Barcelona left back Jordi Alba has hailed the Spain national team manager Luis Enrique as the best coach in the world ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Alba has been a mainstay of the Spanish national team for over a decade now and is a favourite of Enrique’s, who managed him between 2014 and 2017 in Barcelona.
Despite not playing a key role in Barcelona this season thanks to the tactical decisions of his former teammate turned manager Xavi Hernandez, Enrique has stuck to his guns with Alba.
The former Valencia man will be heading to another World Cup with Spain after being included in the team’s squad list and has hailed his manager for the work he is doing in the squad.
“I already know him from Barcelona. He is a direct person, who trusts the players a lot,” the Barca left-back told Mundo Deportivo. “For me, I have always said, he is the best coach in the world. Not only in the football field, but also in the human field.
“He is very close and helps all his team-mates and that is important for all the players and for me. He has a lot of personality. He captures his idea and that all the players go in the same direction.
“It is something very difficult and he has achieved it in all the teams he has been in. We all go to what he tells us. At that he is the best.”
Enrique will be hoping to better his team’s performance which saw them finish as runners up in the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League.
His squad selection was questioned after it was released, but Enrique defended it and made some bold claims.
“How am I going to doubt [myself]? With all the criticism you give us, on top of that we are going to doubt ourselves?” He said to the media who quizzed him about some names who were omitted from the squad list.
“I am the best coach on the face of the earth. If I have to convince my players and they see me doubting… Doubts? None. The criticism is going to fall on me, but I don’t care.”
Jordi Alba and Jose Luis Gaya are the left backs on the roster for Enrique, but all indices point to the Barcelona man getting the nod ahead of Gaya, who is also being touted as his replacement at Barcelona.
They will face Germany, Japan and Costa Rica on their road to a second world title.
