Real Madrid goes with Julen Lopetegui
Coming from complete left field, Real Madrid have announced Spain manager Julen Lopetegui will be their new head coach after the World Cup.
With a host of managers linked with the Real Madrid job after Zinedine Zidane’s walk out, Lopetegui is the chosen one. Lopetegui, has agreed a three-year contract at the Bernabeu and will join after the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Lopetegui has been in charge of the Spanish national team for the past two years and has a managed 20 games before this World Cup, winning 16 and drawing 6 while seeing his team score 61 goals while only conceding 13. Impressive? Well obviously Perez thinks so for him to decide not to pursue the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte who were all heavily linked to the job.
Julen Lopetegui background:
Julen Lopetegui Argote began his career at Real Madrid as a goalkeeper featuring 61 times for Castilla(Real Madrid B-team) and just the 1 appearance for the first team before making the move to Las Palmas on loan. From there it was on to Logroñés where he made 106 appearances to then make a high profile move to Barcelona where he tried to stake a claim for the number 1 jersey, but lost out to Carles Busquets. He finally made his way to Rayo Vallecano where he ended his playing career after making 112 appearances for The Red Sashes.
As a player he enjoyed limited success achieving the following:
Real Madrid
- La Liga: 1989–90
Barcelona
- Supercopa de España: 1994
Spain U20
- FIFA World Youth Championship runner-up: 1985
After having a tough start to coaching life by taking over Rayo Vallecano in his first manager role he was consequently sacked 10 games later. Lopetegui then spent a year with the Castilla and progressed to the Spanish national youth teams where he enjoyed a lot of success:
- Spain U19 2010-2013 (Managed 11 games, winning 8 and drawing 3)
- Spain U20 2010-2013 (Managed 10 games, winning 7, drawing 2 and losing 1)
- Spain U21 2012-2014 (Managed 11 games winning all 11)
In 2014 Porto made their move and appointed Lopetegui as their manager. In his first season he guided them to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League before crashing out to a club record defeat; 6-1 against AEK Athens FC. Lopetegui failed to win any silverware and was once again sacked. After being linked with a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers he was then appointed as Vicente del Bosque’s successor of the Spanish national team where he has yet to lose a game.
Real Madrid
Lopetegui will have a few headaches when he arrives at the Bernabeu after the conclusion of the 2018 World Cup. While Madrid had a slow start to the UEFA Champions League they were once again able to come out on top for a third time in a row. But, in the league they came in a very distant 3rd place, 17 points off their fierce rivals Barcelona and Perez will expect better come the next season.
With rumors flying around about Ronaldo and Bale leaving while Neymar and Thibaut Courtois continue to be linked to the Spanish giants, it will be interesting to see what sort of team he will be selecting for the first game of the season.