Luis Enrique singled out Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore after Spain suffered a shock 1-0 UEFA Nations League defeat to Ukraine on Tuesday night, speaking in quotes reported by Goal.
Football really is the most fickle of mistresses.
Just six days after Ukraine were battered 7-1 by an Olivier Giroud-inspired France, Andriy Shevchenko’s previously porous defence produced a performance for the ages to conquer the former World champions in an emotional Olympic Stadium in Kiev.
A brilliantly taken Viktor Tsyhankov strike was the difference at one end.
At the other, rookie goalkeeper Heorhiy Buschchan put last week’s seven-goal humiliation behind him with a faultless display that currently looks beyond Spain’s own under-fire shot-stopper.
But, while Enrique was keen to defend David de Gea amid accusations that he made Tsyhankov’s winner far easier than it needed to be, the former Barcelona boss was also keen to pay tribute to another Premier League star after Spain’s first defeat in two years.
“We created chances with Adama [Traore] through his overlapping. The conclusion is I liked the attitude of the players. I like what I see,” the 2015 treble-winner explained.
“You can always do more, but blaming De Gea is already a bad habit. If David is blamed for a game like this, switch it off and we’ll leave.
“In the end, we went into panic mode. I’ve lost lots of these games in my career.”
In only his second appearance for the Spanish national team, Traore certainly made his mark.
The obvious Man of the Match on a night to forget for La Roja, Wolves’ power-packed rocket of a winger was far and away Spain’s most potent threat, beating his full-back with alarming regularity before setting up a host of chances that his teammates contrived to squander.
On this kind of form, he is a shoo-in for a starting role at Euro 2021.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
