The disaffection of Spaniards with their national football team
The Spanish national football team is the target of much criticism for its poor results, for its poor play and for the attitude of the coach and the players.
There is a lack of empathy from the Spanish people with the national team that has never been seen before in any international championship.
It is true that in Spain we do not currently have any "stars" as we used to have with Iniesta, Torres, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Xavi or some others.
This lack of stars and their motivation I think is the first cause of this disaffection. The second is the choice of coach. Luis Enrique is not a person who has historically got on well with the press, quite the opposite. He doesn't know how to deal with the media, his statements are often defiant, and he likes to be in the limelight.
His methods try to be revolutionary and when there are no results, the fans don't understand them.
Luis Enrique has wanted to surround himself with young players whom he can mould to his liking. For the moment, these players are not producing the expected results. The fans understand that the time in South Africa is very difficult to repeat, but the two games played are not very encouraging.
When the results don't come and the nerves start to get the better of them, everything is under scrutiny. The coach has neither the experience nor the results as a coach to lead one of the best teams in the world.
His results as a coach, except at Barcelona where he won a Champions League and two La Liga titles, have been very discreet.
The years at Barcelona were very good. Of course, the squad was made up of players in their prime such as Messi, Busquets, Ter Stegen, Daniel Alves, Jordi Alba, Andrés Iniesta, Luis Suárez and Neymar. All six years younger than they are now.
He won titles but did not renew. His departure was well received by Barcelona fans.
Previously he coached Roma for only one year and the Italian team finished seventh. He signed for Celta Vigo and returned for another year, finishing ninth.
He has been a difficult person to deal with. He didn't work out in Rome; he didn't work out in Vigo and he didn't even work out in his "home" Barcelona.
Criticism from the press doesn't go down well and he takes a passive attitude and at the same time he is contemptuous of those who don't know what they are talking about.
In spite of everything, he is our coach and everything that surrounds the national team must work in the same direction.
When he announced the squad list, some fans, especially Madrid fans, felt insulted. He didn't take Nacho; he didn't take Ramos. It seems a provocation to madridismo. A madridismo that is the majority in Spain.
Anyway, you have to support the national team, most people thought. But he hasn't put Albiol, Europa League champion and one of Villarreal's most outstanding players, in his place. Nor has he put Azpilicueta, Champions League winner and Chelsea captain. He never called him up for the preparatory matches and didn't have enough courage to leave him out as a European champion. Anyway, he doesn't use him.
In his place, he puts Laporte, a player who proclaimed himself French a few years ago, despising Spain, who has been a substitute all year and was nationalised as a matter of urgency. (I imagine he was already thinking of leaving Ramos out). Lewandowski, with a slight hip knock, knocked him out of the Poland goal in the previous game.
He's also brought in Eric Garcia, substitute for substitute at Guardiola's City.
And, speaking of Guardiola, a great friend of Luis Enrique's, he has also taken Ferran Torres, another City player who, along with Laporte and Eric Garcia, did not even warm up in the Champions League final against Chelsea. So far, with Spain, he hasn't been able to get forward on his flank even once.
The games are being played in Seville and much of the disaffection of the fans in the Andalusian capital comes because there are no Sevilla or Betis players. Both Jesús Navas and Sergio Canales are at the beach on holiday. They went to the preparation matches, but surprisingly they were not included in the list for the EURO. And Navas played with City.
A large part of the Sevillian fans don't even know which team many of the Spanish squad members play for.
The fans are missing a leader, a Sergio Ramos, by the way, Andalusian, Sevillian. But he has not even brought him in to support the youngsters, to give extra encouragement, even if it takes away from the leader. Nor does he let Azpilicueta, who also plays for Chelsea, act as captain. This also creates disaffection.
The lack of goals and stars also causes disaffection. Because the Galician Iago Aspas, who, despite his injuries, scored 14 goals this year, is not going. He brings Sarabia, another substitute in his team. No one tries to get forward, no one goes forward, all passes are backwards or horizontal. A lot of possession, but a very bad game. We didn't play at all, and we didn't win anything. 80% possession, what phenomena. More disaffection!!!!
The few chances that are created are missed by Morata. It is not his fault. Strikers have spells and nobody can deny his effort and will. But Álvaro you can't make statements that leave the fans in a very bad place. And these young players should know that they earn what they earn because of the fans and that some of them have been waiting for hours to cheer them.
You cannot just walk past them without waving and with the "nose caps", which should be banned in any serious team. It is a lack of respect that also creates disaffection with the national team.
In short, the lack of respect of some players, a list of players unknown to the fans, the lack of a leader, an attitude of the coach with a certain arrogance and a flat game that bores are the causes of the great disaffection of the fans with their national team.
And it does not look like it will change.
