On Monday, Spain was humbled on home soil in their clash with England. La Furia Roja locked horns with the Three Lions in a highly-anticipated UEFA Nations League clash, but that tie quickly turned into a nightmare for the home side.
Despite playing in their own backyard, Luis Enrique's men found themselves trailing 3-0 at half-time. Poor defending allowed Raheem Sterling to score a first-half brace, with Marcus Rashford grabbing the third.
A performance of that level usually merits an angry response from the manager in the dressing room during the break. However, Enrique revealed after the game that he took a different approach.
The former Barcelona tactician decided against criticizing his men. Instead, he went with words of encouragement and slight tactical tweaks, as the Asturian boss kindly put it.
"It's wrong for me to say it, but I was wonderful at the break, as it would have normal for me to kill the players," Enrique said, as per Marca.
"I didn't change anything and I told them that all great teams suffer.
"I understand that this team, with their attitude, didn't need a kick or criticism or three changes.
"I needed to reinforce things, some nuanced changes at a tactical level and put them into a positive dynamic.
"There are times when you have to kick the table and sh** on everything and others when you don't do that."
And Enrique's approach nearly worked. Spain emerged a better side and scored two goals, coming just short of an impressive comeback.
Despite the defeat, the 48-year-old gaffer was eager to pick out the positives from the game. Nonetheless, he admitted that "the first half was very bad" and that his men "made a lot of individual mistakes".
Ramos and Co. still top their UEFA Nations League group. They hold a two-point advantage over Southgate's crew in Group 3 with only a rematch against Croatia remaining.
