Spain manager Luis de la Fuente points to area for improvement despite Austria performance | OneFootball

Spain laid a number of doubts over their credentias as potential World Cup winners to rest on Thursday, with a convincing 3-0 win over Austria in the Round of 32. La Roja put Ralf Rangnick’s side to the sword with relative ease, but manager Luis de la Fuente was keen for them to continue improving.

With their fourth clean sheet of the tournament, Unai Simon set the record for the number of consecutive minutes without conceding a goal at 520. He surpassed Italy’s Walter Zenga in the 1990 tournament.

“I have many reasons to be happy today. The victory is hugely important. The win was sensational. I am especially happy for Unai, because I’ve known him since he was a kid, and his record is a reward. We are in good shape and moving in the right direction, but we will have to be better,” he told Diario AS.

De la Fuente keen to keep improving

Image via RFEF

Following the match, Rangnick suggested that his side may have been eliminated by the eventual winners of the tournament, telling the media that they didn’t commit a single error. De la Fuente suggested there was more to come.

“Our mindset is to keep improving, with the view that this team hasn’t reached its ceiling yet. We are ambitious, insatiable in sporting terms.”

“Every match is different; they have all been extremely difficult. Austria would have caused us problems if we hadn’t played well. But I’m also happy with the Uruguay match, because that’s the one that brought us here. I am very lucky to manage these wonderful players. Their potential for growth is limitless.”

More specifically, he pointed towards their defensive work as an area for improvement, in spite of their fourth clean sheet of the tournament.

“We need to improve in defensive areas. We needed to fine-tune our high press a bit more, at least until the first break. We’ve made some corrections, but the goal is always to keep improving. We can improve our efficiency rate. And our next opponent will be tougher, which will force us to redouble our efforts.”

Image via RFEF

“Rodrigo is having an exceptional World Cup”

One of the players that has come in for criticism over the last few games is Rodri Hernandez, who has played every minute for La Roja so far.

“For me, Rodrigo is having an exceptional World Cup. He has pressed, made runs into the box, and taken shots. And Pedri has put on another masterclass. I am delighted with the style of play. The fact is, we need everyone. That is the way to think about going far. But we must keep improving as part of a process we are navigating with complete composure.”

It does seem that de la Fuente has now settled on a starting midfield, with Dani Olmo ahead of Pedri and Rodri. Lamine Yamal and Alex Baena were out wide on the flanks, seeing both Mikel Merino and Fabian Ruiz drop out of the starting XI.