Spain's 'Dropped XI' is still better than most squads at Euro 2016
The season for club football is over but there is still a lot to look forward to this month. As our attention moves to Euro 2016, a number of footballers have barely had a chance to catch their breath before joining their respective national teams in the ultimate quest to be known as the continent’s best team.
But when the final squads were announced, a select few players who had a good chance of making the national team were cut from the list of probables. They will be dismayed but will have to live with the fact that they were either not fit enough or simply not good enough to replace the quality of players available.
One such squad that saw some great players cut was Spain. As La Furia Roja coach Vicente Del Bosque said when announcing his squad, “Everyone wanted to be here, but we only had 23 spots.”
With that in mind, we picked a team of 11 players Spain cut and realised that almost every player could walk into any other team at Euro if they had the chance!
Formation: 4-4-2
Goalkeeper
While Del Bosque has his hands full on choosing between Iker Casillas and David De Gea, Sergio Rico may well and truly be warming the bench unless injury strikes. But one goalkeeper who has had a fine season and did not make the squad was West Ham goalkeeper Adrian.
The Hammers, always used to mid-table mediocrity in the past few years, saw a spirited rise up the table to finish seventh under new boss Slaven Bilic. The Croatian manager turned around the club’s fortunes and made them a force to reckon with before their move to the Olympic Stadium.
The 29-year-old goalkeeper played 32 games in the Premier League and faced as many as 138 shots on goal. In doing so, he made a total of 101 saves, keeping 9 clean sheets.
Unfortunately, a calf injury at the end of April saw his season end prematurely, missing the last three games. But they will look to his services when their Europa League qualifying campaign gets underway at the start of next season.