Who is Santi Denia, Spain U21 manager?

The 49-year-old started his managerial career in 2009

Santi Denia came extremely close to winning the 2023 UEFA Euro U21 Championship with the Spanish U21 side. They lost the ultimate clash to England U21 by a solitary goal from Liverpool’s Curtis Jones. The 49-year-old had the La Rojita playing sensational football, pleasing to the eye, and dominantly reaching the final.

Santi Denia showed incredible tactical awareness throughout the UEFA Euro U21 Championship 2023. It was due to his strategy and expertise from the touchline that the Spain U21 side was able to reach the final. It took an outstanding English side to prevent Denia’s men from winning the title.

While the focus is on the winning team and their exploits, here is a look at Santi Denia, a manager who is making incredible strides and is set for bigger things in the future:

Who is Santi Denia?

Santiago Denia Sánchez was born in Albacete, Spain. His playing career saw him make his debut at the age of 18 for Albacete Balompié in LaLiga. He played extensively for Atletico Madrid from 1995 to 2005 before returning to Albacete and finishing his playing career there. The Spaniard also made two appearances for the Spanish national team.

Work Experience

Santi Denia’s managerial career began in 2009 as an Assistant Manager at Atletico Madrid. He was assigned the Caretaker Manager role before becoming Spain's U16 head coach in 2010. After his involvement with the U16 team, the tactician also worked with the U17, U18, and U19 Spanish sides. Importantly, in 2019, he won the UEFA U19 European Championships with Spain U19.

Following Luis Enrique’s resignation as Spain’s senior team manager and Luis de la Fuente's promotion as his successor, Denia was handed the reigns of the Spain U21 side.

Philosophy

To understand Santi Denia’s philosophy as a manager, it is important to note that his work with Spain’s developmental side is in alignment with the country’s footballing philosophy at large. He played a 4-2-3-1 formation with the Spain U21 side throughout the UEFA Euro U21 2023 Championship.

La Rojita played an attacking brand of football under his care and was not afraid to build from the back, starting with the goalkeeper. Santi Denia puts his faith in a possession-based type of gameplay but can adapt to a counter-attacking style as per the game’s requirements and the strengths of the opposition.

Players with flair and creativity are essential to Santi Denia’s tactics. He expects the fullbacks to make overlapping runs to stretch the opposition's defensive lines and create gaps in the goalmouth area.

Career Highlights

Winning La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Atletico Madrid was a highlight in Santi Denia’s playing career. As far as his managerial career is concerned, winning the 2019 UEFA U19 European Championships with Spain U19 was an important achievement.

Reaching the final of the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship is certainly another feather in the cap for Santi Denia, although winning the tournament would have been the objective.