central strikers.
That presumably is down to the old bugbear of Arrigo Sacchi and Valeriy Lobanovskyi: that at international level it is very difficult to generate the levels of understanding necessary to gain the fluidity required to make playing with one up a viable attacking strategy. What makes Spain's striking partnership so fascinating – arguably what makes them so effective – is that both Torres and Villa play as lone strikers at club level.
In the past, strike partnerships used to typically fall into two categories – big-man plus sniffer (Mark Hateley and Ally McCoist) or the creator plus finisher (Kenny Dalglish plus Ian Rush). The modern centre-forward seems to combine those qualities in the same player. At one end of the spectrum is Didier Drogba, a battering-ram and a goalscorer; at the other is Thierry Henry (or at least Henry as he was two years ago), wonderfully creative, adept at dropping deep and pulling wide, and yet a fine taker of chances as well.
In Torres and Villa, Spain have the best of both worlds. Villa is at the Henry end of the spectrum, and could conceivably have played in the left in a 4-1-4-1 in this tournament; Torres, although slighter and quicker, is closer to Drogba.
"He's a very complete player," said Butragueno. "He's powerful, he's fast, he can link up with his team-mates and he can score goals. I think he is a wonderful talent.
"He had a very impressive season with Liverpool and the move to Anfield has improved him as a player. His first year in England was exceptional and this tournament is a window to show everyone how good he is and confirm what he has done for Liverpool. I think it's a good challenge for him. He impressed me in Spain's first game in particular and he scored in the second and I hope he can continue. He has combined well with Villa and it looks very positive for Spain."
Certainly they have impressive flexibility in attack, and they are capable of a range of goals. Against Russia Villa twice benefited from subtle through balls. Then against Sweden Torres used his strength to muscle on to a David Silva cross, before flicking on a long ball for Villa. There is what Lobanovskyi would have called "universality" there, but the danger is that Spain lack such versatility elsewhere.
In the absence of Carles Puyol, the doubts over a centre-back pairing of Raul Albiol and Carlos Marchena – both at Valencia, who leaked 62 goals last season – are obvious, but there must be concerns too about the midfield. Arsene Wenger spoke before the tournament about how encouraging it is in an age of physique that "a real player" like Cesc Fabregas can prosper, but he is being kept out of the side by three equally slight figures – Silva, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.
That raises two questions. Could they be outmuscled? And, perhaps more damagingly, aren't they a bit similar? Aren't they all the sort of player who will retain possession without necessarily hurting the opposition. Russia showed how poor Sweden are, yet against Spain the Swedes largely neutered the midfield, reducing them to a string of long diagonal crosses.
Might they, in fact, have benefited from an extra midfielder to give them an extra midfield option? Villa and Torres are an engaging partnership, but there is a reason why 4-4-2 is drifting out of fashion.
