Losing in the round of 16 of a World Cup against Morocco, with all due respect and no matter how hard it was, and without scoring a single goal is a reason for not continuing or even dismissing if there was still a contract in force. Of that there is little doubt. Results rule for the trainers, classics tied to a suitcase with wheels to go from one place to another. Spain's role in Qatar can only be described as a failure. The first to know is Luis Enrique, a modern, ambitious, brave coach and, above all, a winner. He was as a footballer and he is being as a coach. Having said that, the Asturian would have deserved another ending as coach, a stage in his life that has been attractive, challenging, convulsed (from the point of view of his personal vicissitudes) and finally failed in terms of the Qatari result. With him Spain carried out a generational change. With him he shone in the 2021 Euro Cup, where he reached the semifinals, and with him the team reached two finals to four of the beardless Nations League.
Interesting merits but they have come up against the reality that Spain could not make the leap in the World Cup, their true proof of value.
In many phases of his surly life, especially with the media, and even cocky, it is paradoxical that he has to leave now that he had become very close to the public, especially the young, with his connections via Twitch and with his close way of communicating . He was another Lucho, much more human, much warmer.
With Luis Enrique, the Federation had a young coach (for what coaches tend to be), with up-to-date methods and according to the type of football that brought glory to Spain thanks to the successes of Barça. But those teams, that 'red' and that Barça, had more level footballers on the international scale. His heirs are not yet at that height. The coach pays. Its normal. The bargaining chip in soccer. But he is not without a point of injustice. Luis Enrique is in the market. They will surely raffle it off.
The Federation chooses Luis de la Fuente to replace him. It might sound like an emergency solution but they have signed him until Euro 2024. A man of the house, who was in charge of the under-21s, and who was a silver medalist at the Tokyo Games with the Olympics. A seasoned coach in terms of training footballers both in Lezama and in the Federation, but who has never led a First Division team. At the age of 61, the opportunity of a lifetime comes to him.
