Del Bosque's Spain vs England in a friendly, Seville, February 2009.

Would it be fair to say that Spain are almost a 2-2-4-2 at times? There is the two centre halves obviously, Alonso and Senna, and then a bloc of Iniesta, Xavi and the two fullbacks, with Villa occasionally dropping a bit deeper to make it 2-2-4-1-1. What a spearhead too in Torres. Capdevila and Ramos are certainly no strangers to breaking forward, against the USA yesterday Ramos was at the edge of their box. But this team were mesmeric against England, they made them look leaden. So much passing and movement and interchanging....

But only one full-back would push up at a time

I suppose that you are right about that. Capedevila is less mobile than Ramos, who would get further forward than him. It's probably best not to think in terms of lines on the pitch but in stages. The Spanish midfield is in a different shape on the halfway line than it is when they are twenty metres from goal. Iniesta will pull wide, so will Villa, Torres works across etc.