The Spaniards lost to the Czech Republic and they’re taking the hit at home: Wake up! It’s worrying ahead of Qatar

The Spanish national team is not having the best time. After losing 1:2 to Switzerland in the Nations League, they are facing a lot of criticism at home and that is not the best news ahead of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.

National team coach Luis Enrique is under the microscope quite often in Spain. He is mostly accused of sticking to the same players over and over, having his favourites and overlooking other players who have shown great form and quality over the long term.

For example, the likes of Jordi Alba has been relegated to the bench at Barcelona this season, not even featuring for a minute in the last three games. However, for Enrique, who knows him from Barcelona, he remains the clear number one left-back in the Spanish national team.

His big favourite is another Barcelona defender, Eric García. Yet even Blaugranas fans often criticise his performances, and nobody in Spain understands Enrique’s preference for García over Sergio Ramos or Nacho.

Against Switzerland, the Spaniards suffered a 1:2 defeat, which was also bad for the Czech Republic. In order to stay in the elite group of the Nations League, they must beat Switzerland on its field.

And Busquets and co. took a big hit for their loss and performance. “You have 60 days to wake up,” the MARCA newspaper refers to the upcoming World Cup. “We have a lot to improve,” MARCA added.

“We have to win in Portugal to qualify for the Nations League finals. Six Barcelona players were in the starting line-up, but Luis Enrique’s team was very weak,” wrote the Catalan daily SPORT. “It’s a step backwards,” the AS daily said.

“Disappointing. We’ll see on Tuesday if it’s too much or too little. But the defeat against Switzerland has shaken the Spanish team. Mainly because of a performance that didn’t suggest we had the strength to score up top. The Swiss players were driving the Spanish defence crazy. What will happen in Qatar? There are too many doubts and a lot of room for improvement,” wrote leading Spanish journalist José Felix Díaz in MARCA.

Source: MARCA, SPORT, AS