spain leaves the World Cup and the world looks at Luis Enrique, become the sole leader of this team for better and for worse. Today it is his turn to manage failure after an elimination too early. The bump in Russia, caused to a large extent by the dismissal of Julen Lopetegui three days before the start, is followed by this one in which no excuses can be sought from outside. The concentration has been a pool of oil except for the controversial departure of José Luis Gayà due to injury, something that within the group was not seen as an affront to the player either. The coach’s reasons for not wanting to risk running out of a left wing if something happened to Jordi Alba were understood. In the 23 days of concentration there have been no cracks, quite the opposite, so the problem must be found on the pitch. He has had plenty of possession but there has been a lack of football and especially shots, beyond the deceptive win on his debut. Some will say that the ‘streamer’ ate the selector, others that luck has played a fundamental role. But the reality is that Spain is out. It is convenient to resolve that with what there is, there is only one way to beat Costa Rica, and that on a bad day for them.
It was perhaps his last game as coach, a question that he did not resolve when asked: “This is not the time to talk about my future… I want to get home and see my people, my dogs… The week that comes we will speak when the president deems it appropriate. Have to wait.
For this last game Luis Enrique returned to the eleven of the win against Costa Rica except for the novelty of Marcos Llorente on the right side. With him and Rodri he presented a defense of four in which half of its members did not count for those positions at the start of the championship. A partial amendment to himself and his list of 26. Azpilicueta, according to him in conditions, and Carvajal did not offer him the same confidence as the rojiblanco interior, converted once again.
Spain needed Morocco to run out of batteries to have overwhelming dominance of the game. Until then, he even suffered. But with the rival exhausted he was not able to score either. «I would have liked to attack better. It has cost us, “conceded the coach. “Fate has been capricious with Sarabia’s post,” he also said about the last occasion, ignoring that the VAR would surely have canceled that goal.
In the Eurocup, the team subscribed to extra time, and in this World Cup the qualifiers started the same, although they ended much worse. Before the start Luis Enrique launched a harangue for just three minutes to his players, all in a circle, propping up with their arms the importance of his words. Then he moved away from him and let Busquets send the final message to his teammates. It was the same at the start of the penalty shootout. Once it started, Luis Enrique separated from the rest of the coaching staff, who remained embraced in the band, and sat on the bench. He didn’t want to be in the foreground. By the time Spain came out again, it was already eliminated.
The Asturian is in a complicated situation. He has to sit down and talk with Luis Rubiales and José Francisco Molina to make a final decision. “For Rubiales and Molina I would continue my whole life in the national team, but you have to think and reflect on what is best for me and for Spain, but this is not the time,” he repeated. If he continues, he will have to update the excel that he took out in September in which he compared the performance of his team with the rest of the European teams. Maybe now he doesn’t come off so well. The next opportunity, with him or without him, in the Nations League.
