What's next for Luis Enrique?
After it was confirmed that Luis Enrique would no longer coach the Spanish national team, many were left wondering what the future holds for him.
There was no official press conference and no final streaming session on Twitch, aside from a short tweet in which he thanked players, staff, fans and the RFEF for everything along these four years in charge.
But thankfully our curiosity was satisfied on Monday night when Luis Enrique accepted to join famous Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos on his Twitch channel to talk a bit about his World Cup experience among other topics. Coincidentally (or not), it took place on the same day the RFEF ratified and presented Luis de la Fuente as Spain’s new manager.
There was a lot of speculation on whether Lucho had quit or if it was the Spanish FA that had decided not to extend his contract. Well, after hearing the Asturian out it’s pretty clear the RFEF told him his services were no longer required. Luis Enrique said he would’ve considered renewing had there been an offer, but it never arrived.
Interestingly enough, when asked if he would’ve taken the same 26 players now that the competition was over for him, he admitted with his usual sincerity that “I’d make a change”. His doubts were regarding “a player that I would’ve liked to bring and another that I wouldn’t have, from what I saw”. This has generated quite a lot of speculation, with names like Ansu Fati, Dani Carvajal or Eric García popping up.
Although during his tenure as Spain’s manager he admitted his worst moment wasn’t being eliminated in any of the big tournaments, but actually during the World Cup qualifiers. There was a stage in which Spain were at risk of getting knocked out way sooner than expected and he admitted having “a horrible time”.
Now all that pressure is off his shoulders he’s ready to move on and it seems like his next stop will be returning to club football. He feels prepared and with enough energy to take on a new challenge, although he plans on waiting until the start of the next season… unless an important offer comes through before, which doesn’t seem to be the case just yet.
He was even asked by a viewer about the possibility of coaching Atlético de Madrid, given the club is going through a serious crisis and Diego Simeone is being more questioned than ever. To which Lucho left his door slightly open, “they have to want me. If they don’t call me then I don’t have offers to choose between”.
Ibai also took the opportunity to ask him whether he’d be willing to coach his team in Gerard Piqué’s Kings League, which will feature Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández. At first he was quite adamant, but when the topic came up again later on and Lucho realised it would be for just over two months at the beginning of 2023, then he seemed more receptive. So who knows if he’ll make an appearance.
But for the near future what Luis Enrique plans on doing is competing in the next edition of the Cape Epic in South Africa. It’s one of the toughest, yet most prestigious, mountain bike races out there. It’ll be his third participation which comes to show, once again, how much he loves cycling.
Furthermore, he admitted he’s working on organising one final streaming session on his Twitch channel to raise money for the Enriqueta Villavecchia foundation that cares for the needs of children suffering from cancer and other serious long-term illnesses. This would be in addition to all the money he raised through subscriptions during his streams at the World Cup.
A beautiful gesture from Luis Enrique who we’ll soon see coaching a football club again. The big question is whether it’ll be in LaLiga, the Premier League or in another European league.