Men’s national coach, Luis de la Fuente He gives EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA and Prensa Ibérica their first interviews since the victory Nations League and after what happened after the Women’s World Cup. The agreement, made on the eve of the crucial match against Scotland, was simply to talk about football, the field in which he truly dominated after a life devoted to himself.
Spain plays directly in the qualifiers Euro 2024It will be held in Germany next summer. against Scotland in Seville (this Thursday) and Norway (in Oslo on Sunday). After six matches resulting in four wins, one draw, one loss, 18 goals, four wins and one title, the coach is pleased with the balance in command of the senior team during these turbulent months in the FA.
To ask. See the ID of the team you want?
Reply. I think if. At that time, we determined the path, route and scenario of the election we wanted to achieve. We have created a number of records that I believe are recognized. We recommend a versatile selection with different attack types. We scored goals in different styles with different football concepts and we are a solid team defensively.
Q. What football references appear on Luis de la Fuente’s board?
A. I have been lucky to have had 18 coaches with very different football profiles throughout my professional career. But I learned from everyone. Later, I had the opportunity to meet, talk and discuss this topic with others. Finally all this is put into the shaker and a football idea comes to your mind. Since I started playing football, I have always shown myself as an attacking player and I think the teams I coach have the first idea of attack. But I bet they are always balanced to achieve goals.
I have always shown myself as an attacking player and I think the teams I coach have the first idea of attack.
Question: Who inspired you as a player and coach?
Answer: I always say that I do not recognize myself in the coach that started 26 years ago. At that time, I probably liked English football more, with Liverpool and Manchester United as references. Logically, in Spain there were teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona that made a breakthrough. For me, being in the Spanish Football Federation was an extraordinary experience because I started to interpret football in a different way and learned a lot. I worked with the infrastructure I had, but with the football idea of a model that is well-known in the world and has brought us many successes. And now I have reinforced the football concept that I was trying to capture.
Question: You experienced the successes of Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque in the Federation. Do you recognize yourself in them?
I think the level of selection started to change when C. Luis Aragonés started to give the idea of a more combined game with footballers with a profile that is more compatible with this model we have established today. Federation. And this is reinforced by Vicente and makes it even bigger. I think Del Bosque is adding new actors and the idea is developing as time goes by, and he interpreted it very well. Vicente brought out an extraordinary performance from these players.
Q. What about now?
A. Now we continue to develop and innovate. For some players, a phase ends and new ones need to be included. I think we’re in that process and we’re continuing on that path, but now, 11 years later and having won the title again, I think an idea is starting to gain strength again. Not only for the championship, but also for the future, because we have a team with very young football players with international experience. People who win championships both in their clubs and in the national team. And this usually always heralds a very good future.
Q. What stage are you in this process?
-I think we reinforced the idea with nuances, but the real heroes of this are the football players. You can achieve many things with good football players. If you don’t have them, no matter how good your ideas are, no matter how good the model or method, they will not be achieved.
Question: The other day I compared Lamine to Maradona and Messi and warned that no matter how young he is, “he is a footballer who should always be accepted because he has a different side”.
A. I never look at origin or age. I look at the performance they can give me. My pulse will never waver when it comes to giving opportunities to players who want it and who will embark on an important journey in our understanding of the game. We also thought about the urgency of the match against Scotland, which kept us in the office. But I’ve been at home for 11 years and I’ve learned to look a little further ahead and invest in players.
I’ve been with the FA for 11 years, I’ve learned to look a little further ahead and invest in players
Question: You were talking about Scotland, do you think from the outside there is more emphasis on the defeat in Glasgow than it was?
A. Yes, I honestly think so. I’m used to football criticism and I know the scenario I’m working in. I know if you win it’s great, if you don’t win it’s not, but I understand it as a natural behavior in society. However, we were a new team with only 25 minutes of tactical training and then we faced an important opponent in a very challenging stadium with an extraordinary atmosphere.
Question: Do you think, on the contrary, that the victory in the Nations League was underestimated?
