Luis de la Fuente Defends Rodri After World Cup Draw
Luis de la Fuente did not tiptoe around the subject. After Spain’s flat 0-0 stalemate with Cape Verde in their 2026 World Cup opener, the knives came out for Rodri. The national coach met them head-on.
The Manchester City midfielder, usually the metronome of every side he plays in, found himself accused of slowing Spain down, of clogging transitions, of blunting the team’s edge. For some, the lack of a breakthrough had a simple explanation: too much Rodri on the ball, not enough vertical thrust around him.
De la Fuente was having none of it.
Speaking to El Partidazo de Cope, the Spain boss bristled at the idea that his most influential midfielder is somehow a tactical problem rather than a solution. The criticism, he argued, is not just wrong. It is disrespectful.
“Good heavens, please. For you to say things like this,” he snapped, clearly irritated by the narrative building around his vice-captain. “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.”
The coach didn’t just defend Rodri. He elevated him.
“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%,” De la Fuente insisted, doubling down on his belief that even an off-day Rodri still operates at a level most can’t touch.
For Spain, he stressed, Rodri is non-negotiable.
“And with us, he's a player of exceptional importance, with fantastic clarity and vision, balance. Rodrigo is a guiding light for us.”
The message was clear: you don’t rip out the brain of your team because of one frustrating night in front of goal. Spain’s failure to break down Cape Verde may have exposed issues in tempo, movement and finishing, but De la Fuente refuses to pin any of that on the midfielder who knits his side together.
As the debate swirls around how Spain should evolve on the biggest stage, the coach sees a different problem: the way Spanish players are judged compared with their peers abroad. The scrutiny, in his eyes, is harsher, the respect thinner.
He did not hide his frustration.
“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.”
It was a pointed challenge, both to the critics and to the broader discourse around his squad. Question tactics, question selections, question his decisions if you must. But questioning Rodri’s value to this Spain side? For De la Fuente, that crosses a line.
Spain now move deeper into this World Cup with their playmaker firmly ring-fenced by his coach. The doubts outside will rumble on. Inside the camp, there is no debate: this team will rise or fall with Rodri at its core.
