Guillem Balague talks Spain, Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo in his Euro 2016 Q&A
Wednesday 15 June 2016 18:42, UK
Guillem Balague answers your question as Spain continue their Euro 2016 defence and discusses Cristiano Ronaldo's performance for Portugal.
The competition in France is well underway, with the current European champions beginning their campaign with a 1-0 victory against the Czech Republic.
But Portugal were held to a shock 1-1 draw with Iceland, with captain Ronaldo expressing his anger at the result after the game.
With both teams in action for their second group games over the weekend, Sky Sports Spanish football expert Balague gives his thoughts on Ronaldo and answers your questions on La Roja...
The main problem for Ronaldo is Portugal. They don't work enough as a team. When things went wrong and Iceland levelled, having created enough chances by that time to be ahead by more than one goal, the Portugal we've seen so often came out, which is a Portugal where every player tries to do things on their own and they try to be too direct. Anxious.
They have enough quality to keep the ball, to find the spaces in between the lines and to be patient. They have the quality in the legs but obviously not in the head. They rushed decisions and then it became all crosses, one of which from Nani could have been headed better by Ronaldo. The conditions weren't created for Ronaldo for more clear chances, so he ended up shooting from outside the box and forcing the finishing.
Of course, Ronaldo is helped by the presence of Bale and Benzema at Real Madrid where there's a lot of movement up front and what he likes is a decoy - a centre-forward who does the dirty work and keeping the centre back busy - while he comes from the left, getting inside. That's what he wants.
But he should accept he cannot get that, that at least in Portugal his role is of a centre forward. My point with Ronaldo is that he has the ability as a striker to actually do damage. If Portugal decided to go with Nani or Ricardo Quaresma and him, he moans about the position because he has to do a lot of work, has to play a lot of the time with his back to goal and he feels that is not the best way to show all he can do.
I think he is good enough to be a striker for Portugal, 80 per cent of the goals he scores are one-two touches already and he plays with Madrid a lot of the time as a number nine. I don't think Portugal need another striker unless they use one as a decoy to get the most space for him.
How have the 'favourites' impressed you?
France are in trouble because I feel like Didier Deschamps is too conservative, but we will see what happens against Albania. They have enough quality to be more adventurous but the coach isn't.
Spain went from slow build-up to attacking in dozens of different ways. Italy will be limited by the lack of talent, but as a team, they are one of the most accomplished.
For me, Croatia are a team that has got a lot of room for improvement. They showed they have both the ability to set up as a team and the players that can take them to the next level - Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric to be two of them.
I feel like Germany struggled to create chances, but they tend to finish them. Remember, this is a team that doesn't start well and can improve.
How come Del Bosque doesn't trust Thiago and Aduriz to start? (@TheOnlyTaps)
Well he prefers for instance Cesc Fabregas or the midfield that he uses. In the case of Thiago, the problem is there's always a feeling that he takes to many risks, loses balls that can create counter attacks and could be more useful in later parts of the game when the game has opened up. He might be plan B if you like. Alvaro Morata plays better with linking the team and Aduriz can take advantage of tired players as well.
The great thing about when Aduriz came on is that Spain didn't start just putting balls into him, they actually kept playing like they had done during the game. Little link ups, going wide, through the centre, in through the channels and so on. Aduriz is not a magnet for the team that way, but a striker that can also be useful to attract and finish, specially crosses
What do you think of Spain's lack of width and lack of a clinical striker up front? (@LeMonc20)
I thought there was a lot of width. Nolito kept coming inside, but the full backs added width.
We've never been a nation that scores a lot of goals. Most of the games in the European Championship and World Cups that we've won have been 1-0. We are helped by the fact we defend well. We've conceded no goals in the last 600 minutes in the Euros. We only conceded three times in the qualifiers, which means defensively, we play very high up.
We are doing well but of course it would be better if we could hit those chances we created. I feel like Morata does very well in his role of linking with the midfield, opening up spaces, fixing the centre-backs and that sort of thing but he hasn't shown with the national team to be a clinical finisher yet.
Why is Hector Bellerin is not selected for Spain? (@RushiGooner)
Juanfran was one of the best players for Spain, so it is not Bellerin's time yet, but it soon will be.
Does the relationship between Pique and Ramos off the pitch have an effect on their defensive partnership for Spain? (@neilstonehewer1)
The Pique and Ramos situation was quite tense. They were both defending Barcelona and Real Madrid in their own peculiar way and they didn't back off when the other one provoked a response.
There was coffee apparently between both of them early in their stay with Spain. Things have been clarified and you could see that Pique celebrated with a picture of him and Ramos jumping on his back on Twitter after the victory against the Czech Republic and that was replied to by Sergio Ramos.
They've shown very publicly that they actually are OK now so they will focus on the job in hand. They will never be best friends, but they know where they are and any tensions will be forgotten.
How will Spain go about breaking down teams who 'park the bus' or sit deep? (@TheOnlyTaps)
You saw it against the Czech Republic - by being patient. It was a bit of a slow build-up at first and of course we don't have Xavi who was the clock that kept ticking at the right pace, but Iniesta was absolutely fantastic doing that most of the game as well as finding the forwards.
I will celebrate Spain going far in the tournament because that may mean that Iniesta becomes the Ballon D'Or winner for those who think that's important, but in any case, he has shown again he is a star and one of our best players ever. He was brilliant at keeping the ball, moving it around, breaking lines of defence and so on.
Can you see Cesc Fabregas being benched for either of Koke or Thiago after his poor performance? (@Ghedin1878)
He is a question mark for the next game. I think they may still go for him, but has been seen in the midfield as the weakest link, partly because he played a little bit deeper and didn't get into the box as often has he should.
I still think that he did good defensive work, he was quite disciplined and can give much more so he might stay in the team but has been considered as one of the question marks for the near future for Spain.