A. I don’t think so. We live in total, absolute happiness. From what I saw, there were enthusiastic players, some of whom had never been to the national team and were enjoying that unique moment for them. In Spain I saw many fans celebrating in the streets. I think this is given importance, a lot of importance.
Question: After everything that happened around the national team and RFEF, how important was it that the two matches against Georgia and Cyprus ended with a big win?
A. It did not serve to reinforce an idea, it reinforced the idea of work that we have been repeating since we started working in March. One of the repeated readings is that we played with two opponents who were inferior to us, but I have a lot of experience in this world of football and if you do not approach a match with intensity from the first minute until the last second of the match, with concentration, with ambition, with strength… That is the way and that is what I tell the players. So what these results do is to further reinforce my view that this is a team with desire and ambition that wants to achieve important things with exceptional talent and quality.
Q. You have won championships in every team you have coached, including your peer team. And you know the raw material you have because they’re mostly guys you’ve worked with, guys who’ve won with you before.
C. The cost of gaining something is very high, it is very difficult. Thank God we were lucky to win all those stages, because logically we had great teams. What if this gives me peace? Yes, but it makes me more demanding of myself to continue to improve. We’re going to try to keep stepping up and winning things because there’s something so beautiful about what they call a winning mentality: When you win again, and win again, and win again, it increases. That’s why we want to keep winning.
Question: It seems like if there’s one thing you’ve had since day one, it’s the support from the players.
R. I felt that way from day one, I really think it is. From the first opportunity I had to be with them I found them to be a group of dedicated players. Largely because, as I mentioned in my presentation, I’ve always had such an advantage, 80-90% of the players have been with me since they were Under 15, Under 16, Under 18… So I know I have their support and I’m confident about my claim and how they treat me. I knew I had faith that they were sure. They know me very well in terms of football, and I helped those who didn’t know me to know me, too. The truth is that I received the support of all of them in this sense from the first moment.
Question: I am asking you about two proper names. Pedri has not been called to the squad yet due to his injury. Do you remember when he was an important player in your national team?
A. When my players are at their clubs, I don’t talk to them much on a daily basis. But I usually call just about anyone when they get injured. Pedri first performed with me when I was a kid, I think it was in Macedonia when I was under 19, and I really wanted to have him with us.
P. Morata is definitely having the best moment of his career.
A. I believe that we have a very high level of football player and Álvaro now has the advantage of having experience and experience as well as talent and level of football. Maybe he is at that age where he has reached maturity and maybe he is experiencing the best moment of his football career. He’s a star, he helps us a lot with training and other people who are in the process.
Morata is definitely a star having the best moment of his career
Question: The 2030 World Cup in Spain is seven years away and if things go well, it would not be unreasonable to think that I could continue as a coach. Have you thought about this possibility these days?
A. I am very excited that the World Cup will be played in Spain because of what it means for the federation, Spanish football, Spanish players and the whole country. But I don’t even pay attention to what you say, I see it too far away. In fact, I usually remember that I have been at the Federation for three months and have been at the Federation for 11 years. There’s a lot to do before that. First of all, qualify for the European Cup, which we are committed to realizing this month, and then have the opportunity to compete in this cup. This already seems to me an extraordinary experience and possibility. Thinking about the World Cup seems very distant to me, but of course it is an illusion. How can a coach and selector not want to participate in both the World Cup and your country? It would be maximum.
Question: In England, when Gareth Southgate left the English team, it was published that women’s coach Sarina Wiegman was among the candidates to lead the team. A first step that has never happened before. Do you think it’s too far away for a woman to take over the men’s team?
A. I see this as very natural. If people are prepared and educated, we should all have the same opportunities. I really think we’re on this path with complete and utter normalcy, and that’s what they taught me at home, too. My parents didn’t treat my siblings differently, they treated us all the same. So I see this as natural. If you’re prepared, which is all you need, then go for it.
Q. What do you think Spanish football has learned in the last month and a half?
R. What I want is for us to be united from now on and forever and to think only about football, football, football… I don’t know what we will learn, but the important thing is to be united. Unified. Unity is the key to achieving important things, and I think that’s good for everyone. Unity.