This is neither about Tomé nor Toril. Neither from De la Fuente nor from Lamine. It’s about how to ensure that the interests and needs of the clubs are aligned with those of the national team, and vice versa. It is about understanding what separates both universes and looking for meeting points. It’s about living together, in short.
Let’s start with the context. Being called up by the national team should be excellent sports news. It has not been like this in Spain for a long time. The noise – deserved, necessary and inevitable – that has accompanied the national team in recent times has soiled that presumed feeling of joy and excitement and has transformed some calls into a kind of bullet that they wanted to avoid. Being there is a reward or forgiveness, not being there is a relief or a rest. There have been lists to not be on the list. Those who have not stopped being on the list have been crossed off the lists. Everything has become so dirty that there is no position without suspicion. But I don’t think we will eliminate the noise of resentment or debt.
Toril complained that the list came out on the same day that his Madrid team was playing the second Champions League game. It stands to reason. Being or not being among the 23 is a distortion. The player fantasizes about the FIFA date and the coach is scared that attention will be diverted from Celtic. It is not easy to find balance in the face of external stimuli of this type because there is no single reaction to be selected or discarded.
Getting the timing right to give the list is important and a protocol should be established taking into account the reality of the summonses, with some on the other side of the Atlantic. It is as disastrous to give a list on a Monday and have to correct it immediately to change injured players from the weekend, as it is not very delicate to publish it a few hours before a key match for one of the clubs that brings you the most players. Scotland or Denmark gave their lists on Monday. Sweden, England or Germany, on Tuesday, one day before their teams’ matches in Europe. France did like Spain, with Lyon playing in the Champions League yesterday as well. What is the good solution then? I don’t think it is appropriate to send a pre-list of 60 players in advance and perhaps it could be appropriate to send it confirmed with the commitment not to leak it, as other federations do. Would we know how to keep the secret?
I only see the option of doing it if we manage not to arrive at the press conferences on the defensive. Yesterday it took a world to clarify that Barça and Tomé have agreed to rest Aitana, when it is easy to understand. When it published the list, Germany reported that Kathrin Hendrich was dropped from the squad because, in coordination with her club, Wolfsburg, she was protected from the discomfort she had been experiencing. There is no more noise, it is what it is. A few days ago, De la Fuente got tangled up in minute management. He said that the selection represents only 3.5% of a footballer’s match load, when FIFPro speaks of percentages ranging from 10 to 20%. Isn’t it everyone’s responsibility that footballers are as good as possible? The club pays. But the selection fuels the player’s motivation. But more internationals can be better sales for the club. And the strongest clubs provide the national team with more prepared players… We are perpetually facing clubs and national teams as if they were two enemies, when such a congested calendar can only be overcome with communication, coordination and consensus. More alliance and less battle?
