Free on FIFA+.Free on FIFA+.

• Luis Enrique has an impressive record as Spain coach

• He has begun using walkie-talkies in preparation for Qatar 2022

• FIFA+ investigates the 52-year-old's approach

Spain endured a tumultuous few days in the immediate build-up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, with coach Julen Lopetegui dismissed days before their curtain-raiser and Fernando Hierro swiftly ushered into the hot-seat. La Roja successfully negotiated their way out of the group phase, only to crash out in the last 16 after suffering shootout heartbreak at the hands of the hosts. Following the disappointment of that campaign, the Spanish Football Association moved quickly and appointed Luis Enrique just eight days later. The Asturian tactician led the team up until March 2019, when he temporarily stepped aside to focus his attention on an extremely serious family matter. That situation and the pandemic meant that he only returned to the national-team dugout in September 2020, with Robert Moreno deputising during Luis Enrique’s 17-month absence.

Upon his return to the Spain set-up, the coach oversaw a successful 2021, steering the side to a UEFA EURO last-four spot, the UEFA Nations League final and qualification for Qatar 2022. La Roja are in good shape as they prepare for an assault on the trophy. Despite having slipped down a place to seventh on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, there is plenty of reason for optimism within the Spain camp. During the latest international window, in September, La Roja fell to a narrow defeat against Switzerland, before edging past Portugal to seal their spot in the UEFA Nations League’s final four. Luis Enrique has overseen 38 games at the helm, which have yielded 22 wins, 11 draws and just five defeats, a record that has prompted the coach to suggest that “if anyone’s going to beat us at the World Cup, they’ll really have to be on their game.” The confident coach has left no stone unturned as he prepares his youthful squad for a shot at glory on Arab soil. Shortly after being installed as national-team coach, he raised a few eyebrows among the staff at the Spanish FA’s Las Rozas training complex by requesting that his now-famous scaffolding platform be installed. His former assistant, Moreno, revealed the story behind the novel piece of equipment, recounting that during his tenure as Celta Vigo boss, Luis Enrique asked for the structure to be installed to record the team’s training sessions from a lofty vantage point.

Once the platform was in place, he discovered the fine views it offered of the training pitch and it soon became his go-to spot from which to observe and issue his instructions. Since then, he has remained faithful to his trusted platform, which has become very much part of the furniture during national-team training camps. Luis Enrique is clearly one to make the most of the resources at hand. At the last EURO, the Spain coach grabbed the headlines after watching the action unfold perched on a drinks’ cooler within his technical area, instead of taking up his customary spot in the dugout. The latest in the series of novel training-ground tools employed was revealed on the Spain national team’s social media accounts a few weeks ago, with the innovative coach now deploying walkie-talkies. Small headphones are fitted to the players’ training vests and instead of straining his vocal cords, Luis Enrique now gets his message across via walkie-talkie. When recently asked about his future as national-team coach, he insisted that, “our focus is on the World Cup”. The Spain coach claims not to have settled on his squad as yet: “Naming my 26-man squad is something I’ll have doubts about right up until the last minute, because my decisions could influence the whole atmosphere within the group.”