Once again the pre-world cup karma in the spanish national team: Luis Enrique would leave after Qatar 2022

As a fatal sign, again shortly after a World Cup and with the team in rising public confidence from the improvement in their game, there were growing reports that the coach of the Spanish national team, Luis Enrique Martínez, could leave his post once the tournament in Qatar is over, and the sensations in the Federation environment (RFEF) are closer to an exit than to a continuity.

Various media reports that follow the daily life of the Spanish national team indicate that Luis Enrique had already communicated his decision to the president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales, as well as to the sports director, former goalkeeper José Francisco Molina, but they agreed not to release it until the end of the participation of “La Roja” in the next World Cup.

Despite the inconvenience of having to make a decision for a new coach in December this year, both Rubiales and Molina agreed to remain silent and are resigned to waiting. What is clear is that in case the results sought by the coaching staff do not materialize, Luis Enrique will leave, because he himself released it to the press.

“If things go wrong in the World Cup, I'll leave and nothing happens, but now I'm in glory. I feel very supported by the Federation and Molina. I was booked twice and I will never forget it because I came from a delicate personal situation (it refers to a leave until the death of his daughter due to a long illness). I have the utmost confidence. What is the value of a contract if the objectives are not achieved later in the World Cup? We'll talk after the World Cup,” he said at a press conference a week ago.

There are three reasons that seem to be the most valid for Luis Enrique's possible decision not to continue in office: the always hard relationship he had historically with the press, since his time as a footballer (“I think the message sent by the press is very strong. It is a very powerful weapon, but the fans are with the national team. I have decided to do this - the thing about leaving in case of bad results - for you, so that if something goes wrong in the World Cup you will not criticize”), who does not have good relations with a certain environment of the Federation, and a complicated character, which can determine his departure for extra football issues.

The rumor installed months before the Qatar World Cup about the possible departure of Luis Enrique reappears after the chaos generated by the dismissal of Julen Lopetegui (now Sevilla coach, second in the Spanish league) when, within hours of starting the Russian 2018 tournament, Real Madrid announced that after the World Cup he would become its director technician. That officialization provoked the anger of Rubiales, who had just been elected president of the RFEF, and who did not hesitate to strip him of the post, replacing him with the then sports director, Fernando Hierro, but the coup could no longer be assimilated by the Spanish squad, designated as one of the possible favorites, but ended up being eliminated by the locals in the round of 16.

If Luis Enrique has the support of Rubiales and Molina, the same is not the case with leaders of the RFEF linked to the “territorial” (regional) ones, due to the complicated character of the coach and the indifference they feel on their part, in addition to the fact that they have been facing some “heavyweights” such as Sergio Ramos or David De Gea.

Ramos, who is now suffering from a long injury that prevented him from playing almost all season in his new club, Paris Saint Germain (PSG), was surprised when he was not summoned to join the squad of the last European Cup and is no longer part of the fixture of the Spanish national team, while in the environment of Luis Enrique it was announced that the Manchester United goalkeeper did not take the call in which the coach explained to him the reasons why he was not called up for the last friendlies against Albania and Iceland, and seems to have definitively lost title to Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao).

Another tough problem that Luis Enrique had to face during his cycle as coach of the Spanish national team was his confrontation with his assistant field, Robert Moreno, who was in charge of the team when the former Barcelona manager had to ask for a long leave to be with his daughter, who later died.

Moreno led the Spanish team that qualified for the European Championship, and after getting the ticket, he intended to continue in the European tournament but at that time Luis Enrique, backed by the RFEF, tried to return and described his former teammate as “disloyal” from his first steps through Celta and then Rome, and he no longer accepted that he to continue working in its coaching staff.

In the event that Luis Enrique left the Spanish national team after the World Cup, the two main candidates for the RFEF are former Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde (58), who also won several titles in Greek football, and Marcelino García Toral (56), who has won a great campaign in recent years at Valencia and currently at Athletic Bilbao, although he is also in the sights of Atlético Madrid as the future replacement for Diego Simeone.

On the other hand, it is unknown what could happen with Josep Guardiola, who already stated that when his current stage at Manchester City ends (where two fixtures from “La Roja” play like Rodrigo Hernández and Aymeric Laporte, and until a few months ago, Ferrán Torres, now in Barcelona), he would like to lead a national team. In the RFEF they are not closed to the idea.

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