Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Saudi Professional League club

Al Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yellow ...

Early life

Rudi Garcia's father, José, was a Spanish expatriate who played football at a professional level for Sedan and

Dunkerque Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. His grandparents had left Andalusia for the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

region during the Spanish Civil War."Rudi García the right call at Roma"
by James Horncastle, ESPN FC, 15 June 2013 Garcia is named after German cyclist

Rudi Altig Rudi Altig (; 18 March 1937 – 11 June 2016) was a German professional track and road racing cyclist who won the 1962 Vuelta a España and the world championship in 1966. After his retirement from sports he worked as a television commentator. ...

. Between 1992 and 1994, Garcia enrolled for university, and gained a DEUG and a STAPS degree at Orsay, as well as French qualifications that entitled him to manage a youth training centre.

Club career

When José became the coach of local team Corbeil-Essonnes, he drafted his son into the squad, where Rudi played until cadet level. As Corbeil-Essonnes did not have a national cadets side, Rudi joined the Viry-Châtillon team. He was 18 when he obtained his

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

and signed for Lille, where he would spend two years as an intern and four as part of the professional squad. Playing as an attacking midfielder, Garcia's first goal for Lille was a notable affair. In December 1984, Lille travelled to the

Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...

to face Paris Saint-Germain. With both sides tied at 2–2, Garcia netted to earn his side a win over the Parisian club. He made about 170 appearances for the Northern club, which he left in 1988. After Lille, Garcia joined

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Robert Nouzaret Robert Nouzaret (born 29 September 1943) is a French football manager and former player. Managerial career On 31 August 2011, Nouzaret resigned as DR Congo coach following a difference in opinion with the football federation over the Frenchman ...

and

Daniel Jeandupeux Daniel Jeandupeux (born 7 February 1949) is a Swiss football manager and retired football forward. Career Born in Saint-Imier, Jeandupeux began playing football for FC La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1972, he joined FC Zürich, where he would win two Swis ...

. In 1991, he opted to join Martigues rather than signing on with the Normandy club. Serious injuries to his back and knee forced him to retire from professional football at the age of 28, in 1992.

Managerial career

Early career

In 1995, Garcia returned to Corbeil to manage the Division d'Honneur side with two months remaining in the season. He guided the club out of relegation. Then, in the seasons that followed, one ended with the club in mid-table and another in a second-place finish. Between 1994 and 1996, Garcia acted as player-manager for the club before taking on managerial duties only between 1996 and 1998. In the late 1990s, for two years he was a

physio Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patien ...

. Then, he became a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

, studying opponents and assisting in the elaboration of

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

's tactics. Gradually, his role shifted to that of an assistant coach, a position he occupied alongside Nouzaret as from July 2000 and John Toshack afterwards. In early 2001, when Toshack returned to Spain, Garcia took over first-team duties in collaboration with

Jean-Guy Wallemme Jean-Guy Wallemme (born 10 August 1967) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Paris 13 Atletico. Playing career Wallemme was a mainstay of the Lens team which won the French championship in ...

. ''Les Verts'' were then in the midst of a miserable season. Poor performances on the pitch were compounded by the club's implication in various affairs involving forged passports. The Garcia/Wallemme duo failed to reverse the trend and, in May 2001, Saint-Étienne were effectively relegated to the French second division. The following month, Wallemme left the club while Garcia was fired in August 2001. The two men, a decade later, would manage Lens and Lille respectively. Garcia resumed his activities as a football pundit. At the same time, he was passing his ''Diplôme d'Entraineur Professionel de Football'', the French equivalent of the professional coaching badge. In the spring of 2002, he was contacted by Dijon and signed with them on 21 May 2002. He helped the club to climb to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

in 2003–04. The

Bourgogne Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

club even appeared in the semi-final of the Coupe de France, where Châteauroux defeated it 2–0. In June 2007, Garcia left Dijon for

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

, another club he set on to transform in just one season. With players such as Romaric,

Marko Baša Marko Baša ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Баша, ; born 29 December 1982) is a Montenegrin retired professional footballer who played as a centre back. Club career Lille On 23 June 2011, Baša returned to France after three years in Russia with Lo ...

and

Yohann Pelé Yohann Pelé (born 4 November 1982) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Le Mans Born in Brou-sur-Chantereine, Pelé spent most of his career at Le Mans, making his debut in Ligue 2 in a 1–0 defea ...

