Rudi Garcia

Rudi José Garcia (born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Napoli.

As a manager, Garcia coached Roma, Marseille, Lyon and had a season in Saudi Arabia with Al Nassr before being appointed by Napoli in June 2023.

Rudi Garcia's father, José, was a Spanish expatriate who played football at a professional level for Sedan and Dunkerque.

His grandparents had left Andalusia for the Ardennes region during the Spanish Civil War.

Garcia is named after German cyclist Rudi Altig.

In December 1984, Lille travelled to the Parc des Princes to face Paris Saint-Germain.

With both sides tied at 2–2, Garcia netted to earn his side a win over the Parisian club.

After Lille, Garcia joined Caen, where he was coached by Robert Nouzaret and Daniel Jeandupeux.

In the late 1990s, for two years he was a physio.

Then, he became a scout, studying opponents and assisting in the elaboration of Saint-Étienne's tactics.

In 1991, he opted to join Martigues rather than signing on with the Normandy club.

Between 1992 and 1994, Garcia enrolled for university, and gained a DEUG and a STAPS degree at Orsay, as well as French qualifications that entitled him to manage a youth training centre.

When José Garcia became the coach of local team Corbeil-Essonnes, he drafted his son into the squad, where Rudi played until cadet level.

As Corbeil-Essonnes did not have a national cadets side, Rudi joined the Viry-Châtillon team.

He was 18 when he obtained his baccalauréat and signed for Lille, where he would spend two years as an intern and four as part of the professional squad.

Playing as an attacking midfielder, Garcia's first goal for Lille was a notable affair.

Serious injuries to his back and knee forced him to retire from professional football at the age of 28, in 1992.

Between 1994 and 1996, Garcia acted as player-manager for the club before taking on managerial duties only between 1996 and 1998.

In 1995, Garcia returned to Corbeil to manage the Division d'Honneur side with two months remaining in the season.

He guided the club out of relegation.

Then, in the seasons that followed, one ended with the club in mid-table and another in a second-place finish.

Gradually, his role shifted to that of an assistant coach, a position he occupied alongside Nouzaret as from July 2000 and John Toshack afterwards.

In early 2001, when Toshack returned to Spain, Garcia took over first-team duties in collaboration with Jean-Guy Wallemme.

Les Verts were then in the midst of a miserable season.

Poor performances on the pitch were compounded by the club's implication in various affairs involving forged passports.

The Garcia/Wallemme duo failed to reverse the trend and, in May 2001, Saint-Étienne were effectively relegated to the French second division.

The following month, Wallemme left the club while Garcia was fired in August 2001.

The two men, a decade later, would manage Lens and Lille respectively.

Garcia resumed his activities as a football pundit.

At the same time, he was passing his Diplôme d'Entraineur Professionel de Football, the French equivalent of the professional coaching badge.

In the spring of 2002, he was contacted by Dijon and signed with them on 21 May 2002.

He helped the club to climb to Ligue 2 in 2003–04.

The Bourgogne club even appeared in the semi-final of the Coupe de France, where Châteauroux defeated it 2–0.

In June 2007, Garcia left Dijon for Le Mans, another club he set on to transform in just one season.

With players such as Romaric, Marko Baša and Yohann Pelé, the Sarthe club played some pleasant football which brought results as well.

Le Mans ended in ninth position of Ligue 1 standings and reached the Coupe de la Ligue semi-final.

On 18 June 2008, Garcia rescinded his contract with the club to join Lille, where he had spent six years as a player in the 1980s.

In his first season, they developed a stylish and attacking approach, contrasting with previous coach Claude Puel's cautious and often boring tactics.

Garcia's approach ostensibly enabled players such as Ludovic Obraniak and Michel Bastos to develop, the latter becoming the club's top scorer in the league with 14 goals.

Garcia also gave significant playing time to promising youngster Eden Hazard, later of Chelsea and Real Madrid.