Luis Enrique and The Top-secret Omission Of Sergio Ramos

Luis Enrique has stuck to his usual script. The Spain boss has been faithful to most of his usual players and in his way of not being overly open with information before his squad announcements.

The coach has chosen those who, however much he has split opinion, he believes are in the best form ahead of the European Championship, putting club colours aside.

In recent weeks, Luis Enrique and his staff have gone through all of the possibilities before naming the squad. It was done discreetly and silently prior to the announcement of his 24-man squad on Monday.

The list he was making was kept top secret, and nobody knew anything until he announced it.

No phones

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) opened their doors to the press for the announcement on Monday, as a pre-recorded video was played to announce the 24 players chosen.

The test recordings were done with fictitious lists and in rooms that had mobile phones banned, as Luis Enrique didn’t want any leaks.

He had only called Sergio Ramos out of all of those being left out, and he wanted everyone else to find out about the squad at the same time.

Changes

The Spanish national team will begin their pre-tournament preparations at Las Rozas on Monday. It will be set up like a normal training ground, but it will have areas set up for video calls with families.

Days off and routines

Luis Enrique knows how tedious and long time away with a national team can feel. Because of the pandemic the players will be even more restricted this year, but the coach plans to give the players the occasional day off.

He has done the same thing before, but the pandemic has meant that the players are unable to have contact with anyone outside of the bubble.