Club Brugge is looking for a new head coach for the coming season and has shortlisted several candidates, including Oscar Garcia from Oud-Heverlee Leuven.
Garcia, an adept of FC Barcelona, has impressed with his transformation of OHL despite limited resources. He had to adjust his vision to avoid relegation and pushed hard for reinforcements, but did not receive the desired support from the board.
Club Brugge wanted Oscar Garcia to succeed Georges Leekens
Club Brugge is looking for a new head coach for the coming season, and the rumor mill is running at full speed. Names such as Jesse Marsch, Karel Geraerts, Wouter Vrancken and Thorsten Fink have already been mentioned as possible candidates.
According to Foot Market Oscar Garcia, the current coach of Oud-Heverlee Leuven, is also on the West Flemish wish list. This 50-year-old Spaniard apparently enjoys a lot of interest, as AA Gent and Antwerp FC also have their eye on him.
Garcia is no stranger to Club Brugge. He was already in the picture as head coach in November 2012, when the club was looking for a successor to Georges Leekens.
At the time, Garcia was at the top of the shortlist of potential candidates, and Club was even willing to pay 300,000 euros to his then club, Maccabi Tel Aviv. Despite the tempting offer, Garcia then decided to stay with the Israeli top club.
Other names considered at the time included Kasper Hjulmand, Morten Wieghorst and Juan Carlos Garrido. Ultimately, Garrido was chosen as the new head coach of Club Brugge.
Garcia does the (almost) impossible at Oud-Heverlee Leuven
After his first contact with Club Brugge, Oscar Garcia has made an impressive journey through Europe, with stints at Watford, RB Salzburg, Saint-Etienne, Olympiakos, Celta de Vigo and Stade Reims.
The Spaniard has been at the helm of Oud-Heverlee Leuven since November 3 last year, where he took over the duties of the dismissed Marc Brys.
When he was appointed, there were many questions about whether Garcia, a coach who was unfamiliar with the Belgian competition, was the right choice. But he quickly put those doubts to rest.
It took Garcia some time to get the machine going, but he finally succeeded. OHL has been bottom of the table all season, but under Garcia’s leadership the club has managed to dig itself out of the relegation morass and he has gradually raised the bar.
It was a difficult road, but thanks to Garcia’s efforts, OHL managed to avoid the play-downs and qualified for the play-offs 2. “Not many people believed in us anymore, but we still did well,” said the Spaniard.
He pointed to circumstances, including injuries and coaching changes, in the coaching staff, which have not exactly made the path easier.
Oscar Garcia is an adept of FC Barcelona and Johan Cruijff
Oscar Garcia reached his peak as a player at FC Barcelona in the 1990s.
At Barça he has played almost 100 games (97), winning four Spanish Championships (1993, 94, 98, 99), two UEFA Super Cups (1993, 98), two Spanish Cups (1997, 98) and a Cup Winners’ Cup (1997) won.
During his presentation at Oud-Heverlee Leuven, Garcia emphasized his philosophy: “Playing football to win in an ugly way, I don’t know that. Of course we play for results, but that can also be done in an attractive way.”
His love for Barça football is clear, where he attaches great importance to possession of the ball. “I like having the ball in the team. When you have the ball as a team, the opponent cannot attack with it. You can also defend like this,” he said The last news.
Johan Cruijff has had a major influence on Garcia as a coach. He described Cruyff as a genius and emphasized how every training session under him was a lesson. Garcia has learned a lot from Cruyff and considers him the person who shaped him into the coach he is today.
His former teammates such as Pep Guardiola and Ronald Koeman have also left their mark on his approach to the game. When Garcia became coach, Cruyff gave him a lot of advice, both on and off the field.
“I don’t compare myself to Cruijff, but I try to reproduce with my players what he taught me.”
Pragmatic Garcia: conservation comes first
Under the leadership of Oscar Garcia, Oud-Heverlee Leuven has undergone a clear transformation, although not yet fully in line with his personal vision as a coach. After all, it takes much more time to fully implement his philosophy.
Nevertheless, there are striking differences compared to the previous coach, Marc Brys. Garcia has adapted training methods, with shorter but more intense sessions. This resulted in players being fresher, hungrier and more alert during matches.
The team showed more cohesion and a strong mentality. Garcia was clear in his selection policy: those who were not willing to fully compete for OHL would not be given a place in the team.
Garcia has intervened defensively, with an emphasis on defending in the box. This resulted in a more organized and compact defense, which also responded more alertly to standstill phases.
Although his original focus was on possession football, Garcia had to adapt his approach to the circumstances and the goal to avoid relegation. Therefore, the emphasis was more on winning second balls and effective changeovers.
Angry Garcia dares to go against the board
Oscar Garcia faced a major challenge at Oud-Heverlee Leuven, where he had to work with limited resources. He had repeatedly urged the board for reinforcements, mainly due to a lack of defenders and a scoring striker.
However, despite the threat of relegation, the Thai owners refused to invest heavily during the winter mercato. Garcia insisted on the arrival of 4 to 5 quality reinforcements, with a new striker being the top priority.
Although there was an agreement with Thomas Henry, and the club was close to signing Benito Raman, the club failed to actually sign them. Garcia pointed to the club’s “not simple financial situation” as the reason for the lack of reinforcements.
The disappointment was palpable for Garcia, especially as he believed that reinforcements in January could have saved the club from relegation and even allowed it to compete for a European ticket.
“I knew that we would miss the players I asked for at some point. Last season there was a striker here who scored 16 goals every year. It’s not there today.”
2024-03-25 17:40:00
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