Post by Morten Eriksen-Deinoff

France 0 – Spain 2. It is fascinating to see how the Spanish team have evolved since its golden era leading up to 2012. Spain have always sought to control matches through possession. The thinking is simple: if we have the ball, the opposition cannot score. Luis de la Fuente still wants control, but he wants his team to move the ball forward more quickly and attack with greater purpose. We saw that clearly against France. Spain's directness seemed to catch the French by surprise. This is one of the areas where De la Fuente differs from Luis Enrique. But perhaps the biggest difference lies in his leadership style. Luis Enrique projected authority through a direct and confrontational approach, both with his players and with the media. De la Fuente comes across as calmer, less self-promoting and more concerned with lifting the group than asserting his own authority. The French-born Spanish international Aymeric Laporte has spoken warmly of De la Fuente's closeness to his players, his understanding of people's emotional needs and his ability to deal with situations beyond football itself. At the same time, he gives his players freedom within a clear collective framework. In our book Why Do Intelligent People Keep Making Stupid Decisions? – The 8 Deadly Sins in Football and Leadership – and How to Avoid Them, we describe this as Coach B — a leadership style that shares many characteristics with the Scandinavian approach to coaching.