Quique Sanchez Flores

It seems Enrique Sánchez Flores was born to be a footballer. His father had played for Real Madrid in the early 1960s and ‘Quique’ could count football legend Alfredo Di Stéfano as one of his godparents. Enjoying a long and successful playing career in his own right, Flores starred as a right back for Valencia, Real Madrid and Zaragoza. He gained 15 caps for the Spanish national side and in 1995 he won the Spanish league title with Real Madrid. Embarking on a coaching career in 2001, Flores caught the eye with his early work in charge of Real Madrid’s youth teams and in 2004 he took on his first senior coaching role as manager of Getafe, newly promoted to La Liga for the first time. His work at Getafe lasted just one season before he was tempted by an offer to succeed Claudio Ranieri as manager of Valencia, the club he had represented in La Liga 272 times. Flores led Valencia to third spot in the league in his first season in charge and to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in his second, but his time at the Mestalla Stadium came to an end in October 2007. Next Flores celebrated silverware in the Portuguese League Cup with Benfica before returning to Spain to manage Atlético Madrid, where he lifted the 2010 Europa League trophy in his first season. He subsequently spent time coaching in the United Arab Emirates with both Al-Ahli and Al-Ain before returning to Getafe for his second stint in charge in January 2015. The following season he was appointed manager of Watford and he soon impressed in the top division of English football, showing a tactical flexibility with the club’s early season form. An impressive 3-0 home win over Liverpool helped him to the Premier League’s Manager of the Month award for December 2015, while leading the Hornets to the semi-finals of the FA Cup after knocking out Arsenal was another fine accomplishment. In June 2016 Flores returned to La Liga following his appointment as manager of Espanyol. A spell at Shanghai Shenhua followed before a return to Watford in 2019.