Having proved some fitness before the end of the season, Santi Cazorla will be disappointed that it wasn’t enough to secure him a place in Spain’s squad for the European Championships this summer.
The Arsenal midfielder missed 5 months with knee and Achilles problems, but made a start on Sunday in the 4-0 win over Aston Villa. However, it wasn’t enough to convince boss Vincent del Bosque to pick him in the pre-tournament squad which was announced today.
He’s in good company, with no place either for Diego Costa or Fernando Torres. Speaking about his decision, del Bosque said, “Cazorla situation very like is Diego [Costa]- he has been out five months, made great effort to be ready, but we cant have many doubts.
“We have weighed everything up. We do not want to call up too many people with doubts over their fitness.”
It’s still an impressive looking squad though, even though it will have to be trimmed ahead of the tournament itself.
OFICIAL | Lista provisional de 25 jugadores para la #EURO2016 / Provisional 25-man call up for the #EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/wyMJ77Fyhe
— Selección Española (@SeFutbol) May 17, 2016
There was some good news for an Arsenal player though, with Hector Bellerin called up to the squad for some pre-tournament friendlies, as del Bosque looks to blood a new generation of Spanish talent.
Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin called into Spain squad for pre-tournament friendlies, but seems unlikely to go to Euros [at this point]
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) May 17, 2016
It’s a nice reward for a player who has been one of our most consistent performers this season.
Their Loss to leave our Little Magician behind.
No Torres who has been in form and I hate to say, no Costa.. who can atleast score those goals and perform some gimmicks along with Busquets.
I genuinely don’t see Spain being Contenders. England will stand a better chance with their front line I reckon.
You see England as bigger contenders with that squad? Right.
They have the best forward line going into the tournament without a doubt.
The English fans are so used to getting knocked out that they have actually grown up to be this pessimistic, I see.
You must be basing that on only having knowledge of the English squad.
I can see several squads that wouldn’t have any English forwards in there starting 11.
Name me those teams with better forwards going into the tournament, then?
I would love to listen.
Have to agree. Although France’s forward line and Germany’s isn’t too shabby. Having said so forwards are only a fraction of the team. And many a time the games are won in midfield.
@Indian Gooner, While I can’t comment on just forward lines, we know there are going to be quite a fair few strikers in Euros who are far more accomplished than their English counterparts, or are similarly promising players. Poland – Lewandowski, ugh. Belgium – Lukaku (I think he will shine as a more major player starting this summer, and support from Hazard, who will obviously be more of a forward than cam since they have Fellaini and his people’s elbow for holding mid… dangerous forward movement there) France – GRIEZMANN! (and grudgingly, Martial; and they’ll be supported by their really… Read more »
England will fail as badly as Arsenal did this season and finish Runner Up….to the European Giants of Ireland.
Stupid Leicester getting my hopes up. Other peoples dreams come true in football, not mine.
Nice and fresh next season…good news now will Chile drop Sanchez? Wishful thinking.
So Cazorla played until November, gets injured, comes back and plays 80 mins of final game and doesn’t get selected for his country. Wilshire plays 80 mins all season in last 2 games of season and is picked for England. Now Spain can afford to leave out Cazorla as they have Iniesta, Thiago, Fabregas in creative midfield positions. England have who? Milner, Delph, Dier! The fact is England have to pick Wilshire as he’s the only footballing central midfielder we have. All the rest rely on having the lung capacity of a Kenyan distance runner allied with the ability to… Read more »
You don’t win the Euros with Smalling and Cahill.
I’m sorry but that’s just big fat bollocks. You don’t win the premier league with Huth and Morgan?
Yes, but… Look at that face. How can you say no??
I’m ok with it. Santi’s situation is very different from Jack’s where a longer break and focus on fitness would be more benificial vs. Euros. He will have his Spanish full back friends with him to enjoy a full preseason so can’t be all that bad.
Not surprising…only a team like Spain can afford to drop a player like santi and not feel it.