, the Sarthe club played some pleasant football which brought results as well. Le Mans ended in ninth position of

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

standings and reached the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

semi-final.

Lille

Rudi Garcia Trophée des champions 2011 (cropped)

On 18 June 2008, Garcia rescinded his contract with the club to join Lille, where he had spent six years as a player in the 1980s. In his first season, they developed a stylish and attacking approach, contrasting with previous coach Claude Puel's cautious and often boring tactics. Garcia's approach ostensibly enabled players such as Ludovic Obraniak and Michel Bastos to develop, the latter becoming the club's top scorer in the league with 14 goals. Garcia also gave significant playing time to promising youngster Eden Hazard, later of Chelsea and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. On 2 June 2009, the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

sacked Garcia, who had just led the club to their best league finish for three years and qualified it for the

2009–10 UEFA Europa League The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years. Spain ...

. It was alleged that the sacking was due to differences of opinion between the manager and a member of the board, Xavier Thuilot. The latter himself was sacked from the board later in the month and on 18 June 2009,

Michel Seydoux Michel Seydoux (; born 11 September 1947) is a French businessman and film producer. He is also the former president and chairman of French professional football club Lille OSC. In 1975-1976, Seydoux worked with director Alejandro Jodorowsky ...

, the club president and major shareholder, offered the manager position again to Garcia, who accepted.

Aimé Jacquet Aimé Étienne Jacquet (born 27 November 1941) is a French former professional football manager and player. He was manager of the France national football team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Biography Jacquet was born in Sail-sous-Couzan, L ...

, at the time, expressed his belief that the Nemours-born coach was one of the "brightest prospects" among French football managers. In a country otherwise reputed for the defensive approach approved by most of its coaches, Garcia is seen, together with former Paris Saint-Germain manager

Antoine Kombouaré Antoine Krilone Kombouaré (; born 16 November 1963) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Ligue 1 club Nantes. Playing career Born in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, Kombouaré bega ...

, as part of a small group of managers who advocate attacking football as the best means to achieve results. In the 2009–10 season, Lille continued to improve in the league, finishing one place above their fifth-place finish of 2008–09. With 72 goals scored, the club had the division's best attack, even bettering champions Marseille. This led French media and pundits to dub the entertaining side "the Barça of the North". The 2010–11 season was the club's breakthrough. In May, Garcia led ''les Dogues'' to triumph in the Coupe de France against Paris Saint-Germain, their first win in the trophy since 1955. The same month, on 21 May, the league and cup double was complete, again after a game against PSG that ended in a 2–2 draw. In the Trophées UNFP du football, Garcia was awarded the prize for best Ligue 1 coach of the 2010–11 season. During the ceremony, he dedicated his trophy to his late father José, even saying a few words in Spanish as a tribute to his father's origins.

Roma

On 12 June 2013,

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

President

James Pallotta James Joseph Pallotta (born March 13, 1958) is an American billionaire businessman. In 2009, he founded Raptor Group, a private investment company. Prior to forming Raptor, Pallotta was vice chairman at Tudor Investment Corporation. He was co-o ...

announced that Garcia had been appointed the new manager of the club, news that was initially received very cautiously by Roma fans. Roma began the 2013–14 season by winning its first ten Serie A matches. The previous best ever start in the history of the Serie A belonged to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in the 2005–06 season, when the Turin club won its first nine Serie A matches. Roma's perfect start to the 2013–14 Serie A season included a 2–0 derby win over

