Luis de la Fuente Defends Rodri Amid Spain's World Cup Struggles

Luis de la Fuente did not bother to hide his irritation. One game into Spain’s World Cup campaign, with the ink on the 0-0 against Cape Verde barely dry, the national coach found himself defending not his system, not his selection, but the very heartbeat of his team.

Rodri, the metronome of Manchester City and the anchor of this Spain side, has been accused of slowing his country down, of dragging at the tempo of a team that still carries the weight of tiki-taka on its shoulders. The argument is familiar: too many touches, not enough incision, transitions blunted before they can bite.

De la Fuente was having none of it.

Speaking to El Partidazo de Cope, the Spain boss pushed back hard at the idea that Rodri is a problem rather than a pillar. The suggestion, he said, was not just wrong. It was offensive.

“Good heavens, please. For you to say things like this,” he snapped, bristling at the line of questioning. “Some people can say one thing or another, but in any case, I find it highly insulting to say that about the best player in the world.”

There was no softening of the stance, no attempt to gently balance criticism with praise. De la Fuente doubled down. For him, Rodri is non-negotiable.

“Rodrigo is the best player in the world, and even at 50% he's much better than most midfielders in the world. Even at 50%,” he insisted. “And with us, he's a player of exceptional importance, with fantastic clarity and vision, balance. Rodrigo is a guiding light for us.”

The draw with Cape Verde has clearly opened old wounds around Spain’s identity. Every laboured attack, every sideways pass, feeds the argument that the team’s control comes at the cost of cutting edge. Rodri, sitting at the base of midfield, inevitably becomes the lightning rod.

The coach, though, sees something different: a player who gives structure, who offers the platform from which the rest can attack. In his eyes, questioning Rodri’s place is to misunderstand what Spain are trying to be.

De la Fuente then widened the lens. This, he suggested, is not just about one player, or one performance. It is about how Spanish footballers are treated compared with their peers abroad.

“Would they dare say that about other players who are also considered among the best in the world? Would they dare? I don't think so,” he said. “But since they're Spanish, and you can say things about our players that you don't say about others.”

That line cuts to the heart of a long-standing tension. Spain produces some of the game’s most technically gifted footballers, yet when the national team stutters, the criticism often turns sharper, more personal, than it might for other leading nations.

Rodri now stands at the centre of that storm: praised as a genius in Manchester, probed as a problem in Madrid. De la Fuente has nailed his colours firmly to the midfielder’s mast. As Spain chase their first win of this World Cup, he is betting that the man accused of slowing them down will be the one who sets the rhythm of their revival.