PETE JENSON: Spain have gone down the Gareth Southgate route by promoting Luis de la Fuente, but he is the OPPOSITE of Luis Enrique… there will be no more Twitch streams or electric scooters on the training pitch in this new era
Spain have gone down the Gareth Southgate route by promoting their Under-21 manager Luis de la Fuente to the senior team, but it’s not the Southgate similarities that the Spanish Football Federation were pushing this week. De La Fuente is the polar opposite of Luis Enrique and that, it seems, is exactly what they wanted after the World Cup ended in failure.
Southgate took over as England manager in 2016 after three years with the Under-21s winning the Toulon Tournament with a squad that included Jordan Pickford and Jack Grealish.
De la Fuente has also thrived as a youth coach leading the Under-19s from 2013 to 2018 and winning the Euros with them in 2015. In 2018 he took over the Under-21s and won the Euros with them in 2019. That, and the fact that he led the Spain Olympic side to silver in Tokyo in 2020, means he has worked with just about everyone in Spain’s current squad.
Spain appointed Luis de la Fuente as Luis Enrique’s replacement after their World Cup exit
He is also best placed to pick the players who are ready to come through from the current Under-21 team, with Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella and Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi prime candidates to step up.
There could also be a recall for Kepa Arrizabalaga who he likes and who Miguel Angel España also rates highly. España was Spain’s Under-21 goalkeeping coach and he will be joining De La Fuente with the senior team.
The new man will move Spain away from the 4-3-3 with a false nine and a commitment to playing through teams that Luis Enrique preferred. The future now is 4-2-3-1, a fixed centre-forward, and a more hybrid playing style.
But that’s not the biggest difference between him and the out-going manager. Luis Enrique was ground breaking in everything he did from whizzing around the training camp on an electronic scooter to committing himself to live streaming on Twitch during a major tournament, even if there was a game on at the time (not a Spain one obviously; he wasn’t that radical).
Spain crashed out in Qatar in the last-16 after a shock defeat on penalties to Morocco
Enrique took charge of his country in 2018, but upset the traditional media with his style
Gareth Southgate managed the England Under-21 side for three years from 2013-2016, before he was promoted to the senior side after Sam Allardyce’s acrimonious departure
No one complained about the manager embracing modern methods of communication all the time Spain were thrashing Costa Rica and holding Germany, but after defeats to Japan and Morocco the story changed somewhat and although Spanish Federation president Luis Rubiales denied he was sick of Luis Enrique’s idiosyncrasies this week, the damage had already been done by various stories suggesting exactly that.
The out-going coach upset the traditional media by refusing to give interviews to established newspapers and radio while being prolific on social media. There was no mercy from them when he failed in Qatar and De La Fuente has been welcomed with open arms. ‘I don’t use social media and never will,’ he said in his presentation before doing interviews on all the big late night radio football shows.
‘We could have four or five top Spain squads, but we can only pick one,’ he said in one of those interviews. That feels like a gross exaggeration but he does have a solid base of young talent with Pedri, Gavi, Alejandro Balde, Ansu Fati and Nico Williams all under-21.
What he does with the older players remains to be seen. When Julen Lopetegui took over as Spain coach one of the first things he did was fly to Porto to tell Iker Casillas he wouldn’t be picking him.
Enrique was ground breaking in everything from whizzing around the training camp on an e-scooter to committing himself to live streaming on Twitch during a major tournament
De la Fuente is the polar opposite of Enrique’s alternative style and many of his idiosyncrasies
De La Fuente could do the same with Sergio Busquets, Sergio Ramos and Jordi Alba but so far he has indicated that he will shut the door on nobody who still wants to play for Spain. He does intend to speak to the three of them and listen to what they feel about carrying on.
His ability to manage the big names will be the biggest test for him in what is his first big job. He played at the highest level as a left back for Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla but never coached in the top flight despite being keen on getting that chance.
‘This has very little to do with club management,’ he argued yesterday when questioned about that gap in his CV. He got the nod ahead of Marcelino who had proven himself at club level winning silverware with Valencia and Athletic Bilbao only to be overlooked. If De La Fuente starts badly in next summer Nations League Final Four, and Marcelino is still free then the pressure will be on.
For now he only has to not be Luis Enrique to get the Spanish sports media’s vote of confidence. He can do that for three months before Erling Haaland and company provide him with his first test. The new Spain team kicks off with Norway at home and Scotland away in March in Euros qualifiers, before contesting the final four with Italy, the Netherlands and Croatia in June.
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