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RB – Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid)
Some feel it could be a case of keeping Diego Costa happy, after their altercation in the recent Madrid cup games, with it seeming odd that no specialist right-back has been drafted in to cover Arbeloa.
Whatever the reason, Arbeloa has not made the squad this time round and with just three months separating us from the World Cup, he will worry about his seat on the plane to Brazil, despite having made himself quite the cult hero at one of the biggest clubs in the world.
Arbeloa may boast a passing accuracy of 92%, but he has won just 29 tackles all season with a win rate of only 41%.
CB – Inigo Martinez (Real Sociedad)
Inigo Martinez is one of the most highly-rated young centre-backs in Spain and has developed a knack for the sensational, scoring twice from the halfway line in one season for La Real.
Coupled with his long-range shooting is a solid defender, with these attributes often overlooked in Spain in the era of the trequartista, with small, fancy attacking players capturing the imagination more vividly.
Martinez has made an impressive 133 clearances for Sociedad this season and won 54% of his aerial duels, so his time in the senior squad is not long off now one would think.
CB – Marc Bartra (Barcelona)
Yet another product of the La Masia academy at Barcelona, Bartra’s talent is often underestimated due to him not being a midfielder in the mould of Xavi or Andres Iniesta.
However he has started to make an impression on the first-team at the perfect time as Carles Puyol’s body starts to let him down, giving Bartra more starts than he might of expected and convincing him to sign a new deal.
Bartra has won an impressive 68% of his headed duels this season and made 37 appearances in his 13 matches for Barca.
LB - Alberto Moreno (Sevilla)
A slightly left-field choice, but Moreno edges out Nacho Monreal due to the progress he has made this year for Sevilla.
Moreno has belied his youthful 21 years of age to make a big noise at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium and given Sevilla’s notoriously unstable financial situation, there are already teams casting their eye over him.
Moreno has made 56 interceptions in just 20 appearances this season and created 14 chances from his left-back role.
