“Equality in international sport is sometimes very different from that of clubs”
Gavi? There are players who perform such spectacular jumps that there is no time for them to burn their normal stages. And that I invite others to follow, like Gavi. Or Eric García, who perhaps could have been put under a lot of pressure at times. But he can adapt wonderfully to our game model »
«The Spanish league championship for me is the most important in the world. There are very good players in other leagues. If the best are here, it makes it grow, but Spanish talent is very good. We are always willing to grow”
He already made his debut as a coach in an official match with the senior team after a positive for Covid that locked up Luis Enrique’s team: «That game was important in my life. debuted in a dream But I already said that I still felt like a U-21 team because it fulfilled me, we had some very nice goals. Now I have this opportunity and we will try to take advantage of it and enjoy it. Right now I want to enjoy this moment with work and dedication.”
Since when are you waiting for this moment? «I was happy doing my job and I still am now with this responsibility that is placed in my hands. Football has taught me that work has to be done day by day, I am short-sighted. I have never thought about the future. And I started to think about it when he called me Luis Rubiales. Now I think about the game in Norway, that’s what worries me, then we’ll see what happens next.”
«Everything in football is trainable, even the way to go out on the field to intimidate the rival, even shouting to generate a state of euphoria. Penalties are trained, but just as corner kicks are trained. Not everyone is worth taking penalties. We will value those who have more ease. I like to choose who takes the penalties. I have experienced situations in which colleagues did not want to take penalties. It’s very easy with 5-0, but in compromised moments it’s not so easy. That must be valued as well.”
«I have lived with 25 who were the best under 21, or in Games. I know what a footballer thinks. I think there will be no problem in speaking to people’s faces. I have no vertigo in talking to them. I have also been there, I have lived that. I ask you for time so that we can capture what we want to develop on the pitch and then assess what you consider appropriate.
Hallmarks of Luis de la Fuente’s team:
«To be better than the rival, to be faithful to our idea and to provide other essential tools for the growth of the teams. I like to dominate the game, have players who know how to have individual starts. A complete team, with different registers. It is not difficult because they are so good that they will understand it the first time and I am calm in that sense ».
About Busquets: «How could I not want to count on him? It is living history in the present and has many things to say in the future»
«I have my script, my nuances and my point of view to watch football. The things that need to change will change. I don’t know if it’s good or bad.”
On how he got the call: “It didn’t take me a second to say yes to the position. I accepted immediately.”
And from Qatar 2022: «We were very excited, but football is very difficult. Luis Enrique’s work has been fantastic. Sometimes a result escapes you because sometimes there are uncontrollable in football.
«I am a defender of talent, aware of potential, but I am also a fan of veterans who have given so much and continue to do so. We are not going to be aware of the DNI, we want performance and to feel part of this team »
«We all have our personality and I want a relationship with all of you and the close fan. I don’t want there to be 48 million coaches in Spain, but 48 million players, who put on their shirts and feel like a team. It is true that in Spain we are very faithful to our team, but I want more, to recover that spirit of 2020 of ‘I am Spanish, I am Spanish’, that sense of belonging.
«I was not a coach in this World Cup and I am not going to enter the debate. The best were selected », he commented on if he had brought Sergio Ramos. And about the future: «I have to catch up and work, the parties in Norway and Scotland are the ones that worry us the most. And the ceiling… I have total confidence in the players of the present and the future. My job is to think that we can be champions of everything.
«In Spain we have an inexhaustible talent factory. We know Spanish football from an early age. We do not question that he has more or less minutes. There are players with little involvement with their clubs, but we believe that they can contribute a lot to us.”
«I am a defender of talent. And this one has to help the collective. I do not like to curtail the virtues of the footballer. I try to generate game situations to enhance that talent. I want to get the best out of each footballer to put him to work and benefit the team.”
On which teams he liked in this World Cup: «I like to say the word ‘team’. And I try to look for improvements. I like to give the footballer freedom in some lines of balance. Then we have to see when we take risks and when we don’t. The players are very smart. We want goalkeepers who play with their feet and save. And we believe that they can contribute many things »
He has been pointed out for not having more background as a coach in First Division clubs: «With all humility, if there is someone in Spain who knows the present and the future of Spanish football, it is this man sitting in front of you. If someone can say that I have little experience, there is something for everyone.
«Of course, there will be changes, but without deteriorating anything. Yes, there is something that is non-negotiable: a model, but I try to incorporate nuances to enrich the good that the base of Spanish football has. Also interpreting the evolution of football. We will try to meet those needs and adapt and integrate when appropriate.
