De la Fuente has five challenges

Luis de la Fuente has until March to draw up a plan. The new coach has two immediate objectives: to start the qualifying phase for the Euro 2024 in Germany on the right foot in March (the group rivals are Scotland, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus) and to prepare for the final four of the League of Nations, which will be played in June against Croatia, Italy and the host, the Netherlands. De la Fuente has already directed 16 of the 26 players who were called up for Qatar 2022 and has shown with them that he can win titles (European Under-19 and Under-21) and reach the last stretch of the big tournaments (Olympic runner-up in Tokyo). But for that you will need to solve the five pending challenges in the Selection:

1. The goal.

Spain has returned from Qatar with only two goals in the last three games and in the last Euro Cup they signed a victory and five draws, which they later resolved in overtime or penalties. Luis de la Fuente’s Olympic Team, made up of this same group of players, was not a particularly good scorer either. That’s why The first challenge for the new coach is to find a system that helps create chances and don’t lose yourself in the horizontal game or, which is not probable, get a new great scorer from among the forwards of Spanish football.

2. Leadership.

Sergio Busquets has been the last great leader of the National Team, but it is unlikely that he will continue for much longer playing with Spain. The Barça captain could announce his withdrawal from La Roja shortly or simply stop being called up. Take the path of Piqué or Casillas, the truth is that Busquets is heading towards the end of his career and it does not seem that he is willing to play another qualifying phase, in this case the one that begins in March for the World Cup in Germany.

3. The defense.

The National Team has played in Qatar with a 1-4-3-3 system in which the leader at the back has been a pivot, Rodrigo. But if the departure of Busquets is confirmed, the City midfielder will have to occupy that position. De la Fuente will be forced to renew the defense and, beyond the players chosen for it, will also modify the system to a 1-4-2-3-1 less conserted than that of Luis Enrique. In any case, for those who believe that a return of Sergio Ramos is now possible, it seems that it will not be the path that De la Fuente choosesmore supporter to look at the lower teams.

4. Trust.

The Selection has returned from Qatar touched not only sportingly, but also emotionally. The players did not agree with Luis Enrique’s ‘Twitch’ nor, either, with the Asturian’s way of managing the bench. He made decisions that, clearly, a coach who wants to continue leading that group of players would not make. That confidence and the security of the footballers, subjected to a rigid system, in their own capacity, have been broken. Luis de la Fuente has the challenge of recovering the morale of the troops.

5. The image.

In the Federation they have ended up unhappy with the image projected by the National Team in the person of Luis Enrique. They never agreed with the Asturian’s interventions on ‘Twitch’ and the proof is that, in that section, he did not have the support of the RFEF staff, who literally got out of the way. Luis Rubiales does not want to open fronts, but to close them. He trusts the conciliatory spirit of Luis de la Fuente, a 61-year-old man with the necessary education, background and experience for the job.