They have won two titles in two years: the Nations League and the Euro Cup. Luis de la Fuente (Haro, 63 years old) feels strong, consolidated despite the instability experienced by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), which has not yet allowed him to sign his renewal. Before facing Denmark and Serbia, he received MD in his office at the Ciudad del Fútbol in Las Rozas to vindicate the figure of the coach, now highly questioned in the voracity of a calendar that does not stop taking ahead of footballers, also Spanish. . The Riojan coach assumes that it is part of football. The other side of what he experienced in Berlin last July, when he was proclaimed European champion.
He is living the best year of his sporting life.
Indeed, it has been an unforgettable year. We have experienced great emotions, great sporting achievements. But above all I am happy to enjoy a job that gives me satisfaction and to see people happy, to see people involved forming a true team. I don’t know if it has been the best or the worst, I believe that each stage has its moments, but I am living a moment of great happiness.
What are you most proud of?
It has been a historic success, but I prefer the way it was achieved, giving a feeling of family. In addition to having traveled that path with recognizable football, which has caused a sensation. The players are convinced that this is the way to achieve other very important objectives. I have seen people convinced that this is the path we have to follow to continue achieving success.
We have experienced great sporting achievements, but above all it gives me satisfaction to see happy people.”
He always talks a lot about catching the fans again. These days Iniesta said that beyond the titles, he stayed with how happy he managed to make people.
Yes, allow me to have a memory for Andrés Iniesta. I think the legacy he has left is absolutely impressive, exceptional. Not only in sporting achievements, but how he has achieved it. It is that line that we are highlighting now, giving an example of work, sacrifice, improvement, unity… I really liked that expression of seeing people happy. This is what we were looking for the day we started this journey. That identification of the people, recovering that spirit of 2010. And to a greater or lesser extent, it has been recovered.
How do you notice it?
Today you see people, especially young people, wearing national team shirts, vibrating with the team, wanting to watch the games. Wherever you go, the fans are dedicated to us. That brings much more satisfaction and pride than titles.
It’s two years in office. Highlight three moments that have been key for you.
First on a football level, one of the important moments was the game in Georgia. The team consolidated after winning the Nations. It was that knock on the table that confirmed that we are united and want to do something important. Unfortunately Gavi’s injury was another moment that brought us together a lot. A family member who was suffering, we wanted to help him and make him feel accompanied throughout his recovery. Luckily, then Gavi was at the Euro Cup celebration, being one more. And of course the culmination with the Euro title. I think they have been very, very important moments that have made this team truly a team with capital letters.
The victory in Georgia after the Nations, Gavi’s injury and the Eurocup have been the three key moments of these two years”
You were little known, you came from the ranks of the RFEF. Did you need titles to earn credit?
I think we coaches live off the results, it’s that hard. You already know that no matter how much you have achieved, this is all very ephemeral. When we stop getting titles, people will question us. That’s the life of football and it doesn’t cause me any discomfort. For me it is a compliment to say that I have come from the base, I believe that people have to work from the base and have to know what it costs to achieve things. They have not given me, like you, anything. I, thank God, have had the opportunity to do a job that I really enjoyed and arrived at step by step. Without having a goal, I didn’t even think about being a U-21 coach or an absolute coach. I was burning stages. And when you are given the opportunity, you have to be prepared and convinced of what you want to achieve. And I was.
The figure of the coach Luis de la Fuente is obviously much more solid than two years ago. But on the other hand, his contractual and personal situation does not say the same.
I think that everything has to be adapted to the situations that arise, that you have to live. Obviously the recognition that I can have now, with the titles achieved, is different. People already value you. And regarding the contractual issue, that time will come. The thing is that we are living through such a turbulent year… Mine has been a life without living since I came to office. Until now there has been no time to sit down and close a deal calmly. Because I have my representation company, which is obviously the ones that manage and control these more legal aspects, but in that department of the Federation it is not known if things can be done or not. Given that doubt, there may be someone who may feel uncomfortable, who may even feel legally disqualified in the future. These are decisions that escape me. We have to wait and I have no problem focusing on what is truly important, which are these four parties in October and November, and in December, when I hope the elections will be held, sitting down with whoever corresponds and leaving everything settled. Something is already advanced, that is true. There are some negotiations, certain agreements, and I hope that they will be consolidated when there is a new president. Let’s wait, I always say that it arrives as soon as possible to give stability to the national team, the Federation, Spanish football and that my contractual situation is also resolved.
