Ever since Nacho Monreal broke into the first team and became a regular starter with Arsenal, he has been involved in Spain’s national team. He recently spoke about why the team has been so successful over recent years, which includes their dominance of two European Championship trophies, with a World Cup triumph being thrown into the middle of the dominance. A huge feat, some have argued that the Spain team that accomplished it may be the greatest national team ever, and it included great players, such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas, and Carles Puyol. Monreal told Arsenal Player:
The team is full of talent but not just in my position.
Every position in the Spain side is very well-covered because the current generation has been incredible – it has won the European Championship twice and the World Cup too.
He has not always been involved in the team, so he talks about what life was like with the Spain team before he broke in:
It has been a great experience – both watching it on television and when I was involved in the squad, sharing a dressing room with those players.
It’s been fantastic.
I think it’s one of the best teams Spain has ever produced.
Monreal went on to say that one of the main reasons for Spain’s dominance was the chemistry and unity, which was due to them all playing together for so long:
The majority of those players had been playing together right through from the youth teams – the under-19 side, the under-21s – and after a few years together in the senior team it all began to bear fruit.
The work that’s being done in the younger categories is very impressive. The kids are being taught well and learning fast and that’s why so many young players are emerging.
If you do good work with the youth teams, you’ll reap the rewards later on.
The main thing Spain’s FA can thank for its success, among other things, is FC Barcelona’s academy, which is otherwise known as La Masia, where players like Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, and Gerard Pique, all of whom played for Spain, were developed. With those players getting older and not playing with the national team as much, he talked about what it was like to lose them:
Casillas, Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta, David Villa and Fernando Torres were unique players. As well as that, the group coincided with two great coaches in Luis Aragones and Vicente del Bosque, who made a massive contribution too.
Everything came together for us to become a top side – we were the best team for several years.
We’re in a period of transition now where we’re focusing on young players – they’re very talented players but obviously need to gain international experience.
The left-back then went on to talk about how the struggling La Roja are behind some other teams such as Argentina, Germany, and France. Going on to say that it will take time to build the unity the group had with the older players.
There are currently a few teams that are ahead of Spain on a collective level – not in terms of the individual players but as a group – but as these players gain experience and build a strong group, I think they have a chance to dominate in the future.
