When Frank Lampard’s departure from Everton was announced, there were just three English managers left working in the Premier League. And perhaps that should be no surprise when coaches from all over the world aspire to compete in the game’s richest competition.
The appeal of English football extends beyond the Premier League and is best illustrated by the recent decision of Ricardo Rodriguez. He was due to lead his team out in the Asian Champions League final in April but opted to leave his role with Urawa Red Diamonds.
There was no promise of a job in England but, not wanting to commit to another season with the Japanese club only to walk out, he preferred to focus on pursuing the next opportunity. He is open to a Championship move or even the right project in League One.
“It was a very difficult decision,” Rodriguez tells Sky Sports. “But I needed to use this time to analyse football in England. I knew that to leave Asia I would have to have a break because of the calendar. I don’t like to leave in the middle of a season so I decided to stop.”
It is a long time in the making. Rodriguez once took a job in Thailand just because he knew he would be required to coach the team in English. In 2010, after leaving Malaga, where he was the youngest sporting director in La Liga, he even spent time living in London.
“I came then to learn English but also to learn more about English football. I love it. I watched Arsenal, Fulham and Charlton. I went to a game between Charlton and Leeds. The atmosphere was amazing, being on the train with the Leeds supporters.”
Now 48, a career that has taken him to Mexico as Real Madrid’s academy director there and Saudi Arabia as Frank Rijkaard’s assistant brings him back. Speaking to him in Manchester, he is looking forward to seeing Pep Guardiola’s City in action.
“I identify with Guardiola’s idea because I prefer positional play. It is very logical to me because you are creating numerical superiorities on the pitch. If you can implement that idea well then you have more chances to play through and be successful.
“If one player is pressing, the rest have to make similar movements. It is the kind of football that means every player has to understand it and stay in the right position and think of the rest of the team. But the moment that the players get the idea, it is very good.
“It is a methodology. It is not a matter of training, it is a matter of learning. The players have to learn how we want to play and after that you can train specific situations, using a lot of video to analyse that training. But from the beginning it is a learning process.
“How do we press? How do we create one-on-one situations? Do the wingers stay wide? How do we initiate the attraction of the opponent to one side in order to create an opening on the other? The build-up process from the goalkeeper is very important.
“For me, the most difficult situation now for coaches is to play against the low block, that 5-4-1. You saw that in the World Cup with Morocco against Spain. It is another challenge for coaches to open this block where there are no spaces between the lines.
“This is the kind of challenge that needs more work because, in my opinion, that defensive game is easier to coach. The most difficult way is to attack. This is the way I like because I want it to be electric for the supporters. People come to football to enjoy it.”
There was a time when these ideas about the game were seen as the preserve of the biggest clubs, unworkable further down the football pyramid in England. That is a view that is losing credibility as coaches who have spread the gospel begin to succeed.
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“I look at the job Vincent Kompany is doing at Burnley. It is amazing. I look at Carlos Corberan at West Brom. Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton. A similar idea. That football is logical to me. You have to provoke the opponent. After that, you can find the space.
“Football has changed so much in England.
“I am watching Championship and League One games now to understand the profile. The most important thing in my opinion is to create an identity in a club. It is not about finding good players, it is about finding the right players. The profile is everything.
“What is the kind of football that you want to play?”
Ricardo Rodriguez had success in Japan and is complimentary about the talent there
The quality of football in Japan is being recognised right now after the men’s national team topped a World Cup group that included Spain and Germany, beating them both.
Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou was an opponent of Rodriguez’s during his time at Yokohama F. Marinos in the J-League and has since translated that success to Scotland, signing a number of Japanese players. Kaoru Mitoma has transitioned swiftly at Brighton.
“I don’t know why he did not play more in the World Cup. He is a very good player and a game changer. There is good talent in Japan. There are players there with good techniques, good mentality and they are very disciplined. They always want to improve.”
In Japan, Rodriguez was renowned for his brand of football. It was his four years at Tokushima Vortis, culminating in promotion to the top division, that earned him his opportunity at Urawa, one of the biggest and best supported clubs in the country.
With Urawa, he won the Emperor’s Cup and was named Japanese coach of the year, transforming the playing style. “I really like that because it recognised that we had changed the idea. I consider myself more than a coach. I am someone who can develop a club.”
Urawa Reds manager Ricardo Rodriguez celebrates after winning the Emperor’s Cup
There was promotion with Girona. His success as sporting director at Malaga (“We had the third smallest budget in La Liga and finished eighth”). And coaching in Thailand (“I had players from Brazil, Croatia and Namibia”), It has led to this. “It was all good preparation,” he says.
Rodriguez will watch the Urawa in their Champions League final. “I hope they win it.” But his time there is past and he is looking to the future. Like so many other coaches around the world, it is the chance to show that his ideas work in England that appeals now.
“What I like is to create an attacking football identity, select the right players for the football that we want and then work together to strengthen all the areas of the club. I did it in Tokushima. I did it in Urawa. And this is the thing that I would like to do in England.”