My contract? “It is already advanced, there are agreements that I hope will be consolidated with the new president”
He has had offers during these two months of also instability in the selection. Have you been tempted?
I have always been happy without paying attention to what may come from another place, because I was where I wanted to be. That said, it would be foolish not to recognize that a European champion always has to have offers and will always have proposals. It is logical, whether it is for clubs or national teams. There are, but at this moment they have not even occupied me, because I am where I want to be. We have four very important games in October and November to almost close the qualification for the quarterfinals and we are very excited about the Nations.
Let’s focus a little on the group, on what it is forming. Aren’t you hesitant to bet on young people?
No, not at all because I know that they are very good, it’s that they have a quality… When I arrived I said a series of ideas that I had, objectives, and honestly, don’t get me wrong, within humility, they have all been fulfilled . We made a proposal for a change in the team’s style, playing with more versatility, with more registers, with more attack, more speed, more wing… we are achieving it. We were also talking about consolidating a team that I knew very well from the base, that raw material. That’s why it’s not that my pulse doesn’t tremble, it’s that I am so calm and so sure of the potential of these footballers who will surely always be surprises. What surprises me is that Dani Olmo surprises with what he is offering at Barça. But Dani Olmo was already very good when he went to Zagreb and came with us with the under-18 and under-21 teams! The European who made… Or Fabián or Le Normand. I know them very well and they are world-class footballers. As I have also said many times: they never fail, they are very good.
“I have had offers, whether from clubs or national teams, but they have not occupied me because I am where I want to be.”
He tells me about Dani Olmo. I remember he once told me that he is the best ’10’ in the world. And now Barcelona are also using it in this context. What ceiling do you have for this player?
I vindicate the Spanish footballer, absolutely. I have always said that for me they are the best in the world: in the way they understand football, in the technical conditions, in their attitude, in their understanding of the game… People are surprised and what surprises me is that they don’t They realized Dani Olmo’s level much earlier. Or the same thing happens with Pedri. Look, I’m talking about footballers that you have there in Barcelona. Fermín, Gavi… my goodness, they are the best in the world in their position. And specifically, both Dani and these players are insatiable sportingly and want more every day. They want to achieve more and more and more and improve and improve and improve. Where is your roof? Well, wherever God wants. They will want more every day. They are going to reach very high, because they are, believe me, very good.
People are surprised by Olmo and what surprises me is that they did not realize his level much sooner”
If you allow me, I am going to reveal a private conversation with you at the Mundo Deportivo Gala in February 2023. By the way, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to this coming year.
Very delighted.
He was trying to get a name from something new, some young man who could get on his first list. And you already highlighted a culé pearl to me: “Here in Barcelona you have a kid, who we have controlled from below, whose name is Lamine Yamal.” I was very surprised that the senior coach spoke to me about Lamine when he was 15 years old, he had not yet made his debut with the Barça first team and Morocco wanted to take him. But it wasn’t a bluff. Now she is a phenomenon and is consolidated into the European champion.
We must value the work of the Federation and thank the attitude and behavior of Lamine and his entire family for agreeing to play with us. That’s wonderful. And then, he is a footballer who, as time goes by, you realize how very good and different he is. Lamine represents something different in the national team game. But let’s not forget that they are very young, very young players. He is a kid, 17 years old, in the training phase. You will have moments that are very difficult, in which you will be questioned. He has gone down in football history and that will be when we will have to support him. It will happen to you, but for that you have to be well accompanied. And I’m not only speaking at a family and advisory level, but also at a club level. That is fantastic and you will always have it so that, in those less good moments, they continue to help you continue growing.
As time goes by, you realize how good and different Lamine is. It gives us something different”
I have the feeling that Lamine is much more mature than a 16-17 year old kid.
It is a common characteristic of this type of player. When you see that he has that touch, I say that he is touched by that wand of God, which is different… They are players who, at 17 years old, have nothing to do with a boy their age. They are much more mature, with a very important degree of responsibility, who interpret and accept any proposal and situation that you propose to them because they are brilliant. But I have also seen these footballers who have fallen by the wayside. Don’t make the mistake of wanting to walk faster than you have to walk, it can get messed up. You have to control who plays football very well and the thousand other details that are truly important.
