Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur could reportedly replace Antonio Conte with Luis Enrique but the former Barcelona boss has no ‘Plan B’, Spain international Iago Aspas argues.
Enrique appears to buy into the opinion that, if Plan A isn’t working, well then you better try and try again until it does. As far as Aspas is concerned, however, the downsides to such a strategy were clear to see in Qatar.
Spain crashed out of the 2022 World Cup at the round-of-16 stage with the sort of insipid, blunt performance that had become all-too familiar to those au fait with Enrique’s La Roja side.
Spain dominated 77 per cent of the possession against a well-drilled Morocco side but mustered only one shot on target over 120 minutes before failing to find a way past Yassine Bounou in the penalty shoot-out.
“I was wishing Spain to score,” Aspas, who was left at home by the one-time Roma and Celta Vigo coach despite scoring 18 La Liga goals in 2021/22, tells Yahoo Sport.
“With Luis Enrique we had a very defined game style. (But) for me, we did not have plan B. And when plan A was stuck there wasn’t plan B or other types of footballers to try to revert that situation, from my point of view.”
Luis Enrique could become Tottenham’s new manager
Given that an apparent resistance to change quickly became a major bone of contention among Tottenham supporters sick to the back teeth of Antonio Conte’s rigid 3-4-3 system, Aspas’ criticism of the Italian’s potential replacement may send shivers down Spurs spines.
According to The Times, director Fabio Paratici is a huge admirer of a man who guided Barcelona to a La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble in 2015.
But Aspas is not the only one to raise serious concerns about Enrique’s adaptability.
“(New Spain boss) Luis de la Fuente has an option A, an option B and an option C,” Spanish FA director – and former Newcastle forward – Albert Luque tells Football Espana.
“De La Fuente is a person who likes to take care of the ball. But if he has to play a more direct football, then he can do that. The team can play a 3-5-2, a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 with no problems.
“(Luis Enrique) lacked this option. At certain moments of the World Cup, we missed playing slightly more direct football or with a quick kick from (goalkeeper) Unai Simon to surprise the opposing team.
“All the teams knew how we were going to play in 100 per cent of the minutes.”
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