The Spanish Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde

Three days later, the new coach Luis de la Fuente decided he'd meddle with the formula and create an experiment just like Dr Jekyll in the famous Victorian story. The result was the same as Robert Louis Stevenson's novel - a completely different personality.

De la Fuente's honeymoon lasted a weekend. He was lauded for a complete overhaul following the disappointing World Cup finals with sixteen changes to the squad. Only four players remained for his first selection against Norway. The Malaga public were treated to a dominant display from a fearsome looking team.

The belief was back. The new coach had assembled a team with a mix of ballast at the back and zest in attack. The combination of Dani Carvajal, Nacho, Aymeric Laporte and Alejandro Balde provided a solid foundation for Rodri, Gavi and Mikel Merino ahead of them. Joselu was given a debut at the age of thirty-three and scored. All was well in the world

De la Fuente then fell into the same trap as his predecessor. Luis Enrique was prone to overhauling his team. The new man made eight changes with disastrous consequences in Scotland.

He replaced the whole back four, took Gavi out of the firing line, started Joselu and gave a game to his fringe players. It was a mess. Mr Edward Hyde raised his head!

It became apparent that the best version of the Spain national team can compete with any opposition. The experimental eleven couldn't handle Scotland, a second-tier nation at international level.

As Scotland's players were celebrating, doing laps of honour and revelling in a famous victory, Spain's players were complaining about the length of the grass and the sportsmanship of their hosts.

"For me this is not football, always time wasting and provoking you", complained Rodri. David García weighed in with "The grass was too long and that cost us."

The issues go deeper than the cut of the grass. Spain has the making of a decent team, but they don't have the depth to experiment. It seems that Luis Enrique and now de la Fuente always offer a guest spot to several in-form La Liga players who aren't quite up to the international mark. The starting team against Scotland contained only one player from the Big Three (Barça, Real, Atléti) and Dani Ceballos isn't even a regular in Madrid.

It seems obvious, the new coach needs to select his best players and quit the experimentation. With Pedri, Gavi, Rodri, Alejandro Balde and Merino he has the backbone of a fine young team. Aymeric Laporte is one of Europe's finest defenders and he looked relaxed with Nacho alongside him. Gabri Veiga is an emerging talent and Mikel Oyarzabal will soon be fighting fit again.

The new coach needs to be cut a little slack but needs to learn very quickly from the nightmare night in Glasgow.