Julien Laurens makes his pitch for Spain boss Luis Enrique to replace Ronald Koeman at Barcelona. (0:49)
Luis Enrique won't be reading this, which is an open invitation to say the most outrageous things about him. Terrible, unheard things that few want to admit. Things like: he knows what he's doing. And: he's pretty good at this. Even this week, when that was clearer than ever, when his Spain team -- and it is very much his Spain team -- became the first side to defeat European champions Italy in 37 matches and came within a stud's width of defeating world champions France too, close to a first trophy in nine years, recognition came a little reluctantly.
Still, at least it came. Even if it came with a caveat, sometimes through gritted teeth. A "yeah, but." Mostly it took the form of: good manager, bad man, yet the man is the manager too.
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On Sunday night, Spain lost 2-1 to France in the final of the UEFA Nations League. A Kylian Mbappe goal defeated them; he had been clearly offside when the pass was played to him, lurking behind the Spanish line, but as the ball went through, Eric Garcia stretched to stop it, the slightest of touches on his studs enough to play Mbappe onside again. "I can't understand it," Garcia said after. "I don't understand it," Cesar Azpilicueta added. "I can't understand it," just about everyone said, which at least gave them someone else to focus on.
