Spanish coach Raul Caneda has become one of the latest managers linked with the Kaizer Chiefs vacancy, but what has he achieved in his football career so far? Here is what you should know about the 54-year-old who is reportedly close to Pep Guardiola.
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According to Soccer Laduma sources, a number of coaches have expressed an interest in succeeding Molefi Ntseki following the South African's departure from the club last month. One of them, however, is believed to be in Guardiola's inner circle. His name? Raul Caneda, a Spanish native whom Manchester City's head coach once called "a privileged football mind" that he had "the pleasure to learn from", is said to be among those offered to the struggling DStv Premiership giants, but who has he worked for in the past and what is he doing at the moment?
Caneda started his career in coaching as an assistant coach to Juanma Lillo, Guardiola's current right-hand man in England, with Transfermarkt stating that he spent 28 games alongside Lillo at Dorados Sinaloa in Mexico, 44 matches with him at Real Sociedad between 2008 and 2009, and a further 35 games alongside his compatriot at Almeria between 2009 and 2010.
For insight into Caneda's philosophy, it is perhaps worth understanding those he is close to. Lillo, 57, sees football differently to most, as was made clear after the 2022 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and France. The Spaniard, writing a column for The Athletic, suggested that fans and pundits alike spend too much time analysing results, which he believes isn't necessarily helpful when it comes to making judgements on teams, players and managers. After the tournament in the Middle East, Lillo made a point of highlighting the fine margins upon which we base our judgements by stating that maybe Lionel Messi wouldn't be considered the greatest of all time had Randal Kolo Muani's strike in the dying minutes of the final at the Lusail Stadium found the back of the net to make it 4-3 to Les Bleus.
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Of course, Lillo is only speaking for himself, but these are the kinds of brains Caneda, who is currently unemployed, has surrounded himself with and learned from, coaches who seem to place more value in what a team is trying to achieve than what the scoreline says at the end of 90 minutes. In 2012, the 54-year-old was appointed as a head coach for the first time in his career by Saudi Pro League club Al Ittihad, with that team going 25 consecutive games unbeaten, which was a club record at the time. Caneda then served as Al Nassr's first-team manager between 2014 and 2016, before Qatari side Umm Salal SC hired him in 2019. Before that, however, Caneda worked as an external analyst for Guardiola and City in 2017. Most recently, he spent some time with UAE Pro League side Khor Fakkan SSC as a coach.
Chiefs supporters, is Caneda someone you'd like to see managing your club?
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