87 people opened this post, and 87 people were disappointed to read "more to come". Lo siento.
Spain looks to regain its footing after an embarrassing World Cup 2014, during which Spain did not advance out of the group stage after losses to the Netherlands (5-1) and Chile (2-0).
Del Bosque has the challenge of keeping the core of the team while adding players to complement Spain's style of play. The challenge has been to find some sort of scoring threat. Here's the changes to the roster.
Returning Players
GK: Casillas, De Gea
Defense: Pique, Ramos, Juanfran, Alba, Azpilicueta
Midfield: Iniesta, Silva, Fabregas, Pedro, Koke, Busquets
Forward: <blank>
Players Not Returning
GK: Reina
Defense: Albiol, Javi Martinez
Midfield: Mata, Cazorla, Xavi, Xavi Alonso
Forward: Diego Costa, Fernando Torres, David Villa
New Players
GK: Sergio Rico (Sevilla)
Defense: Marc Barta (Barcelona/Dortmund), Hector Bellerin (Arsenal), Mikel San Jose (Athletic)
Midfield: Bruno Soriano (Villarreal), Thiago Alcantara (Bayern)
Forward: Aritz Aduriz (Athletic), Lucac Vazquez (Real Madrid), Alvaro Morata (Juventus), Nolito (Celta)
A few observations:
1. It seems that Del Bosque finally has decided it is time for De Gea to start. Thankfully.
2. Del Bosque, to his credit, has tried a new approach with his forwards. While Costa's health may not have been 100%, it seems more likely that Del Boque didn't like how Costa fit into the squad. I like the selection of Aduriz -- he was fantastic this year for Bilbao, even though he's now 35. I'm not that exited about Morata -- he had a somewhat mediocre season at Juventus, and there are other players perhaps in better form. For instance, Fernando Torres had the same number of goals this year but came on strong at the end. There are a handful of Spanish players in La Liga that had great years, such as Ruben Castro (19 goals for Betis), Borja Baston (18 goals for Eibar), Lucas Perez (17 goals for La Coruna), and Paco Alcacer (13 goals for Valencia).
3. The core of the team is unchanged: Ramos-Pique in the middle, with Busquets and Iniesta in front of them.
4. Del Bosque received some criticism for selecting Fabregas and Pedro since both had up-and-down seasons at Chelsea.
It's hard to know what line-up Del Bosque will use, but I'm going to guess:
---------------De Gea---------------
Juanfran--Ramos--Pique--Alba
-------------Busquests-------------
--Iniesta--Fabregas--Silva--Pedro
----------------Nolito----------------