Luis de la Fuente spoke on the eve of the second day of the Nations League which will pit Spain against Switzerland on Swiss soil. The Spanish coach did not avoid talking about it recurring theme of injuries and the FIFA virus and he reflected on the players’ minutes load, coming to the conclusion that “I will do my best” without having the objective of protecting any player from any club, no matter how much they ask for it.
“If you can’t play 180 minutes in September, turn it off and go. We have a prestige to defend and a responsibility. “It would be unfair to protect certain footballers because they belong to certain clubs and not to others,” said the Spanish coach.
De la Fuente is clear that clubs have a certain hypocrisy with national teams that, on many occasions, launch players’ careers. “It’s quite unfair and there’s also hypocrisy. As selectors, the clubs also pass on things to us, not just what the press knows. If there are several parties and it is a matter of business, a balance will have to be sought. “If there were national team matches in June, there would also be complaints,” he said.
In fact, the coach does not rule out changes, but of his own free will, and not because of pressure from the clubs.You can always improve. Tomorrow will be one of those games where some changes will have to be made due to the context and the load of the games. We will see training this afternoon, where I hope my doubts will be cleared up,” he said. “Dani Olmo has a hard blow from the last match and we don’t know how he’s going to feel by tomorrow. Anyway, we have two specific attackers and a clear plan that we want to deploy on the pitch,” he added.
The man from La Rioja was also able to see for himself that the pitch where the match against Switzerland will be played tomorrow will not be in optimal conditions. “It seems that the pitch is suffering from a disease and it has affected it a lot. They told us that it is better than a few weeks ago. “We have to adapt, we can’t do anything else.”
To close, De la Fuente wanted to clarify his position on stifling calendars. “I don’t feel pressure because one or the other plays. They also have to play with the national team. It’s a matter between the clubs and UEFA. We respect what the calendar establishes. We do what we have to do: represent your country. All players want to join the national team and all clubs want them to be there. We are also victims of the calendar.”he settled down.
