De la Fuente: “We lack efficiency and finishing success”

Luis de la Fuente, coach of the Spanish teamreviewed the goalless draw achieved this Thursday against the Serbia in Belgrade on UEFA Nations Leagueand assured in a press conference that “we all ask a lot of ourselves, especially after being champions of Europebut it is a very long process and you have to step by step. “We don’t attach importance to a draw,” he added.

De la Fuente explained that “In the first half we were not successful, we lacked finesseespecially at the end of plays we lack quality in the last pass. We got it in the second half but we lacked the finishing ability and the freshness which is noticeable at this point of the season,” he commented.

The La Roja coach regretted an action in the final minutes in which Joselu Mato was tackled inside the opposing area. “I have to see it on television, but on the field the punishment seems very clear to me and for Joselu it is the same in his opinion. “It’s a play that will change the direction of the result but nothing happens.”

De la Fuente emphasized the high temperature in which the match was played and the state of the grass. “It’s very hot, the field is slow and dry but I’m very calm. The team is giving everything, “We have a lot of quality and as they get into the rhythm of the competition at their clubs, their performance will improve.”

Spain blamed the state of form of its players for virtually no option to complete a preseason and return directly to competition in August. “At this point in the season there are players who participate more and others less, in October when they accumulate more games we will talk about other things. In September there is a lack of rhythm, it is more difficult to recover. It’s a complicated time. We must appreciate Serbia, who defensively had a lot of energy and we lacked finesse,” he reiterated.