The Vicente del Bosque era Begins. | burgundy's Blog

Hopefully, del Bosque will not be subjected to the same harsh treatment as his predecessor, Luis Aragones. Perhaps he, del Bosque, has already skirted part of the issue by selecting a talented young crop of players to add to the already superb roster he inherited this summer.

Among the new faces are Diego Capel. Gentlemen, prepare to be impressed. Sevilla's Capel is hell-on-wheels fast with the ball. He is simply lethal on the left side and able to both penetrate into the box or distribute from the left. Those distributions from the left are going to make David Villa, Dani Guiza and Fernando Torres even more lethal. Further, there is another young striker to add to the roster as well, Barcelona's Bojan Krkic. All that needs to be said about this kid is that he made a name for himself on Barcelona's front line when players like Eto'o, Messi and Henry were in the game as well. Bojan is a prototypical forward, both creative in distribution, lethal with the ball at his feet, and he shoots with pinpoint accuracy and quite a bit of power.

Del Bosque, of course, knows not to mess with the midfield. It is not broken so he isn't even trying to fix it. This is a sign that del Bosque is not interested in making the team "his" moreso than continuing to establish a reputable team. This is a very good indicator that the Spanish national team is going to maintain it's level of performance for some time. I like that.

On defense del Bosque has brought in two new players - Iraola and Amorebieta, both from Athletic Bilbao. Perhaps Bilbao's canterano-only policy does not yield dividends in Liga play but they have an undisputed talent for developing toughness in their players at every position. Defense is no exception. When you have to face squads like Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, and Barcelona - who have no qualms about importing foreign players at all - you learn to be tough on defense. These two additions are very smart choices. Young, fast, and smart defenders - the both of them - who bring even more defensive depth to an already strong defensive back line.

Spain is playing Denmark next Wednesday and a lot of people will be watching to see how Spain handles the new pressures of being the "It" team in European play. Judging by what del Bosque is adding to the roster of Spain's national side. Spain fans have nothing to worry about.

Aupa!