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

rivals Lazio, a 3–0 away victory against Internazionale and a 2–0 home win over title rivals Napoli. During this ten-match winning run, Roma scored 24 goals while conceding just one goal, away to Parma. Its Serie A ten-match winning streak came to an end on 3 November 2013 when it was held to a 1–1 draw at Torino. During that match, Roma conceded its first goal in 743 minutes of Serie A football. Roma, however, eventually finished second in the Serie A, a massive 17 points behind champions Juventus. In finishing second, Roma qualified for the following season's UEFA Champions League; its last appearance in the Champions League had been during the 2010–11 season. Before the start of the 2014–15 season, Garcia asked to bring in young talents and also experienced players for squad depth ahead of the next season. Roma had an impressive summer transfer activity, where they bought young talent

Juan Iturbe Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalo (born 4 June 1993) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Aris and the Paraguay national team. Iturbe represented the Paraguay national team in a friendly match ...

Salih Uçan Salih Uçan (, born 6 January 1994) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Beşiktaş. Club career Fenerbahçe Fenerbahçe signed Uçan for €1.4 million on 6 June 2012, for a five-year contract worth €220,000 per ...

and

Antonio Sanabria Arnaldo Antonio Sanabria Ayala (born 4 March 1996), also known as Tony Sanabria, is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Torino and the Paraguay national team. Club career Barcelona Born in San Lorenzo, Pa ...

. Roma also signed Italian defender

Davide Astori Davide Astori (; 7 January 1987 – 4 March 2018) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a central defender. After playing youth football for Pontisola and AC Milan, Astori started his senior career at Serie C clubs Pizzighettone ...

and veteran players

Ashley Cole Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player who is currently a first-team coach at Premier League club Everton. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is consi ...

and Seydou Keita. Garcia's men began the

2014–15 Serie A The 2014–15 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th season of top-tier Italian football, the 83rd in a round-robin tournament, and the fifth since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie ...

campaign with 2–0 win over Fiorentina, with goals from

Radja Nainggolan Radja Nainggolan (born 4 May 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club SPAL. Nicknamed ''Il Ninja'', he spent almost his entire professional career in Italy, representing Piacenza, Cagliari, Roma and Int ...

and Gervinho. Roma continued their winning form and won the second fixture in the league 1–0 against

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

. Garcia then lead Roma in their first Champions League appearance since 2010–11 to an impressive 5–1 victory against CSKA Moscow in their first match of Group E of the group stage. Roma finished third in the group and was hence transferred to the

2014–15 UEFA Europa League knockout phase The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League knockout phase began on 19 February and concluded on 27 May 2015 with the final at Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland to decide the champions of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. A total of 32 teams competed in the k ...

. On 5 October 2014, Garcia was sent off by the referee during a Serie A match against Juventus after protesting the referee's decision to award Juve a penalty with a violin gesture. The controversial match ended with Juventus winning 3–2. After the match, Garcia said, "It a pity that here

n Turin N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

the penalty area is 17 metres. But I'm happy with my team, who showed great personality. There were many incidents today but it was also a little bit of our fault that we lost." Roma ultimately finished the season in second place in the

, 17 points behind Juventus, just like the previous season. Roma was on top of the Serie A table after matchdays 9 and 10, in late October, of the 2015–16 season. The club had also qualified for the knockout phase of the

2015–16 UEFA Champions League The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were t ...

by finishing in second place in their group with a tally of just six points. Rudi Garcia OL

On 13 January 2016, Garcia and his coaching assistants, Frédéric Bompard and

Claude Fichaux Claude Fichaux (born 24 March 1969) is a retired French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** Fr ...

