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Del Bosque defends decision to utilise false nine against Italy
Jun 10, 2012 9:00:00 PM
The Spain boss claims the former Arsenal man lead the line well for his country on Sunday, as he was satisfied with the performance of his players in their Group C opener
Vicente del Bosque insists his inclusion of Cesc Fabregas in attack was warranted, following Spain's 1-1 draw at Euro 2012 with Italy in Gdansk.The former Real Madrid coach surprised many by naming the Barcelona midfielder as a 'false No.9' ahead of other strikers in the squad, but he nonetheless went on to score a vital equaliser for his side.
When quizzed on how he felt the experiment went during the encounter, Del Bosque was pleased with Fabregas' impact in the role, but hinted the team functioned better since Torres' introduction.
"Cesc did very well in that position. When Torres came on, the game was much more open. We had more chances to score, but they, too, lest we forget. Time will tell if this [the system] is good for us or not,
"We did a good job, it was a good effort. We are relatively satisfied with the result."
Del Bosque then reflected on the match itself and felt Fabregas linked up well with fellow forwards David Silva and Andres Iniesta, as he went on to praise the trio for their movement throughout the match.
"I preferred to dominate the midfield - to take possession and go from there," he added. "Silva, Cesc and Iniesta did very well in between the lines on many occasions.
"The Italians were not limited to just retreating, which we knew from the beginning. I knew that Italy were going to press high up the pitch and wanted to take the lead."
Del Bosque was also highly critical of the playing surface at the PGE Arena, claiming the grass had impacted adversely on the football that was on show.
"The pitch being so dry doesn't do much of a favour to football or for the spectator," he mused. "If the pitch had been quicker, we would have seen a better match."
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