Villa would come back for the world cup and Jordi Alba was just plain awesome. The bigger concern for me would be how to replace Xavi who would be 34 by the time of the world cup.
Pirlo for Italy was 34 for this years Euro's, and look at the tournament he had. Its possible if Xavi is rested appropriately that Spain can have the same effect in Brazil. Scary actually.
Stats are important to Football, but pure data is useless to sport in general without a way of applying the data. Interesting is how the data is applied more than anything else. Can comparisons across time be drawn to teams across era's to statistically determine who the best team of all time are?
One does not simply replace a player of the quality of Xavi. He and Iniesta are the big difference makers for Spain (and Barcelona for that matter). They've had a historic run the last 5 years for club and country. It might be asking too much to continue it another 2 years, but as it is, it's been great to watch.
Anyway the first 15 minutes of the Euro final were mesmerizing by Iniesta. When the game was still a contest, He and Xavi were lethal.
Villa and Puyol haven't been properly replaced though. Playing Ramos as CB left Arbeloa on RB and he's not at the same level.