Certainties and doubts of Luis Enrique five months before the World Cup in Qatar

• Chronicle Spain goes on vacation with a joy under his arm

• Luis Enrique's smile "Ask the rivals if we are candidates for something"

• Marco Asensio Ask for a ticket... with Gavi's permission

• El Cortador The national team ate Malaga raisins

• League of Nations Spain, leader of its group

A little over five months before traveling to Qatar, Luis Enrique, who has experienced situations of all colors in World Cups as a player, is not worried about what is to come.

"I have the same certainties as before starting this window", he assured, satisfied with what he had seen in the four games of the League of Nations.

Before the debut in the World Cup (November 23), he will still have two more tests in September (Switzerland and Portugal).

The coach claims to have a range of "45 or 50 players", although many of those who stepped on La Rosaleda on Sunday seem, except unforeseen, immovable in his score.

There are always doubts, of course, but there are many certainties that he handles in this transit towards the long-awaited Qatari desert.

+ FAITH IN THE GAME IDEA.

In just three days, those that elapsed from the meager victory in Geneva to the party at La Rosaleda, Luis Enrique changed nine players from his starting eleven.

Everything between his goalkeeper (Unai Simón) and his striker (Álvaro Morata) was new.

Those radical turns, with the idea of ​​distributing minutes, do not alter the plan.

Whoever occupies the wings (Olmo, Asensio, who embroidered it at La Rosaleda, Ferran, Sarabia...), whoever holds the spinal cord or raises whoever raises the defensive wall, the idea, offensive in many moments, less lucid in others , it is immovable.

Although

has not played any minute in this window, he has had enough of watching tactical videos so that this idea, that of the coach, is well present when his time comes.

+ THE STRENGTH OF THE GROUP.

There is an image that speaks for itself.

Minutes after the victory against the Czech Republic in Malaga, after giving the stadium a lap of honor and, also, jumping and dancing on the pitch like in those end-of-year school parties, the 23 players (including Ansu Fati, Robert Sánchez or David Raya, who did not play a single minute in this window) posed exultantly in the locker room, like someone who has just won a title.

In the corridors of the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas, the strength of the group that Luis Enrique has woven stands out.

A chemistry that needs no explanation.

The images, like those of

's birthday last Saturday, speak for themselves.

Gavi, during the match against the Czech Republic.Jose BretonAP

+ THE CONSOLIDATION OF GAVI.

In the press room of La Rosaleda, the same stage where he had given him a wake-up call the day before, Luis Enrique surrendered to his charms.

"He's an erupting volcano. It's hard not to fall in love with him," acknowledged the coach, who opted for him eight months ago, during the 'Final Four' of the League of Nations, and landed on his feet, despite those debates about his youth and lack of experience that the technician ignored.

Since then, he has played all nine matches for the national team, adding 673 minutes and being important in some of them.

In this window he has left Seville and Malaga acclaimed and, with his goal in Prague, he has become the youngest scorer in the history of the national team, lowering in a week the record of his partner and friend

, which seemed unattainable: 17 years and 304 days.

For the World Cup he will already be of legal age in all senses.

+ VERY HUNGRY, FEW COCONUTS.

"Ask the rivals if we are candidates for something," Luis Enrique let out with a half smile, accustomed to always having every detail surrounding the national team tied up.

He does not see his team inferior to anyone in Europe and only Argentina, perhaps Brazil, lives a floor above on the way to his first World Cup as coach.

At the head of a group of youngsters, strung together by the experience of

or

, also

or

.

Everyone has lived months of happiness with those unsuspected semifinals of the European Championship against Italy or the final of the League of Nations, against France.

Until now, always one step away from heaven.

That is also the fuel of this selection, which is hungry to achieve something that will make them eternal.

- UNCERTAINTY BACK.

Although the coach put out his chest after the party in Malaga, defying any value judgment on

, the debate behind has not been settled.

Not much less.

Not for the hobby.

Without

, injured, they have been

,

,

and Eric himself who have shared the minutes in the rear axis.

After his slip in Prague, the Barça defender has lived under the magnifying glass throughout the window.

Even in the stands at La Rosaleda there was an initial buzz every time the ball approached their area.

Spain have conceded three goals in four games, but if it hadn't been for Unai Simón, who was decisive on Sunday, it would have been a few more.

That adjustment in the rearguard is essential to have an important role in the World Cup.

It may not be just about names.

Íñigo Martínez, against the Czech Republic.Jose BretonAP

- ABSENCE OF PLAYERS WITH HIERARCHY.

The captain of Barcelona (

), Atlético (

) or Chelsea (

) bring his strength and experience to a dressing room that, however, lacks the hierarchy that iconic football teams transmitted in other times not so far away.

From

to Iniesta, through

or Iker Casillas, to speak of recent times.

And on the grass, waiting for

to be physically and mentally prepared, for

comes back in full and Gavi comes of age, a bit more of the same happens.

Maybe that's enough for the League of Nations, but the World Cup, with the still recent experience of the European Championship, requires something more.

- A PLAN B IS MISSING.

Any entanglement during a game affects (and a lot) this selection.

Because his virtue of taking his idea of ​​the game to the end, sometimes becomes a kind of sentence.

Spain goes ahead with its plan no matter what happens.

And sometimes, although it is less beautiful, the matter requires less orthodox measures.

Measures as basic as hanging balls in search of a head in the area.

It's that simple.

That plan B, at the moment, does not seem to be an option for this team.

And that, obviously, carries its risks.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Articles Carlos Guisasola

• Spain National Soccer Team