What Luis Enrique demands from Ansu Fati with the Spain national team

Spain have passed the halfway point in the UEFA Nations League and can be happy: two wins, against Ukraine and Switzerland, and a draw away at Germany, in theory, the toughest game. Seven points and top spot with a big role played by Barcelona prodigy Ansu Fati. 

The young forward wasn't as impressive on Saturday against Switzerland and Luis Enrique was on top of him throughout the match. The Spain coach knows the quality the teenager has is fundamental to the evolution of Spain's game. He's working hard to make Ansu a better player. It's obvious that, at 17, there's still room to grow and there are many areas to focus on, especially tactically. 

Two concepts 

Lucho insists, above all, on two concepts: Ansu's positioning on the left of the attack and pressing the opposition. Against Switzerland, he wanted him to help open up the pitch by staying wide and creating space. Ansu has a tendency to come inside but Luis Enrique wants him pinned to the touchline to start with. As the attacks progress, he can move inside, especially when the ball is on the other flank and he can take up dangerous positions in the box. 

As for defending, Luis Enrique was much more forceful. One of the keys of his system is pressing the opposition when they have the ball. Oyarzabal's goal arrived after Mikel Merino had won the ball back. "It wasn't an error by Switzerland, it was a great success on out part," the coach said. He's worked a lot with his players on that front and is very demanding about how diligently they press when they lose the ball. 

Press the goalkeeper 

Luis Enrique wanted coordinated pressure and one of the points he was focused on was pressing the goalkeeper when Switzerland tried to build from the back. They played with five defenders, so if Sommer wasn't pressed in goal, he could find a simple pass. Ansu was asked to press the goalkeeper and force him to go long, where Sergio Busquets was colossal in winning the ball back. 

Ansu was also asked to help left-back Gaya when Switzerland pushed on in the second half. The Barça youngster worked hard in defence but was replaced by Adama Traore after 57 minutes. Luis Enrique felt it was the moment to add more stamina to the pitch to force the Swiss back, even though it remained tight until the end. Thanks to the defensive effort of everyone, Switzerland only had one shot on target, in the 10th minute, which De Gea saved.