On December 22, Urawa Red Diamonds officially announced that Ricardo Rodriguez officially took over as head coach.
The Spaniard led Tokushima Uzumaki to win the J2 championship this season and successfully promoted to J1.
Rodriguez was forced to retire early due to a left knee injury at the age of 17. He did not have a particularly glorious resume as a player. At the age of 24, he transformed into a coach and obtained a doctorate in sports.
In 2007, Rodriguez started his coaching career in Girona, Spain, and has also coached in Saudi Arabia, Thailand and other places.
In 2017, Rodriguez joined Tokushima Uzumaki and took the team to J2 in 3 years.
Rodriguez advocates offensive football and hopes that the team will control the offensive dominance, which is a typical Spanish style.
The performance of the Urawa Red Diamonds has declined significantly in the past two years. Neither the foreign teacher Oliveira nor the local coach Oki Takeshi can bring the Japanese Red Devils back to their former glory.
After a mediocre season, the management of Urawa Red Diamonds finally made it clear that they are determined to rebuild the team. Hiring Rodriguez is only the first step of reform, and more young players will join in the future.