On the eve of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Spain has been hit with the sacking of manager, Julen Lopetegui.
After news break that Real Madrid had hired Julen Lopetegui to replace Zinedine Zidane, just three weeks after he signed a contract extension with the Spanish National Team, many Spain fans were confused.
It is not the fact that Lopetegui has taken the Real Madrid job offer, rather the furore is directed at the fact that Lopetegui was doing contract negotiations with Real.
He should’ve been focusing on preparing Spain for a successful World Cup campaign after the debacle of the 2014 World Cup.
The true villain in this entire saga is not Julen Lopetegui but rather Real Madrid, the World Cup is when clubs take the backseat and support the national team.
Instead, Florentino Perez has gone behind the backs of the Spanish national team enticing Lopetegui to join Real. It would be incredibly difficult for any manager to reject Real and Perez has used that to full advantage.
The effect from this saga has not been seen yet, but one would predict that team leaders such as Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta will have to unite the dressing room and keep any unrest to a minimum.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation has also been blamed in their decision to sack Lopetegui just 30 hours before the World Cup.
However, they simply had no choice but to put their foot down and show the national team comes first and not any clubs, not even the great Real Madrid.
The federation was notified just 5 minutes before Real Madrid annouced Lopetegui to be their new manager. That said, any decision made was going to be rushed.
Among Spanish legends such as Xavi, the decision has been well received. Although some of the public are saying that Lopetegui should have been replaced at the end of the World Cup to cause minimal distraction to the World Cup campaign.
The federation has also moved quickly to replace Lopetegui with Fernando Hierro, a smart decision given his standing in the game. It would be hard for even the most senior player to go against him.
These situations either break teams or make teams, should Spain survive the eye of the storm, one should expect them to go far in the tournament.
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How far do you think Spain will go in the tournament without the leadership of Julen Lopetegui?