Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara could be excused for feeling smug this afternoon, following Spain coach Luis Enrique’s sacking.
As per The Daily Mail, Enrique has been dismissed as national team coach following his team’s poor World Cup showing.
Entering the tournament as one of the favourites, Spain lost on penalties to Morocco in the last-16. Opting to leave the likes of Thiago and Sergio Ramos at home, Enrique plumped for youthful exuberance in his team instead.
Unfortunately, as good as youngsters like Pedri and Gavi are, they couldn’t replicate what their older peers bring to the party. With Thiago watching on from home, Enrique has now been given his marching orders. In his place comes U21 coach Luis de la Fuente. A fresh start now beckons for the Liverpool midfielder.
Enrique pays the price for leaving out Thiago
Here lies a simple lesson for any international manager: pick your best players.
When you have someone as good as Thiago in your pool, there’s no excuse for not selecting him. At a pinch, you can understand not putting him in the first XI. It isn’t the way we would go, but each to their own, I guess.
To leave him out of a 26-man squad though? Sheer recklessness.
Obviously, Thiago himself isn’t completely blameless in this. Enrique has given him chances in the past. In the end it seems that the 31-year-old’s injury record is what counted against him.
But he’s fit now. Fit and playing well, no less. So, as we say, as good as his replacements are, there’s no one quite like Liverpool’s £20m man.
Hopefully De la Fuente has heeded this harshest of lessons to his predecessor. At the very least, it should mean that the door is once again open for Thiago.
With Enrique at the helm, it very much felt like that door had been closed. Pedri is twenty and Gavi is only eighteen. They’re not going anywhere anytime soon and it seemed as though Enrique was overseeing a changing of the guards.
As a former U21 coach, maybe De la Fuente will hope to do the same. But, on this evidence at least, the kids aren’t quite ready to do it on their own. With 33-year-old Sergio Busquets also looking past his best, it’s time for Thiago to finally take centre stage for his country.
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