ORn year and a week until the ball rolls in the Qatar World Cup. It is a long time, in soccer one world. Luis Enrique live in the present. “The future is today,” he said before the game against Sweden. It is a clear message within his constant discourse that the national team is for who flies. It is clear that the coach has a clear and solid block, as well as that the doors are open.
When Luis Enrique says that he is the coach of a country with up to 50 selectable players not exaggerating. The Asturian has strictly complied with his words and on the way to the Qatar World Cup he has summoned 43 different footballers! Never before has a coach opened the doors so wide. Adding the two stages of the coach adds up to 72 players called in just 35 games.
On the route to Qatar, Luis Enrique has cited 43 footballers, in part due to the plague of injuries that has plagued Spanish football in this 2021. Of those 43, two have not come to attend due to physical problems: Ansu Fati and Yéremy Pino. The one from Villarreal was on the list for the League of Nations.
With everyone fine, the same gives me a heart attack when making the list
Of all the lines the goal is the only one that has been stable in 2021. Luis Enrique has found his trio of goalkeepers and Unai Simón, De Gea and Robert Sánchez are always the goalkeepers cited by the national coach. Of the three, the fixture on the field is Athletic’s goal, which is the one that has played every game in 2021, something that had not been achieved since Zubizarreta.
A ‘stable’ defense
On defensive line, there have been 13 players called up for the three World Cup windows. From Sergio Ramos, who was in the first to face Greece, Georgia and Kosovo, to Dani Carvajal, who has joined for the final window.
Gayà and Jordi Alba have been fixed while the injuries have respected them, being in the rear Reguilón, who played against Kosovo.
Now Marcos Alonso joins that fight, that he has not been in the qualifying phase but that he shone in the League of Nations and that is very present in the head of Luis Enrique: “It is the greatest injustice that I have done since I was a coach.”
In the center of the field there are 12 players used. Some are permanent like Busquets, Rodri, Koke, Pedri or Llorente, others come and go like Mikel Merino or Soler, others have just arrived to stay like Gavi and others were and have a hard time coming back, like Canales, Thiago or Fabián.
The irruption of Gavi it has become clear that it is not a passing bet. The Sevillian, acclaimed in La Cartuja, has surpassed Pedri’s on impact. Gavi has played four games and all four as a starter. “I had some doubts before the game about how it could affect the atmosphere, but you have already seen the game he played,” explained Luis Enrique after the victory against Sweden.
Above, up to 15 players have been summoned, although only 13 have been able to attend for Ansu and Yéremy’s injuries, summoned and called off due to physical problems. Morata, Ferran, Oyarzabal, Dani Olmo and Sarabia seem fixed. Ansu will join them when he is recovered. The Gerard Moreno, Fornals, Rodrigo Moreno, Adama or Bryan Gil will depend a lot on their states of form to gain a foothold in the future. The entry of RdT has been to be headline in Atenas and La Cartuja.
Eight matches
From here to the World Cup, Luis Enrique will have eight games ahead before deciding the 23 of Qatar. In March there will be two friendlies (Zaragoza is emerging as the party’s headquarters in Spain) and between June (four) and September (two) the League of Nations group will be played, whose draw will be on December 16 in Montreux.
