Manolo Gonzalez: journey from bus driver to La Liga

Manolo Gonzalez started out as a Tusa bus driver on the Badalona-Barcelona route. Three decades later, he is sitting in the La Liga technical area, guiding Espanyol back to the top flight thanks to a 12-game unbeaten run and a place in the play-offs. At 46, he says he is still a “normal person” but his story is anything but normal.

The pivotal moment: from the steering wheel to the touchline

Gonzalez’s path was not paved with roses. “I would wake up at 5am, drive the route, finish my shift around 4pm, go to training and get home at 8pm. When I was studying for my coaching licence, I worked the night shift,” he said. In 2018, he took unpaid leave to pursue coaching full-time – a gamble he could only take with his family’s support. “You have to make a bet: ‘I’m going to be a coach.’”

Thirty years of climbing: from street football to Espanyol B

Starting coaching at the age of 16, Gonzalez worked his way up the Spanish football ladder, from the sixth division to semi-professional football. He was a “decent” player but admitted he was “not good enough to go far”, only playing as far as the third division due to his physical and mental limitations. It was this experience that shaped his philosophy: discipline, self-care and learning to make better decisions.

Gonzalez recalled his feelings when he arrived at Espanyol: “When I arrived, it felt like I had never been a coach before. Actually, I had been coaching for a long time.” His 30 years of experience helped him read the game, manage the dressing room, and not panic under pressure.

Espanyol and the successful bet of the board of directors

Appointed to manage the B team, Gonzalez got the call of a lifetime in March last year. Espanyol were in the second tier, had already sacked two coaches and were in danger of missing out on promotion – a huge financial risk. “How could they bet on a guy from the B team when they had to get promoted? But they asked me if I thought I could do it, and I said: ‘Sure’.”

He took charge of the last 12 games, without losing a single one, and guided Espanyol to promotion via the play-offs. However, Gonzalez admits there were times when he worried he “wasn’t good enough”, and that the sporting director “had to be very brave” to take that risk.

Tactical analysis: detail, discipline and dead balls

Gonzalez eschews media glamour in favour of system. On the training pitch, he still uses a corner-kicking system he has used since the sixth division – because “it still works”. This approach reflects his philosophy: build advantage through detail, maintain discipline at set-pieces and find margin of victory from what the team can control.

In the La Liga environment – ​​“no longer a game, but a big stage” – Gonzalez stressed the need to preserve the pure joy of football. According to him, Espanyol players “play for passion, not as star performers”, and collective quality takes precedence over individual ego.

Top confrontation and defensive skills

Now, facing Real Madrid or Barcelona, ​​dealing with talents like Lamine Yamal, Mbappe is a daily job. It is a step that shows Espanyol has returned to the competitive launch pad, while their coach still maintains simple habits and straightforward language.

Present and future: position, schedule and significance

Espanyol are flying high under Gonzalez in fifth place in La Liga. On Thursday night they face Atletico Lleida in the Copa del Rey – a team their manager knows well. Lleida coach Gabri Garcia said: “I know Manolo because we played against each other. We come from the depths.”

For Gonzalez, everything remains “originally pure”. He says he still gets excited every Thursday; the day that feeling disappears – “maybe because I’m old or have too much money” – he stops. From amateur obscurity to La Liga’s technical area, his journey reinforces a simple truth: in football, belief and hard work still matter.