Luis Enrique's Spain squad points to move away from Barcelona and Real Madrid talent pool

Further, it’s worth noting that the 23-member squad is not dominated by players who play for Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The 2010 World Cup had eight representatives from Barcelona and three from Madrid. In 2014, the Catalan side provided the Spanish national team with seven players, while Madrid provided three.

More recently, the Spain squad that was humiliated in Russia had six Madrid players and four from Barcelona.

The squad that will take on Norway and Marca have just three players each from the two powerhouses of Spain. Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto and Sergio Busquets will be Barcelona’s representatives, while Madrid will be sending Sergio Ramos, Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio.

The rise of the lesser known teams in La Liga has been spectacular this season and it has clearly made an impact on Enrique’s selection.

Getafe are having a tremendous campaign and remain in the hunt for last Champions League spot. Naturally, their star striker Jaime Mata made the cut having contributed to 19 goals in La Liga this term (13 scored and six assists) and is on the verge of winning his first cap.

Although it has been a mixed bag for Real Betis, certain players have delivered consistently, one of which is Sergio Canales. The former Madrid midfielder has been one of the best players for Quique Setien’s side and has rightfully earned his maiden call-up at the age of 28.

Fabian Ruiz – whose tremendous performance for Betis last season earned him a move to Napoli – was also included in the list. The midfielder could be playing his first game for the national team during the international break. Having played under Quique Setien for one season, his understanding of the game and ability to distribute the ball well could come handy.

Centre-backs have been rock solid in the past season and half in La Liga and Enrique would surely have had a hard time short-listing the players. Dependable Sevilla defender Sergi Gomez and Espanyol’s solid Mario Hermoso eventually made the cut.

While these players have definitely earned their spot after a series of tremendous performances, they are not ball-playing centre-backs. Enrique would have opted for Marc Bartra as a replacement for Gerard Pique if he was intending to involve his centre-backs in build up as often as Vicente del Bosque and Julen Lopetegui used to.

Valencia captain Dani Parejo, Sevilla’s Jesus Navas and Athletic Bilbao’s Iker Muniain are some of the players who made it to the squad after a hiatus.

Again, these players are brimming with quality, and probably cut-out well for Enrique’s philosophy. David Silva – who has recorded an xGBuildUp90 (measure of build-up involvement) of 0.74 was omitted to accommodate Parejo, who has an xGBuildUp90 of 0.51.

One can expect Parejo to be playing the role that Ivan Rakitic carried out in Enrique’s Barcelona. He will be handed defensive burden and will have to increase his work-rate to do well in such a role.

Analysing the squad, it’s safe to assume that Enrique has chosen the players who can employ his brand of football and it might not necessarily be identical to that of Del Bosque or Lopetegui.

The brand of football that won Spain the Euros relied heavily on possession, positioning and patient build-up.

While Enrique’s philosophy shares the same core, the former Barcelona boss likes to build his game around the attack-line and adopt a more direct approach towards goal.

The quality in the squad is truly immense, but if Enrique were to adopt the traditional juego de posicion style of football where the play is built patiently from the back and the final pass is played rather conservatively, his choice of players would have been different.

One can still expect Spain to dominate possession and play from the back. But Enrique’s managerial history and choice of players points to the fact that we could have a more direct approach, with the likes of Rodrigo, Asensio and Alvaro Morata playing a crucial role.

Rodrigo and Mata are quality strikers who can hit on the counter and trouble the defenders with intelligent runs into the box. However, they are not the first choice for a manager who would want his striker to involve in the build-up.

Spain is in transition and it won’t be easy. Yet it’s refreshing to have a wide variety of players who don’t play for Barcelona or Madrid making the cut.