Luis Enrique is going through one of the most complex moments of his time as national coach. The outbreak of the virus in La Roja’s dressing room has changed the work plans and has limited them to the maximum, an exceptional situation that greatly conditions the last phase of preparation for the premiere at the European Championship. scheduled for next Monday against Sweden. The positives of Sergio Busquets and Diego Llorente have confined the national team in its operations center in Las Rozas, already converted into a bunker with daily PCR tests to gain ground for the new pathogen and cut transmission. Something similar happens in the Nordic delegation, which reported the cases of Kulusevski and Svanberg on Tuesday. What does this translate into? In that you cannot train in a group or polish the tactics of the group.
The Asturian coach sees how time passes without being able to get together with his men to finish off the work for the European Championship. La Roja footballers train alone, without contact with each other and with a strict surveillance regime. They even go down to breakfast and eat in shifts, with a safety distance to coincide as little as possible and avoid concentrations in closed spaces. Telematic meetings are even planned to address group situations and advance in clearly deficient preparation. During the match against Lithuania, played by the U21 boys, the absolute internationals saw the clash each on their own or at most in pairs of two separated by several meters. And all this seasoned with a permanent uncertainty of what will happen after each analysis carried out, turned into a tense wait of several hours.
Collective work
Luis Enrique does what he can in the ‘green’, where his men adapt to the exercises designed by the coaching staff and carry out the daily tasks in the hope of reaching the Eurocup in the best possible conditions. Physical work is not a serious problem, because it can be done without difficulty, but group mechanisms, automatisms and tactical aspects are quarantined until the health situation allows them to get together again. In the selection they trust to be able to work in a group this weekend – it is only an estimate – but it all depends on the epidemiological moment. A new positive would mean another setback in the return to normality.
In accordance with the UEFA regulations, Luis Enrique has until nine o’clock on Saturday night to decide whether to modify the summons of the 24 given to the body that governs continental football. If it does, there will be no going back; that is to say, it could not recover the substituted ones – at this moment, Busquets and Diego Llorente-. With the armored national team in Las Rozas, the issue of express vaccination continues to be talked about because the Public Health Commission (CSP) was inhibited from making a decision and left the ball on the Government roof. The Interterritorial Health Council (CIS) is expected to authorize the immunization of internationals on Wednesday. In any case, and with a green light flashing, It would be necessary to see how the inoculation of the preparation affects the professionals just a few days before the game against Sweden.
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