Spain will embark on a new era in March, with plenty of hopes placed in a young exciting side. They will do so without their captain up until this point though, Luis Enrique.
The Asturian coach was controversial, full of personality, and not afraid to take tough decisions. Many of those involved squad selections, and a good number of Spain’s current stars owe their protagonism to Luis Enrique, as he selected a number of players when they were not obvious choices.
One of them is Dani Olmo. The RB Leipzig playmaker was something of an unknown in Spain before he was called up. Even if he has expressed a desire to return to Spain, Olmo has played his entire professional career in Croatia and Germany.
Speaking to German paper BILD, as carried by Marca, Olmo revealed he was disappointed that Luis Enrique had moved on.
“It made me very sad. I loved working with Luis Enrique. With him, you feel as if you were in a school class in every meeting, in every speech, because you learn a lot. I have to thank him for all of these years.”‘
It would be no surprise if many of the Spain World Cup squad felt this way. Working in Luis de la Fuente’s favour is his diplomatic personality. He is unlikely to go against the grain when it comes to throwing out Luis Enrique’s work and he also has a relationship with many of the current team, having coached them in the youth teams.