Don’t understand why Monreal hasn’t been invited…I know azpi is a superb lb/rb, but he hasn’t been on form this season.
Oh well, means they will be fresh for next season…could play a huge role in our title quest.
Del bosque sticks with players despite form. Look at casillas.
Given he competes with the likes of Alba, Bernat, and now also Moreno, I can’t say I’m not surprised Nacho didn’t get included.
I can. Nacho’s been arguably the most consistent LB in EPL this season.
Maybe, but he’s been quite dodgy since the Leicester game. Gibbs has been unlucky not to play a few games in my opinion.
Spain’s loss should be our gain next season. Also just goes to show the difference in class between Spain and England, who picked Wilshere.
Sad for him. Great -pre season prep’- for us.
Quite surprised neither Hector nor Nacho make the cut. Nacho has definitely had a better season than Azpulicueta…
No Nacho either? All the better for us then.
From an Arsenal perspective that is good news but sad for Santi as I am sure he will be disappointed. The more players that get a rest over the summer the better really as we will probably have a plethora of injuries to deal with by the time the end of August comes around.
Hmm, not the greatest team, little to no pace. Who plays wide there? Silva? Koke? And nothing special upfront.
Arsenal might be in a good position to have a strong start to next season. Relatively few of our players will be at risk of fatigue from summer competitions, at least compared to our main rivals. Just Kos, Giroud, Sanchez, and Ozil.
Wilshere could do with the game time, and Ramsey had a few months off last season.
This will be good for some of the younger lads training and integrating with the first team during pre-season. With the likes of Santi, the Ox, BFG, Nacho, Hector, Coq, Gibbs, Theo, Gabriel and Elneny around there’ll be a distinctively more ‘first team’ feeling about it than in post tournament preseasons gone by.
Also, for those in North America, you should get a decent number of first team regulars turn out on the tour.
disappointed for Santi. Wouldve been his last major tournament for Spain.
Wow. No Santi, Hector or Monreal, yet Roy feels compelled to take a chance on Wilshere, such is the dearth of playmakers we have: Alli – breakthrough season; Barkey – poor form; Lallana – inconsistent; Rooney – passed it.
Admittedly, I’m guilty of slagging England off with the best of them, but once the tournament begins I can’t help but to get behind the team. However seeing the quality Spain can afford to leave behind -and they’re probably not even favourites- it’s all rather more in hope than expectation.
In any event, COYE!
Very good for us in terms of player fitness for the upcoming season. But judging from the Spanish lineup, del Bosque seems to have a dislike of EPL players in general. Santi’s absence is one of the reasons why Arsenal got the dip in form this year, otherwise 2nd place would not be a surprise and 1st would be a possibility.
How is Casillas in the party? He was their biggest reason for failure at the World Cup. I hope these guys do win it though.
Sad for Santi – you could see him making a big impact off the bench for Spain when they need it. But they’re not exactly stuck for options, either, so with him being out for so long it’s not exactly a big surprise. No Nacho or Hector? Spain’s loss, our gain. The only annoyance about Theo being dropped is that he plays far better for England than for us, so a couple of flattering appearances in the finals and a goal or two would have added £15-20m onto the price we extract from Liverpool/West Ham/whoever. Now we’ll get knocked down… Read more »
Never liked Del Bosque loves fabregas like his son anyone else can go fuck themselves.
If Del Bosque is aiming to blood new players, then we could lend him our most recent signing: Santi’s son
I can’t be the first one to mention Hector…..
Good. Rest up, Santi.
No Mata either. Spain must be the most technically gifted team in Europe. They’re without Cazorla, Monreal, Costa, Torres, Bellerin, Mata, etc, & still favourites to win the Euro. England & other teams must be Jealous
Without Santi or Monreal in the squad, who will keep Hector clear of all the Barca DNA?
The EPL Team of the Year RB is not good enough to get into the provisional? Azpilicueta has been so average this season!! SO has Pedro, or Fabregas! Chelsea is 10th, ffs. I do think there is some bias going on. Cazorla was gold the first half of this season.