, were sacked by Roma after a poor run during which the club managed to win only one out of their last ten matches in all competitions, and only one out of their last seven Serie A matches. Roma had been eliminated on home ground on penalties from the

2015–16 Coppa Italia The 2015–16 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons was the 69th edition of the national cup in Italian football. It began on 2 August 2015 and ended with the final match on 21 May 2016. Juventus successfully defended their ...

at the first hurdle on 16 December 2015 by Serie B side Spezia. News of the decision to sack Garcia came via Roma's official website, with club president James Pallotta thanking him for his efforts: "On behalf of myself and everyone at AS Roma, I would like to thank Rudi Garcia for all of his hard work since joining the club. We have all enjoyed some great moments during his time at Roma but we believe that this is the right time for a change." In his two-and-a-half years in the Roma dugout, Garcia recorded 60 wins, 32 draws and 22 defeats in 114 matches. On 20 October 2016, Roma confirmed that the contracts of Garcia and his coaching assistants had been terminated by mutual consent.

Marseille

On 20 October 2016, on the same day that he was finally released from his Roma contract by mutual consent, Garcia was appointed manager of Marseille on a three-year deal. He succeeded the interim manager

Franck Passi Franck Passi (born 28 March 1966) is a French retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the assistant manager of Ligue 1 club Lyon. Coaching career Passi worked in a player recruitment role for one of his old clubs, Olympique Marsei ...

. Garcia's appointment was made only three days after

Frank McCourt Francis McCourt (August 19, 1930July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book ''Angela's Ashes'', a tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood. Early life and education Frank McC ...

completed the takeover of the club from

Margarita Louis-Dreyfus Margarita Louis-Dreyfus (née Bogdanova; born 1 July 1962) is a Russian-born Swiss billionaire businesswoman, chairperson of the Louis-Dreyfus Group. Early life Born Margarita Olegovna Bogdanova (russian: Маргарита Олеговна Бо ...

by paying a reported €45 million. On 23 October, Marseille recorded a goalless draw away against Paris Saint-Germain in a '' Classique'' match in Ligue 1, Garcia's first competitive match as manager of the club. He left the club on 22 May 2019.

Lyon

On 14 October 2019, Garcia moved to rivals Lyon to become their new manager, taking over from

Sylvinho Sylvio Mendes Campos Júnior (born 12 April 1974), commonly known as Sylvinho (sometimes alternatively spelled Silvinho), is a Brazilian football manager and former player, currently managing Albania. Formerly a left back, he began his career ...

. During the 2019–2020 Champions League campaign, Garcia guided Lyon from the group stages, where they later beat

in the round of 16. He led them to the semi-finals after they defeated

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, but eventually lost to the eventual champions

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. However, he left Lyon at the end of the 2020–21 season, after finishing fourth in the league table and missed out on the UEFA Champions League places.

Al Nassr

On 29 June 2022, he became the head coach of Saudi club

Media career

Garcia has worked for

CanalSatellite Canal+ is a French subscription provider associated to the channel of the same name. It is owned by Vivendi (owner of Canal+) with a hundred percent share. History In 1992, Canalsatellite was launched, the shareholders were Canal+ Group (66 pe ...

, first as a reporter for post-match interviews, and then as a studio

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

Personal life

After the Paris Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015, Garcia gave out symbolic pencils to all journalists at his press conference, saying, "What happened in Paris was an attack on freedom. But things mustn't change, this freedom should last forever."

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Lille *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* Coupe de France:

Marseille * UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2017–18 Lyon *

runner-up: 2019–20 Individual *Ligue 1 Manager of the Year:

* French Manager of the Year: 2011, 2013, 2014

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Rudi 1964 births Living people People from Nemours Footballers from Seine-et-Marne French people of Spanish descent French footballers Association football midfielders AS Corbeil-Essonnes (football) players ES Viry-Châtillon players Lille OSC players Stade Malherbe Caen players FC Martigues players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players French football managers AS Corbeil-Essonnes (football) managers AS Saint-Étienne managers Dijon FCO managers Le Mans FC managers Lille OSC managers Olympique de Marseille managers Olympique Lyonnais managers Al Nassr FC managers French expatriate football managers French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Italy Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia A.S. Roma managers Ligue 1 managers Ligue 2 managers Serie A managers People of Andalusian descent