Benitez praises del Bosque

Rafa Benitez has revealed Vicente del Bosque is responsible for the way Spain are playing at the moment.

Benitez, who worked with del Bosque at Real Madrid, believes the Spain boss has stuck to his philosophy since those days.

“Everyone is talking now about how Spain has discovered the way of playing in the last four years. Vicente del Bosque won’t see it that way because he has been talking about it – and doing it – for more than 25 years,” Benitez said in The Independent.

Benitez was appointed at del Bosque’s assistant at the Bernabeu for a short spell, winning the Copa Iberia in the progress.

The former Liverpool and Valencia boss revealed del Bosque’s qualities and also told of the pleasure he had working with him.

He added: “One of Vicente’s qualities was his quiet, relaxed way with players. He is very comprehensive in his approach to games – as Sunday’s 4-0 win over Italy showed – but he tries to give players confidence and his staff responsibility.

“I don’t think I have known a camaraderie quite like those days.”

Benitez, who still lives in England, also had some words of advice for Roy Hodgson’s squad.

He said: “The point for England as they look for a bit of what Spain have is that the country cannot make the changes in one year, or maybe even five years. It takes far longer to reach the level we have seen from Spain in the last four years.

“Another aspect England can also learn from is the standard of competition that exists at youth level for Spanish players.

“Spain is very, very different from England in the way that it brings together the best players in each region to form teams which play each other.”