FIFA World Cup 2022: Innovative Spain coach Luis Enrique’s World Cup tech tools

• Luis Enrique commissioned the construction of a scaffold tower for use during Spain’s training sessions.
• Players communicate via walkie-talkie using microphones attached to their training vests.
• The amount of time they spend on the team bus is shorter than ever before due to the use of electric scooters.

During Spain’s 7-0 rout of Costa Rica in their World Cup opening, it was very evident that Luis Enrique’s players always know where they should be and what they must do.

The coach is adamant about positional play and maintaining possession, and has been inventive in his use of technology and out-of-the-box thinking to persuade his players to function inside his predetermined structure.

Luis Enrique commissioned the construction of a scaffold tower for use during Spain’s training sessions in Las Rozas, on the outskirts of Madrid, and at the University of Qatar in Doha, Qatar.

Since coaching Celta Vigo in 2013, he has employed this strategy.

From above, he gets a better view of the players’ positions and can communicate with them by walkie-talkie utilizing microphones attached to their training vests.

“Today, for example, I decided that the strikers will wear them and we have had much calmer communication,” Luis Enrique said last week on his Twitch account, with live-streaming serving as another example of his use of technology during the event.

“I don’t talk to them when the play is in motion, because they don’t need to think that I’m running after them, but when the move is over, if there’s something to correct, I’ll correct it.”

It eliminates the need for the coach to shout and facilitates communication without requiring participants to leave their positions before resuming an exercise.

“Where we see technology being applied most in training is in the national team,” said Spain defender Eric Garcia in September.

“Technology is advancing, and is being implemented in football bit by bit.

“These things are effective, with walkie-talkies the coach is correcting us from a distance.”

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Video learning

Back in Madrid, there is a large screen at Spain’s training field for Luis Enrique to run through plays on, another way to provide players with immediate and clear feedback.

Luis Enrique commented on Twitch, “We train more on video than on the pitch.”

There are players that do things with their clubs that are vastly different from what we require, yet when they join us, they perform exceptionally well.

The midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Pedri, and Gavi have excelled for their team this season, but their performance against Costa Rica was exceptional.

At the World Cup, the amount of time Spain’s players must spend pent up on the team bus is shorter than ever before due to the use of electric scooters to go between their accommodations and the training field.

With over 150,000 viewers, Luis Enrique’s near-nightly Twitch feeds have helped him connect with the Spanish audience, allowing him to be the center of attention instead of his team.

“I like computers, at 21 when I arrived at Real Madrid, the first thing I did was buy one,” he told his viewers.

“My team-mates told me ‘but you don’t even know how to turn it on’. (I said) well, don’t worry, some day I will learn.

“I’ve always liked technology. I remember being one of the first players to get on the Internet, working out emails and helping everyone else. I’ve always liked it.

“Now I’m an old geezer who doesn’t know how to work the Bluetooth on his headphones.”

However, his use of technology to aid Spain’s ambition to win a second World Cup suggests different, given that Spain will face Germany on Sunday.

Despite their loss to Japan, Hansi Flick’s side could provide a tougher test than Ecuador, and it will be an opportunity for the semifinalists of Euro 2020 to discover if Luis Enrique’s strategy works against both large and small teams.

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