UEFA Nations League: Luis de la Fuente’s modern football: 61 players, one shot every 22 passes and without Madrid, Barça and Atlético

“I don’t even want to tell you about another one in these circumstances. I would use charisma and turn it off and let’s go. I’m humble, I’m educated and I’m not going to change. There you have it, dance it.” Swinging and laughing, almost midnight in the stifling press room of the New Archangel, Luis de la Fuente He released that phrase to the surprise of the team’s press officer who, next to him, raised his eyebrows, smiled and must have thought something like ‘come on in’. Who was Luis de la Fuente referring to with charisma? It can’t be proven, but Luis Enriquehis predecessor, is very likely to be the recipient of sarcasm. It is not known if because of himself, because of Luis Enrique, or because of what some within the Federation praise about the former coach.

In any case, comparisons are inevitable in football, and a little less than two years after the arrival of the current coach to replace the previous one, it may be a good time for them, for comparisons. The football played against Serbia in the rain of Córdoba, one of the best in recent times for the national team, allows us to take out the magnifying glass and turn to the FIFA and UEFA statistics. And what do those numbers say? That De la Fuente’s team is much more fun than Luis Enrique’s.

The statement is based on something as simple as that football, for it to be fun, has to have shots on goal, which will then be a goal or not, but at least shots on goal. Against Serbia, Spain completed 625 passes and shot 29 timesso he tried it once every 21,5 passes. In these four Nations games, this average results from dividing the 2,213 passes between the 85 shots, one each 26,3 passes. And in the Euro Cup? Well, in the Euro Cup the average goes up a little, specifically up to making a shot every 40,9 passes. In the World Cup in Qatar, Luis Enrique’s team took one shot for every 74,8 passes. Almost double.

“be precise at such a high speed”

Spain is passing through modern, attractive football. In the last decade, this sport has gone increasingly towards vertigo, leaving behind eras of controlled football as Spain, champion of the world and Europe, could represent in its day. “Here the key is to be precise at such high speed,” said Pablo Amo, Luis de la Fuente’s second, during the Euro Cup. The coach, at 63 years old, has put Spain in football in 2024.

For the 25 games he has coached, he has called 61 players and they have had at least a minute 54 of them. Lots of people. Many people draw the first outline of another of the coach’s pillars: the concept of family. At this concentration, in Madrid, the team received a visit from Rodrigo, Dani Carvajal and Le Normandinjured, the first two for a long time. In Córdoba, whoever appeared at the concentration hotel on Tuesday morning was Jesus Navas to receive a tribute from the team. These are details that speak of the importance of collective feeling in this team. By the way, in the Las Rozas locker room there were photos of Rodrigo and Carvajal, the two long-term casualties, and these days there has been a lot of talk about them in there.

In Tuesday’s match, there were no Real Madrid players in the starting eleven. Not even Barcelona. Not even Atlético de Madrid. Only four played in Spain, while the other seven played outside. Brothers He scored a goal from a free kick, something that had not happened in Spain since 2017 (with the exception of that match against Lithuania that the U21s played as seniors before the 2021 Euro Cup because the senior team was isolated due to Covid). People like Pedro Porro or Bryan Zaragozaa priori outside the focus of the general public. “What surprises me is that they are unknown to some professionals,” said De la Fuente, and in those professionals you have to read journalists.

Spain will only play for first place next November against Denmark in Copenhagen (15th) and against Switzerland in Tenerife (18th). For that window, there will again be some lazy noise about which players are called up or which players play more minutes. “I’m already telling you, so there are no doubts. In November the best are going to come because this is the Spanish soccer team and we want to be first in the group. We want to be first!”, summarized the coach, who while sending messages cryptic messages that raise the eyebrows of the press chief, who hopes that the rigmarole at the Federation offices will be resolved soon to sign his new contract.

Because that’s another, this modern and familiar team that heads into the next World Cup with a smile survives in the midst of the most grotesque misgovernance in the offices.

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