Napoli wanted him out after 3 days, but once “most hyped coach in France”: who is national coach Rudi Garcia?

As a player his record is empty, but as a trainer the 60-year-old Rudi Garcia can present a nice track record: champion with Eden Hazard at Lille, 2x vice-champion with Roma, Champions League semi-final with Lyon and Europa League final with Marseille. “He is a pragmatic coach who can bring stability and communicates well,” DAZN commentator Sirik Geffray portrays the French national coach of Belgium.

“The new coach of the Red Devils has arrived.”

Rudi Garcia was presented today as the new national coach of Belgium. A surprising name for many in our country, but just across the language border they know the 60-year-old Frenchman all too well.

You should know: at the age of 28, the attacking midfielder’s professional career was already over due to injuries. Barely two years later, Rudi Garcia, named after the famous German cycling champion Rudi Altig, started working as a coach at lower division club Corbeil.

The beginning of a steady rise in the French trainers’ guild. “Because he really made a name for himself for the first time at first division Le Mans, with a small team he was halfway 5th,” says France and Ligue 1 expert Sirik Geffray.

His David versus Goliath story earned him an opportunity at Lille in 2008.

“There he reached the pinnacle by winning the club the title in 2011 after almost 60 years. He also won the cup and was then the most hyped coach in France.”

Of course, a certain Eden Hazard played at Lille. “Garcia really put him in charge for the first time. It is Garcia’s credit that Hazard has emerged in this way. Garcia also played forward at Lille and at Le Mans.”

With those letters of nobility in his suitcase, Garcia exchanged France for Italy in 2013.

And there too the eloquent Frenchman prospered. He made his debut at Roma with the best run in Serie A history with 10 victories in a row. After 17 years he gave the Romans second place, behind the untouchable Juve. He repeated that feat a year later.

“But after Italy he ended up in a turbulent period at Marseille, where he reached the Europa League final, which was lost against Atletico Madrid. In the competition he just couldn’t reach the Champions League, after which he moved to the Champions League a season later great rival Lyon pulled out.”

“He arrived in October 2019, when Lyon was in a huge crisis. He changed his system and immediately brought them back to a good level, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League that season by beating Juventus and Manchester City .”

It is Garcia’s credit that Hazard has emerged in this way at Lille.

Sirik Geffray

“At Marseille and Lyon he performed well twice, considering the status of the clubs at the time, namely in an unstable period. At Marseille it ended in a bad way after an argument with star player Payet.”

“And at Lyon he had an argument with the sporting management at the end. There is still a bit of a negative image attached to his good periods.”

“His adventure in Saudi Arabia and then at Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr did not last long. It is said that he also had a falling out with the Portuguese there, but what coach does not have that if Ronaldo does not agree with something.”

“The image that now lingers a little too much in Belgium is his 5 to 6 months in Napoli. Garcia succeeded Spalletti there in 2023 after the historic title, which I don’t think was a gift. Spalletti had gotten everything out of that team.”

“The football wasn’t good, but Garcia actually did quite well there in terms of results. Because Napoli were 4th when he had to leave, while they ultimately finished 10th that season. And with 7 out of 12 he was as good as qualified for the 1 /Eighth finals of the Champions League.”

“We in Belgium have perhaps forgotten a little too much about his achievements at the clubs for Napoli.”

In Napoli, the flamboyant chairman De Laurentiis threw the Frenchman out with the quip: “I wanted to send him away after just 3 days.”

Geffray dissects the coach that Garcia is: “He is a coach who plays according to the qualities of his team. He can assess his core well.”

“He doesn’t necessarily have a style that he wants to play, but he first assesses his core and then chooses. He will try to play in a 4-3-3, but if he sees that we are giving away too much space defensively, he will make adjustments.”

“At Lille he played more and more attacking football than with the following teams. Does that have to do with the available quality or because the pressure was greater with the following teams, I don’t know?”

“It is also possible that his experience at Roma has made him more pragmatic than in his early days.”

“He is not someone who will play naive attacking football. In that area he is experienced and smart enough and sticks to his principles.”

“He can also handle egos well, even though he clashed with Payet, but that is a special character. I don’t think that if you ask Nainggolan about Garcia, he will have a lot of bad things to say about it. The two had a good bond. Garcia has a good feel for his group and stars, otherwise you wouldn’t get such results.”

We put it to the test and called Nainggolan. What turned out? The flamboyant ex-Red Devil had nothing but good things to say about his “top 3” coach, Garcia.

How do they actually view Garcia in France?

“At RMC Sport, a popular football program, he was called the magician of job interviews last week,” Geffray tells an anecdote. “He can sell himself very well and convince people to choose him.”

“He is a good communicator. He is not someone like Tedesco, who became a bit silent towards the end and no longer knew what to say. You will not catch him doing that. He also has a strong character and comes across as self-confident. “

“His press presentation this afternoon was a testament to that. He looked very relaxed.”

“In France, the image has emerged that Garcia is a bit old-fashioned, that he will not play German Red Bull football, which would then stand for modern football. Although that remains to be seen.”

Garcia is not someone like Tedesco, who towards the end didn’t really know what to say.

Sirik Geffray

Belgium is building a new team. What can we expect from Garcia with our Red Devils? “He has launched young guys before, he is not afraid of that. He will do that.”

“I also think he can bring stability. We missed that, even in the last year under Martinez.”

Only: on the one hand he kicks shins, but on the other hand he is a bringer of peace. Let’s see how he will reconcile that duality with the Red Devils.