Some football decisions just defy belief. Arsene Wenger is a prime example of a manager who, for all his virtues, is apparently blind to the fact that his team hasn’t been winning trophies since he last had a dominant midfield general in the side. And still he stumbles on without one.
Another bizarre, regular selection is made by Spain’s international manager Vicente Del Bosque. I’m not even sure we had internet last time Iker Casillas was playing well. He’s had shocker after shocker for Real Madrid and the national team. Yet still he gets picked for Spain.
His latest howler came against Slovakia who recorded a famous 2-1 win against the deposed world champions in their EURO 2016 qualifying fixture on Thursday. The Daily Mail reported:
Iker Casillas made a mess of a first half free-kick and Diego Costa made it six games without scoring for Spain as the European champions were beaten by Slovakia in their first defeat in qualifying for eight years.
The decision to continue to elect Casillas is even more bizarre when you consider the alternative. 24 in a month, David De Gea is now a fully formed, world-class stopper with years of experience at the very top level with Manchester United.
Del Bosque is a highly accomplished tactician but this oversight smacks of a coach who is perhaps losing some of his sharpness.
In a recent poll 86% of Spaniards said that De Gea should be N0.1 and it seems the most patently obvious decision to make him the top man. Even if Casillas was playing out of his skin De Gea should be pushing for a starting spot after a year of consistent brilliance at club level. The fact that Casillas is having a stinker virtually every other week makes the situation even more cut and dry. It simply beggars belief that De Gea isn’t playing in these really important games, at a time when Spain should be rebuilding after a horror show in Brazil.
Let’s see some De Gea magic: Manchester United fans – are we agreed that the Spaniard should be coasting into the national side?
