The case of Balde has once again caused a lot of noise with a common denominator: Barça as a backdrop
It is said that Spain is a country of clubs rather than national team. The tagline has accompanied Spanish football for decades and explains many debates surrounding the team. The last one, the call for Alejandro Balde. All the judgments about Luis Enrique’s decisions are crossed by that militancy to the colors. Luis Enrique himself, whose transfer from Madrid to Barcelona continues in the imaginary, amplifies to his regret this tendency due to his past.
The case of Balde has once again caused a lot of noise, with critics and conspiracy theories that have a common denominator: Barça as a backdrop. The coach is accused of being unfair to Gayá, precedents such as Busquets are reminded of him and the dramatic angle is amplified with the footballer’s downturn. In the first place, he is surprised that Luis Enrique’s confidence in the Valencia side is being questioned. For a long time he has been a player with weight in the national team but even more: in the final call he left out precisely other options such as Marcos Alonso or Balde.
Also controversial is the comparison with Busquets, because their roles in the team have nothing to do. One is a structural player, Gayá, an alternative to Jordi Alba. But there is more: the former was overcoming the covid, while Gaya faces an ankle injury. A slight injury (around 10 days off) but with a percentage of relapse to take into account. To all this, we must remember the profile of Alba, a player with a history of sensitive muscle injuries.
It is true that there are reasons for Gayá to be frustrated or even not to understand the decision, but also that Luis Enrique has to prioritize the group over individualities. as a coach You have to make decisions: also the uncomfortable ones, the ones that generate wear and the most unpopular ones.
The reasons for taking Bucket
The most obvious reason for wearing it is the performance of Balde himself, who for weeks has been Barça’s fittest left-back ahead, by the way, of Alba and Marcos Alonso. But not only that: His football -Barça school- and his profile, a young footballer who makes up a group, fit into what the coach is looking for. He is also a versatile footballer, who has already shown at Barça that he can also play as a right back.
With Balde there are eight representatives of Barça in the selection. An issue that, from a pragmatic point of view, makes a lot of sense even if it hurts sensibilities. In a tournament of the nature of a World Cup, where there is hardly any time to train, the fastest way to have automatisms is to gather the maximum number of soccer players that are known.
His call makes sense in the logic of Luis Enrique, who has always made it clear: making a selection is not taking the best stickers and putting them together. Making a selection is having a plan and summoning the footballers who are most prepared to interpret it.