Luis de la Fuente: «I exchanged messages with Luis Enrique, he congratulated me. We have a very good relationship.”
«Regarding the players. We start working now to collect work when the competition starts again. All are capable of being chosen. We have an idea formed, but nobody has the doors closed. On the contrary. They all have them open.”
Take the floor Luis de la Fuente:
«A very sincere thank you to the federation, Sports Board, territorial, for the support and the possibility of continuing to develop this passion of mine that is football, with the senior team. I want to thank you for the treatment during all this time in difficult moments: Molina, thanks for all the safety, Francis, for the support, Albert, welcome, it’s going to be a fantastic stage. Dove, my little cricket”
“And to Luis Enrique for that close contact and for all the work he has done.”
This is the new coaching staff of Luis de la Fuente:
Assistant coach: Pablo Amo
Assistant technician: Juanjo González
Physical trainer: Carlos Cruz
Goalkeeper coach: Miguel Ángel Spain
Analysis Coordinator: Pablo Peña
Psychologist: Javier López Vallejo
There was no meeting with Luis Enrique.
«The relationship with Luis Enrique is magnificent, affective on a personal level. We have lived very happy moments and also very difficult ones. This is his house. What there are are different conversations: from the Federation and the until then coach. They are educated conversations and we accepted the ways in which they have been produced as good”
Question time for Luis Rubiales:
Was there something more sporty?
«The change of coach has nothing to do with anything outside of sports. The three of us (Molina, Luque and I) understood that it was a stage and that the new project had to be led by Luis de la Fuente. There is nothing else”
Albert Luke:
“I appreciate the president’s confidence in me. We have been working together for almost four years in another role. When he tells me that if I want to be the director of the national team, I tell him that I would love to, I feel fully qualified and wanting to start. After Luis Enrique’s non-continuation, he tells me what my bet would be for the next challenge. Molina was also at that meeting, who has done an impressive job and I will try to live up to it. And I tell him that my bet would be Luis de la Fuente, Molina also likes him. The president agrees and at that moment we decided to notify Luis. That he is going to assume the responsibility of taking Spain to the top. He is highly qualified and I will be there to help him in everything he needs”
Luis Rubiales:
“That the departure of José Molina and Albert Luque coincided temporarily could be interpreted as a substitution in the position, but it is not like that. Molina was in charge of all the teams, of all categories. In June he told me that he wants to start another project and I told him that he was free and he had earned it. It is true that, with a restructuring we have decided to do it now and he will stay during a transition time with Albert Luque”
“Albert Luque has another role: the director of the senior team. He will coordinate everything that has to do with it: medical issues, operations, nutrition… everything.”
The president of the Federation, Luis Rubiales, takes the floor:
“Congratulate Luis de la Fuente who is the new coach and will be, at least until 2024 and we hope it will be a long time. We are witnessing a new project and a change of structures in the men’s team.”
“On Monday we told Luis Enrique that we were going to start a new project, with mutual affection for everything he has done for this team. The Federation’s love and recognition of his work is great. That same morning we announced the incorporation of Luis de la Fuente that will be signed on January 1”.
And already on stage, Luis de la Fuente, guarded by Luis Rubiales and Albert Luque.
The Federation has started this act with a video in which he recalled the successes of La Rioja with the lower categories.
Luis de la Fuente’s press conference is about to begin after the Federation Board has ratified his position as conductor of absolute Spain.
And this is how some of his ex-colleagues see it:
De la Fuente, in the eyes of his former teammates
abcGoiko, De Andres, Urtubi and Sarabia, members of the golden Athletic of the 80s in which the new coach was a member, portray him through the experiences of that time
This is how the new Spain coach works:
The script by Luis de la Fuente
abcEducated, talkative, demanding and an insistent point in technical talks. The portrait of Luis de la Fuente, the new Spanish coach, a great friend of inspiring phrases. “Work beats talent” is one of his maxims
Federation Election
The until now U-21 coach replaces Luis Enrique and assumes the challenge of refloating the team after the failure in Qatar. He will sign until after Euro 2024
Luis Enrique falls; Luis de la Fuente, new coach
abcThe until now U-21 coach replaces the Asturian and assumes the challenge of refloating the team after the failure in Qatar. He will sign until after Euro 2024
The event will begin at around 12:30 p.m., in Las Rozas, and you can follow it live on the ABC.es website.
Good morning and welcome to the presentation of Luis de la Fuente as the new Spain coach live!
