Indeed. But they should risk conceding a few by potentially creating a chance after twenty passes, apparently.

Indeed, its very effective, but is it any more entertaining to watch than a team like England putting 10 players behind the ball, concede 60-70% possession to the opposition, but still somehow manage to sneak a result?

Personally, I find it a bit dull, though it has got them a long way in the last 4 years or so.

I wouldn't pay to watch it. In fact, in this tournament, there's only been Germany I'd pay to see, and maybe the Portuguese when they are brave enough to do their attacking thing.

The Spanish are the Liverpool of the 70's and 80's - Very strong, very capable, but perhaps a little too good for the game's own good....They make the other side look very mediocre and end up simply wearing sides down to submission.

Surely England v Italy will be better than this dross.

It's all a matter of opinion. I like watching Spain, for me it takes stupendous ability to keep the ball the way they do. They're at their best when they raise the tempo and move forward in numbers, but they very rarely do that, or they very rarely get a chance to do that as teams make it their sole objective to shut them down.

I'm a big fan of the Spanish, I won't hide it and I do enjoy watching them play, it's not just their passing, it's their closing down, their movement and their end product.

I get why some people think they are 'boring', but they aren't ugly. They play the game at its pinnacle. What they do is the hardest thing to do, I'm in awe at their consistency in their execution and their ability to consistently oust opposing sides.

Your pathological hatred of roy is worse then i thought.

I'm not saying they should change their style of play and risk their clean sheets. I'm not saying their play is dull.

I'm saying i prefer watching germany, i like their football better. Spain is not for me.

Why is that so hard to comprehend?

It takes tremendous ability for sure.

But if germany set out the same way, i think they could match spain for keeping the ball. But they don't. They play with more attacking purpose, more direct, which means they will concede posession more, concede more goals, but also score more goals, which is why i find their football better.

Look, when spain are in top gear some of their stuff is dazzling. But for alot of the game they stroke the ball around in such a pedestrian manner, as a neutral it can be frustrating. Looking at tonights game, if germany had come up against that from france, they wouldn't have been content to stroke the ball around like it's a kick in the park, they'd have gone for the juggular and scored 3 or 4 goals, probably conceding one as well. The end result would have been 4-1 or something like that.

Their games just tend to be more entertaining and their football more pleasing.......well IMO.

Whatever happens tomorrow night, if we lose, we go out fighting and not with a whimper like france.

I find the way they set up and the manner in which they went out very amusing considering blanc and evra's scathing criticism of us after the first game.

How much better was the game when Spain actually put Pedro and Torres on the pitch instead of playing 5 central midfielders, France were pushing a bit more forward, but it was a far better game when Spain looked to attack instead of knocking 50 passes in pretty triangles and making everyone go to sleep.

I thought Danny Baker pretty much summed up tonight on his Twitter feed. https://twitter.com/#!/prodnose

I thought Danny Baker pretty much summed up tonight on his Twitter feed. https://twitter.com/#!/prodnose

Spain play quite possibly the most dull brand of football I've ever seen.
IMO in the entertainment business, which is what sport is, this cannot possibly be considered the pinnacle.
It's like watching the world's fastest bowler bowl grass-cutters in a test match.

It's all a matter of opinion and what you find entertaining. The way Spain play football (at international level, at least) is the hardest way to play it IMO. It's clear for all to see that they have a few gears they can slip into if they want/are allowed, but for the time being, they're quite content to grind teams down and waltz their way through the competition. It may be boring to you, but I find lumping it long boring, I find ten men behind the ball boring, I find kick and chase merchants, that do the same thing over and over, pretty boring. In an ideal world, the French would have took Spain on and made a go for it, but Spain never allowed that to happen, so they ended up having everything their way and quite happily strolled through the game.

David Villa would make the world of difference to this side, but they're in the semis and look as though they could easily ramp it up against a side like Germany.

I think it's a results/performance business. And they are clearly at the pinnacle of that.

As to whether you are entertained by that, I doubt anyone in Spain gives a shuffle whether you are entertained or not.

Viva la soccer!

Apart from things like rhythmic gymnastics and figure skating it's the same as every other sport on earth.

I read something earlier that had a ring of truth to it - what most people consider exciting matches happen when teams attack and/or make a lot of mistakes. Spain make few mistakes, and no-one attacks against them.

Personally I find tactical battles more interesting than end to end stuff with bad play allowing chance after chance.

If Spain are boring, then give me boredom.

Wrote this a while ago about how [url=http://euroballs.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/banality-of-brilliance.htmlBarcelona's brilliance has become banal[/url, but it could equally apply to Spain

Interesting isnt the same as entertaining though, is it???

To all the students of the game, the Spain way is a fantastic watch, but for those after entertainment, which I honestly believe is the majority, it is painfully tedious.

Let's be honest, if you had 2 TV channels, one showing last night's game and one showing the Man Utd/Everton 4-4 game played recently, then which one would get the most viewers????

Big game tonight. Thoughts?

My heart (obviously) says england. But thinking about this truthfully, it's going to be a cagey, chess like game. Very few chances, very tactical and probably goes to penalties, probably with england losing.

I will be shouting at the telly, and the England players will willfully ignore me.
Win or lose it will be an ordeal.

where can I live stream it in Oz?????

2/1 for the draw after 90 minutes looks a good bet - You would think at least one of the quarter finals would need extra time?

As for the game, I think it could be a bit more entertaining than most are anticipating....Two evenly matched sides (which hasn't been the case in the other 3 rather boring quarter final games), I think it will be tense and likely to have at least one or two controversial moments.

Neither side will get past the Germans in the semi, but victory tonight will be the difference between an acceptable and a great campaign for both teams.

England to win on penalties, with Ballotelli to miss the deciding penalty in the shoot out.

I agree with most of that.

I think England have an advantage with pace. If the right players are selected, we really could cause the Italians problems.
England have showed that they can sit back and soak up pressure, but that IMO would be suicide with Pirlo dictating play.
Also, it would be criminal not to have Carroll and Rooney up front and really bully their make-shift centre half.

Here's hoping...