Don’t let Yamal make the mistake of wanting to walk faster than you have to, it can get messed up.”
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How is this Nico Williams-Lamine tandem managed, with all the media boom in summer?
It has been a joy and great news for Spanish football. And for those generations that we talked about before, who have identified and become loyal to the national team through these players. It has been an impulse, a blow, but not only them. With Fermin, with Gavi at the time, with these young footballers who are appearing who incorporate another group of fans to the national team, to the feeling, to football, and it is fantastic. But of course you have to be very on top of them, because they have that part of vitality, energy, unconsciousness… They have to understand that there is a great responsibility. They have to understand that and burn it into their skin because they have to be good professionals. All of this must be explained in a different way than to a more mature player. You have to pull a little and let go, pull and let go… but the truth is that we are lucky because it is a pleasure to work with these footballers. They are very good.
Another proper name: Pedri. He may have had little, but it has given him total confidence from the first moment.
He is one of my project footballers. The type of footballer who debuted with me when I was very young in the U-21. He is that type of footballer that catches your attention, also special. It causes me a lot of pain when talented players have injuries, they suffer those inconveniences, those setbacks that slow down their progression and Pedri has suffered a lot. But I think in the long run he will realize that this helped him mature, to become a better professional every day, to be a footballer who will enjoy every moment much more. It will make him an even better footballer and person.
Pedri is one of my project footballers. “He is a player who attracts attention, with a special talent.”
Speaking of injuries, the calendar is now being criticized a lot. The other day Flick said “I regret not having called the U-21 coach to not call up Fermín because he later got injured.” Do you talk to the coaches?
My phone is open for any reflection with any coach. But it is also true that nobody puts themselves in the role of coach, nobody. If I had 80 games to be able to measure a footballer, I would measure him. The complicated thing is to measure a footballer who you have on average one game a month. That is not any overload. It is, of course, when he has played 70 games, but we can hardly manage. We always prioritize how they arrive in health and the number of circumstances that you do not know about, because they are private things and they are decisions that are made sometimes. “Why haven’t you summoned So-and-So?” Well, many times there is no need to give explanations and on those occasions it is precisely to preserve him, take care of him. It is very difficult to understand the selectors and put yourself in our role. We have a great responsibility, we are the representation of a country and the demands of our matches are all of maximum responsibility and we are always putting something at stake. There are no friendly matches here.
My phone is open to any coach, but nobody puts themselves in the role of the coach, nobody”
In the case of Gavi, it is true that in Barcelona there was a lot of criticism for that injury. Did you feel singled out at that moment?
No, noted, but it did bother me that people took advantage of that situation that has been proven to be an accident, the same thing that is unfortunately happening currently with the injuries of Rodrigo, Carvajal or Ter Stegen. There is no need to look for those responsible, this is football. And it is true that we must always ensure the health of the footballer. And look for the tools to make the footballer feel more secure. As? Well, with fewer games. But let’s sit down, as the world of football feels, with the footballers and the clubs to assess whether we should play fewer games. What is not worth it is not saying anything at the time of making the calendar. Everyone must agree. We must find that balance between the economic part and the health of the footballer, which must always take precedence. But the national team is a victim of that. And abused, of course. We all think about the clubs, but the national team also has a very important role, because it then highlights the clubs. And I tell you, from my experience, that clubs are interested in footballers being in the national team. The more international players they have, the more value.
Gavi’s injury has been proven to be an accident. We must always ensure the health of the footballer. As? With fewer games”
Now he was talking about the losses of Carvajal and Rodri. It is evident what they give on the field, but how do you make up for what two captains contribute off the field?
First say that they are irreplaceable. But it has to be done and there are other very good players. Fortunately, we are lucky to be in Spanish football, with exceptional footballers. I have also always said that we have the best midfielder in the world who is Rodrigo, but that we also have the second best in the world, who is Martín Zubimendi. In the same way that Dani Carvajal was now in the best moment of his career from my point of view, being the best full-back in the world, but we have other players who are not going to be at his level, nor do they have to worry about that, but they come to be able to show that they are very good. I also gave the example the other day that Rodrigo would not have been the Rodrigo he is now if he had not been in the shadow of Sergio Busquets, who was the best in the world. He had to assume that role, have that opportunity and he has proven it. Surely now, taking advantage of those dramatic and painful circumstances that are injuries, football offers you the possibility of another player claiming his ability and potential.
