So the World cup has come around again and shockingly the Spanish football team are favourites to win it, I would agree with this on the basis that Spain and Brazil are clearly the two best teams on the planet right now, however I do have a few doubts which I can only base on hype and hope being a loyal England fan.

Spain play football in a similar manner to the imperious Barcelona, pressing from the front and using a small but precocious midfield to pass their opponents to death, this is allied to having two of the worlds great strikers in Villa and Torres to feed off of the majestic midfield.....what could go wrong?

Well with Vincente Del Bosque at the helm, the side has continuity, a calm leader and a man who is prone to doing the simple things well rather than trying too much. This is a very good thing.

Goalkeeper - Iker Cassilas hasn't had as good a season as he generally does but would still be considered in the top 5 goalkeepers on the planet, it wouldn't be crazy to suggest that Barcelona's Victor Valdes and Liverpool's Pepe Reina might also at least be in the top ten.

Defence - With the supremely athletic Sergio Ramos at Right Back, the wonderfully composed Gerard Pique and his combatative partner Carlos Puyol at Centre Back and AN Other at Left Back, this is a defence which is possibly a lot better than previous generations, but it will be possible to get at them. Left back is always a weakness and lots of teams will push speedy right wingers up against them, this is a job England could do with Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott. It is also possible to fluster Puyol by running at him and to physically overpower Pique, so these are things teams should consider, also Ramos is prone to raid up the pitch leaving space behind him, so patience and counter attacking will be key for opponents.


Midfield - I think Xavi is the best midfielder on the planet, he controls everything calmly with vision and authority, but he is playing with an injury and has played an awful lot of football this season and is being substituted regularly as its obviously affecting him. Alongside him we have Iniesta who is bright, sprightly and awesome, he has few weaknesses but as with the rest of the midfield they have skill in droves but lack power, perhaps pace and power could outdo them, and have someone who marks Xavi out of the game as Cambiasso recently did for Inter Milan. Alongside will be Xabi Alonso of Cesc Fabregas but Fabregas will be coming back from long-term injury and Alonso is an awesome player but is slow and in a team full of passers could be got at.

They may play the pacy Jesus Navas as an outlet to run with the ball but i'm confident Ashley Cole could handle that. Otherwise you have the brilliant David Silva, but the midfield then has little pace, huge imagination and a lack of power.

Strikers:

Villa and Torres are awesome on their own and dovetail well, Villa has had another great season and should be one of the players of the World Cup, but Torres is again returning from injury alongside Cesc and the slightly injured Xavi and these things allied to the pressure on this team make me think that Brazil might just be stronger with a better defence, a good keeper, more options in midfield and attack to play in different ways and a strong physicality.

It should be a great World Cup, generally I go into it confident England will win, this time i'm not but I do believe that if Spain or Brazil are knocked out we have a great chance!