Luis de la Fuente discussed his plans for Spain’s squad rotation against Croatia.
La Roja defeated England 3-2 on Saturday and, within the next eight days, they host the Croatians and Czech Republic before travelling to Croatia. Squad rotation is key to protect the players.
Depth on show at Wembley
The head coach is not afraid to trust in his depth, having watched Álex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal turn around the score at Wembley Stadium with goals as substitutes.
He has hammered home his frustration with the schedule in a reformatted international break, but the circumstances compel him to show how quality runs deep for the Spaniards as they seek to stay top of their Nations League group.
‘Everyone is important’
“We try to have a balanced team. In this format, with so much travel and almost no training, there will be some changes. Not only to refresh the side, but because we have 26 players who can start. Everyone is in perfect condition and we’ll assess which positions it makes most sense to change.
“Anyone asking would understand that playing four matches like these in 10 days is tremendously demanding.
“We are not going to change the whole team, because the defined core must be kept, but there are always players who bring freshness and energy. I would have preferred two more days of rest.
Rest and rotation before Croatia
“[The players] all fine. We’ll see which ones need to rest. Those waiting for their chance to play have the level and guarantees, and have earned it. It doesn’t generate any doubt or concern for me. I know they are players at a high level and will be the ones we believe are best to compete against Croatia.
“Everyone is important. The other day I was shown a statistic that substitutes since I’ve been coach have a higher percentage of goals. We value the team’s work. We have two starting elevens, let’s call them that, because they are very good — the best in the world.”
