Ricardo Rodríguez

Football Coach

About Me

“As a coach, your job is to generate value for the player, the club, the owners… and have a clear and shared identity.”

Ricardo Rodríguez Suárez (3 April 1974, Oviedo), UEFA Pro coach.

I’ve been involved in football throughout my whole life in one way or another. My journey began as a player when I joined the Real Oviedo academy from my school team. I suffered a serious injury at the most senior level of youth football and, as a result, at the age of 18, I started coaching children. I then decided to study for a degree in Physical Activity and Sports Science and after graduating from university, I began my career in professional football at the age of 24.

Over the years, I’ve occupied pretty much every role within a coaching team and the most enriching aspect is that I’ve worked in six different countries (Spain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Japan and China).

I’ve also been fortunate enough to work alongside some excellent coaches and professionals and I’ve tried to use their experience and knowledge to improve myself as I constantly strive to become a better coach. Besides football, I have an interest in sports psychology and triathlon, which I practise on an amateur level and benefits me greatly to ensure that I’m in the best possible physical and mental shape as I go about my job as a coach.

My wife and two children always travel with me wherever I work and that means that they too get the chance to enjoy and are enriched by the different cultures and countries in which I’ve coached.

Career

Throughout his career in football, Ricardo has had the chance to operate in different languages and very diverse cultural environments, having spent most of his career in Asia and Europe. All of these different coaching experiences have contributed significantly to making him the coach he is today.

Wuhan Three Towns FC China

Head coach desde 2024

Urawa Red Diamonds Japan

Head coach 2021-2022
Emperor’s Cup winner 2021
J-League Manager of the Season 2021
Japanese Super Cup winner 2022
Asia Champions League East Conference winner 2022
Saitama Cup winner 2022

Tokushima Vortis Japan

Head coach 2017-2020
J2 League title 2020
J2 League promotion play-off final 2019
Emperor’s Cup semi-finals 2020

Suphanburi FC Thailand

Head coach March 2016-June 2016

Bangkok Glass FC Thailand

Head coach 2015
Kor Royal Cup final 2015

Ratchaburi FC Thailand

Head coach 2014
Toyota League Cup semi-final 2014

Girona FC Spain

Head coach July 2013-December 2013
Head coach 2006-2007
Promotion to Segunda División B 2006-2007

Saudi Arabian Football Federation

U-17 national-team coach January 2013-July 2013
Technical adviser and member of national-team coaching staff September 2012-January 2013
Technical adviser June 2011-September 2012

Málaga CF Spain

Director of football 2008-2010
Assistant coach 2007-2008
Promotion to top flight 2007-2008

Real Madrid CF Spain

Director and coach at the Real Madrid Football School in Mexico 2003 – 2006

Real Oviedo SAD Spain

Member of coaching staff 1998 – 2003

My Football

He is renowned for instilling an attacking identity and playing style, based on positional play, in his teams. In addition, his sides are known to apply a high press in the opposition's half, which means that his teams are easily identifiable by their high possession percentages and are clearly attack minded.

He is a coach who improves the players he works with and provides his teams with the tools to dominate all aspects of play. He is known to assemble well-balanced and competitive squads in which he instils a strong winning spirit.

His teams master several systems and game concepts and this offers them significant tactical versatility that helps players to cope with the range of situations and challenges posed by the opposition.

As with any coach, he is interested in winning, but, above all, seeks to do so by following a very specific system which aims to excite the spectator, whilst allowing him to enjoy the ride himself.

Ricardo holds a bachelor’s degree and a phD in Physical Activity and Sports Science and master’s degrees in High Performance Sport and Sports Psychology.

In addition to these qualifications, he possesses knowledge that is applied in other sciences and fields, such as coaching, leadership, team management, non-verbal language and personality, as well as persuasive communication, amongst many others.

The fact that Ricardo has occupied several roles within football clubs, including assistant coach, fitness coach, analyst, director of football and academy director, means that he is well equipped to perform to the highest standard.

Ricardo has developed his own football training and planning methodology. Named “Tactical Specificity”, it ensures that players find training sessions to be highly effective, intense and demanding. Footballers recognise that training in the most specific way possible in terms of what they will face in a competitive situation helps them to be ready to deal with the various challenges the opposition will pose and overcome them, regardless of how demanding the situation is.

Ricardo possesses strong leadership skills and has an ability to manage groups. He seeks for his players (and teams) to pursue a shared objective and exceed expectation levels. The motivation and passion with which he leads his teams, even in the most challenging times, is key to developing a player’s potential and getting the best out of them.

As a coach, one of his major strengths is his ability to manage a dressing room. He is able to offer the team balance and instils the necessary emotions, strength and energy to each group of individuals with a view to achieving optimum individual and group performance levels.

Ricardo has a strong interest in developing youth talent and aims to promote players at the right time so as to allow them to perform to their best and enjoy the best possible career. During his managerial career, he has shown that he is not afraid to place his trust in young players and offer them the continuity they need. He is also able to offer a club’s youth coaches ongoing support to ensure that they all adopt the same approach and follow the same methodology to instil an identity and playing style throughout all of the club’s teams.