According to Diario Sport, Cubas did not play in the Gamper Trophy simply to avoid overexertion before the start of the new season's official matches.
Cubas played every minute of Spain's 750-minute World Cup campaign in the USA, Mexico, and Canada, participating in every single minute of eight matches. He played the full 90 minutes in the seven matches leading up to the final, including the entire final game in extra time. His last-second clearance in stoppage time against Argentina is etched in Spanish football history.
The Spaniard also won the tournament's Best Young Player award. He formed an unbreakable central defensive partnership with Americk Laporte, and Spain conceded only one goal throughout the World Cup, against Belgium. This took a toll, so gradually bringing him back to the team is now the more appropriate course of action.
Like other Spanish World Cup-winning internationals, Cubax enjoyed the same holiday break and therefore missed the friendly against Birmingham, as well as the triangular matches against Nottingham Forest and Udinese. He returned to action against Basel, playing 19 minutes.
He has been training with the team since then, but Hans Flick didn't want to take any risks at all for the Gamper Trophy, even though the players didn't seem to be experiencing any noticeable discomfort. Flick was simply managing his playing load, especially for those who had contributed to the New Jersey victory, to prevent them from being negatively impacted by excessive playing time.
The same goes for Pedri and Garvy; Flick has been using them cautiously. Even with Dani Olmo, who seems to be in great form, Flick has been strictly controlling his playing time.
Once Flick deems Cubas ready and free from injury, he will become an undisputed starter. Cubas will be included in the squad for Sunday's match against Martinez Valero, but he is not expected to start for the time being.
This leaves Hans Flick with the question of who will partner Gerard Martin in central midfield. As the player himself has stated, Eric Garcia will start the season at right-back, while Balde will likely play on the left. In central midfield, the German coach experimented with Jules Koundé at the Gamper Trophy, but Andreas Christensen has also had a good start to the summer.
Therefore, the choice lies in whether to return Koundé to his original center-back position or continue using Christensen. Hans Flick needs to decide whether the Frenchman's performance after returning to the center-back line is enough to warrant his starting position in the first league match.
