Former Spain head coach Robert Moreno says returning national boss Luis Enrique has ‘labelled me with words that are ugly’.
Enrique said this week that predecessor Moreno was 'disloyal' and would not be part of his coaching team. The pair had been close friends after working together at several clubs including Barcelona.
“I don’t know why Luis Enrique doesn’t want me to be with him today,” Moreno said.
Enrique resigned from the role in June to spend more time with his nine-year-old daughter Xana, who died from bone cancer in August.
Moreno succeeded him but told Enrique he wanted to be in charge at Euro 2020 before returning to assistant manager. Moreno left the role after Spain’s 5-0 win over Romania on 18 November.
“I understand that he has worked very hard to be the coach and that he is ambitious — but for me that is disloyal,” Enrique said. “I would never do something like that and I don’t want someone with those characteristics in my staff.”
Responding to Enrique’s accusations of disloyalty, Moreno saidy: “I think he labelled me with words that are ugly and are not attributable to me. In a first meeting with Luis Enrique, he told me that I had done what I had to do and that he felt proud of me.”
“Then I asked him for a meeting to give him a hug and convey my support. It seemed appropriate to tell him that, just as I had said before, I would step aside if he decided to return. He said that seemed perfect but he told me that he no longer wanted me. I was in a state of shock. I let the staff know and I wondered what I had done wrong.”
Spain finished top of their qualifying group after winning eight out of 10 games and scoring 31 goals. They will be a top seed for Euro 2020 when the draw is made in Bucharest today.
