Carlos González Named 2nd Head Coach of Atlético Ottawa
Excerpts of the following story on the appointment of Spaniard Carlos González as its new manager of Atlético Ottawa is courtesy of canpl.ca from February 24, 2022. The full story can be found at: https://canpl.ca/article/carlos-gonzalez-named-2nd-head-coach-of-atletico-ottawa.
Atlético Ottawa has a new head coach. The club announced on Thursday the appointment of Spaniard Carlos González as its new manager. González, a 35-year-old born in Grenada, will take the head of the Ottawa club for the next two seasons.
If fairly unknown to Canadian soccer fans, González has been quickly establishing himself as a young promising coach with experience, perspective, and versatility.
“I started coaching because my talent as a player was not good enough,” offers González with a smile when asked about his path to this day. “I liked soccer, studied sports sciences, and felt this was what I liked. This is what I am passionate about and what I do with my heart.”
González credits his studies in sport sciences at the Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio and the Universidad de Grenada for his coaching start. That’s when he developed his understanding of sports performance management and gave him the desire to pursue coaching soccer as a career.
He began coaching with the youth programs at the Málaga Club de Fútbol in 2012, before joining the Atlético de Madrid organization in 2015. He proved his potential growing through the ranks of youth programs at Atlético before being entrusted with the U19 team head coach role in 2018.
In 2020, looking for a new challenge, González was appointed head coach of the U23 national team in Kuwait, where he led the team to its first Asian Cup qualification in ten years. He went on to coach the senior national team in three AFC Cup matches, earning two wins and a draw.
“At this point in my career, I wanted to come back to club football,” continued González. “Coaching a national team is very different from club football. You have to be very precise with player selection and always make sure you get the most of them for each moment. You do not get to work with them as much. Working with a club, you have time to prepare and build the team with a specific idea. And more importantly, you can develop players, which is what I missed most.”
For the rest of the story on the appointment of Carlos González as the new manager of Atlético Ottawa and the one v one interview with him, please go to : https://canpl.ca/article/carlos-gonzalez-named-2nd-head-coach-of-atletico-ottawa.