It's all del Bosque's fault. Aragones' Euro winning side was a joy to watch.
It's interesting, isn't it – the transition there, from Aragones to Del Bosque. Aragones' team still had that taint – you know, the old Spanish taint: They look good, but they won't win anything. Which was always the story with Spain – great players, no reason why they shouldn't be a hell of a sight better than they actually were...but they weren't. Their most impressive incarnation was the '84 one, and even that was...I mean, come on, they were nothing compared to that truly great team that won the tournament – even in retrospect.
And even though Aragones did win, it had an air of...Euro not the World Cup about it. And for my money his side did have something of the paradoxical impotence (but not really, because sooner or later they did score) about it, which characterized Del Bosque's.
But, aye – his version looked better. Torres was on song for him – which made a great difference. An actual striker capable of delivering – and who played as an actual striker too.