Sevilla have made a pretty bold move in signing the controversial manager, Julen Lopetegui who is best known for getting sacked as Spain’s national team manager two days before the 2018 World Cup after announcing that he would be the new Real Madrid manager.
Lopetegui did become the Real Madrid manager for the 2018 season, but it didn’t last long as he was sacked in October after a 5-1 loss in the El Clásico. In Real’s first season without Cristiano Ronaldo, the team seemed unable to score goals under Lopetegui.
Lopetegui started his managerial career at Rayo Vallecano before getting sacked after 11 games, going 2-2-7. He then went on to coach Real Madrid’s B squad for a season going 18-9-11.
Lopetegui then found himself managing Spain’s U19, U20 and U21 youth squads winning a combined 26 matches while drawing 5 and losing only 1 match. In July 2014, he was named as Porto’s new skipper.
At Porto, Lopetegui won a lot of games going 53-15-9 with a 68% win percentage; however, he also went trophy-less in his 1.5 seasons with Porto thus his sacking in January 2016. His hire as Spain manager in July 2016 found him great success pulling off 14 wins, 6 draws and zero losses, but his desire for a club gig cost him a chance of World Cup greatness.
Now after his faliure at Real Madrid, he has come to Sevilla with much to prove. Will the 52 year old manager be able to right his career with the Red and White? Did Monchi make the right hire? Will Lopetegui jump at the first bigger club to come calling if he is successful at Sevilla? There are lots of questions with this hire, thus the fan bases tepid response.