French and Spanish chiefs praise their middle men

France boss Laurent Blanc and Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque have both paid tribute to their midfielders.

Del Bosque saluted Premier League based David Silva and Juan Mata for their performances against the Czech Republic.

Control

Meanwhile French head coach Laurent Blanc paid tribute to his midfield trio of Samir Nasri, Yann M’Vila and Yohan Cabaye. Blanc appreciated the midfielders control of the centre of the park. All three are superbly talented.

Regulars

Attacking midfielders David Silva and Juan Mata haven’t always been regular first team players for the Spanish national. Spain have a plethora of midfield options and it must be one of the hardest teams to get into.

Silva and Mata are quality players for sure. The pair would get into the first eleven of most international teams but not the Spanish team. However with the pair now playing at high profile clubs in the Premier League they seem to now have a better chance of making the Spanish team.

Mata has settled in really well at Chelsea and looks like he has been at Stamford Bridge for years. Silva didn’t settle in immediately at Manchester City last season but this season he has been superb.

Recovery

Laurent Blanc has inspired an incredible turnaround in the French national teams fortunes. A part of that renaissance is the fact that Blanc has reshaped his squad and his midfield in particular. M’Vila and Cabaye weren’t regulars in the French national side before Blanc took over.

However they are now the foundations of a solid French side. France are now looking stronger than they have for years. Cabaye has enjoyed a good start to his career in England with Newcastle and is looking a better player by the game.

Cabaye and M’Vila do a lot of the dirty work in the French midfield to allow the likes of Florent Malouda and Samir Nasri to go forward and be creative.

Quality

There is a common theme in all these players and that’s quality. All five of the players that have been praised are players of great quality. The likes of Mata, Silva and Nasri could be the stars of next summers European Championships.

These are the sort of players that get the fans on the edge of their seats. The kind of players that fans gladly pay money to watch.

Favourites

Spain and France are two of the favourites for Euro 2012 because they have players like the ones talked about. France have underachieved in recent years due to internal problems but under Laurent Blanc discipline has been restored in Les Bleus camp.

France are on the rise again and could be a real big team in next years competition. They have to be regarded as one of the challengers for the tournament.

Due to the number of quality players available to Spain they will always have to be considered as favourites for the big tournaments. The fact that Silva and Mata aren’t considered first choice just tells you how many options Spain have.

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